Free Spousal Maintenance Calculator: Will You Pay or Receive?
Enter both incomes and both monthly budgets, and our free spousal maintenance calculator will show you whether you are likely to be paying or receiving spousal maintenance, and roughly how much. It takes a few minutes, and there is no charge and no obligation.
Spousal Maintenance Calculator
Your Monthly Income
Your Monthly Expenses
Other Party's Income
Other Party's Expenses
by Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy at Mediate UK. Reviewed by Belinda Atkins, Managing Director, Family Legal Ltd. This page is written in accordance with our editorial standards. Information is current as of 14 July 2026.
SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE CALCULATOR
Our free spousal maintenance calculator tells you whether you are likely to pay or receive spousal maintenance, and roughly how much. It takes a few minutes, it is free, and it works from the same budget comparison that mediators and courts use in England and Wales. It gives you an indication to start from, not a legal opinion.
Key Takeaways
- The calculator is free, takes a few minutes, and shows whether you are likely to be the paying or receiving party.
- You will need both incomes and a rough monthly budget for each of you. Guesses in, guesses out.
- It gives an indicative range, not a figure a court would be bound by. There is no official formula for spousal maintenance in England and Wales.
- Use the result as the starting point for a conversation, or bring it to a MIAM and we will work through the real numbers with both of you.
What Does the Spousal Maintenance Calculator Tell You?
Two things, and in this order.
- Whether maintenance is likely at all: it compares each person's reasonable monthly needs with their income, and looks for a shortfall on one side and a surplus on the other. If both of you balance, or you both fall short, maintenance is unlikely and the calculator will say so
- Roughly how much, and which way: if there is a gap, it gives you an indicative monthly range and tells you which of you is likely to be paying it
That "which way" answer is the one most people are really here for, and it is often a surprise. Plenty of people who assumed they would be paying discover the gap runs the other way once both budgets are on paper, and plenty who expected a large monthly figure find the surplus to fund it is simply not there.
What Do You Need Before You Start?
Have these to hand and the whole thing takes a few minutes:
- Both take-home incomes: monthly, after tax, including any regular bonus or overtime you can rely on
- Both monthly budgets: what each of you will actually need to live on after the separation, including housing, bills, food, travel and the children's costs
- Any child maintenance being paid or received, since that comes off the top before spousal maintenance is considered
The budgets are where accuracy lives. A budget put together in thirty seconds gives you a result worth about thirty seconds. Include the costs people routinely forget: car repairs, insurance renewals, dentistry, school trips, replacing a boiler.
How Accurate Is the Calculator?
It is an indication, and we would rather say that plainly than dress it up. There is no statutory formula for spousal maintenance in England and Wales, unlike child maintenance. A judge weighs the section 25 factors and exercises discretion, so no calculator anywhere can promise you an outcome. Anything that claims otherwise is selling you something.
Two things to know about the figures it gives you. It estimates the other party's take-home pay from their gross salary, so that side is a broad approximation rather than their exact net position. And it caps the maintenance at whatever the paying party can actually afford, which is what a court does too: you cannot order money that is not there.
What it does do is run the same budget comparison that sits underneath almost every maintenance decision, whether it is made in a mediation room or a courtroom. If you want to see the working behind it, our guide to how spousal maintenance is calculated takes the method apart step by step, and the complete guide to spousal maintenance covers how much is typically awarded and for how long.
The calculator is guidance for your own discussions. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for advice on your particular circumstances.
"We built this because people were arriving at a MIAM with a figure they had picked out of the air, or one their friend got, and defending it. A number you can see the working behind is much easier to let go of when the evidence moves. Most couples who run the calculator first come into the room arguing about a far smaller gap than they expected."
Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy, Mediate UK
What Should You Do With Your Result?
Whatever the number says, it is not binding on anyone yet. Three routes from here, depending on where you are:
- Talk to your ex: share the figure and the budgets behind it. A number with visible working is a conversation. A number on its own is a demand
- Bring it to a MIAM: we take both of your real budgets and work the same exercise properly, with a mediator in the room. A MIAM costs £138 including VAT per person, and it is only free if you qualify for legal aid
- Make it binding: whatever you agree, it only becomes enforceable once a judge seals it in a financial consent order. The court fee for that is £62 as of July 2026
Family Law Service
Already agreed a figure? Make it stick.
An agreement between the two of you is not enforceable until a judge has approved it. Family Law Service drafts the consent order for a fixed fee and files it with the court.
Spousal Maintenance Calculator: Common Questions
Is the spousal maintenance calculator free?
Yes. The calculator is free to use and there is no obligation to book anything afterwards. It takes a few minutes and gives you an indicative figure and a direction of travel.
Is there an official government spousal maintenance calculator?
No. There is a government calculator for child maintenance, because child maintenance has a statutory formula. Spousal maintenance does not, so no official calculator exists. Any calculator, including ours, is working from the budget method rather than a set formula.
Will a court be bound by the figure the calculator gives me?
No. The result is an indication to help your discussions, not a legal opinion, and no judge is bound by it. A court weighs the section 25 factors and exercises its own discretion on both the amount and the length of the payments.
Can the calculator tell me how long maintenance would last?
Not precisely. The term depends on the length of your marriage, your ages, your health and how long it would realistically take the lower earner to become independent. The calculator focuses on the amount and the direction. For the term, read the complete guide to spousal maintenance.
Do I need my ex's income figures to use it?
You need a reasonable idea of them, yes, because the calculation compares two positions. An estimate will give you a rough steer, but the closer the figures are to reality the more useful the answer. Full financial disclosure comes later, either in mediation or on a Form E if the case reaches court.
Is my information kept private?
The figures you enter are worked out in your own browser to produce your result. We do not share your information with your former spouse, and using the calculator does not commit you to anything.
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Turn the Estimate Into an Agreement
A figure from a calculator is a starting point. We take both of your real budgets and help you reach one you can both live with, then get it sealed by the court. Book a MIAM to get started, or talk it through on a free call first.
Our Legal Partnerships
Mediate UK works closely with trusted legal professionals to ensure your agreements are legally robust. Our partners include
DFA Law LLP (agreements managed by SRA-regulated solicitor Rachel Adams, SRA 452750),
independent barristers at St Ives Chambers (including Charmian Jackson, registered with the Bar Standards Board),
and The Family Law Consultant (managed by SRA-regulated solicitor Rhiannon Compton, SRA 600560).
These legal professionals support our clients with consent orders, independent advice, and final barrister reviews.