Use our free Alberta alimony support calculator to generate a spousal support estimate based on the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAG) — the same framework Canadian family lawyers and judges rely on. Enter both incomes, your years of cohabitation, and whether dependent children are involved to get a monthly support range and duration estimate in under two minutes.
Alberta Spousal Support
Calculator — Based on SSAG Guidelines
Free & Accurate
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What Is Spousal Support in Alberta?
Spousal support — also called alimony in older usage — is a payment made from one spouse to the other after a marriage breakdown or separation. In Alberta, the terms “alimony and spousal support” are legally interchangeable; Canadian courts and lawyers now use “spousal support” exclusively, though many people still search for an “Alberta alimony calculator” when looking for this kind of tool.
Support can be established in two ways: through a voluntary spousal support agreement negotiated between the parties (often with lawyers or a mediator), or as court-ordered spousal support issued by the Alberta Court of King’s Bench or the Court of Justice. Both routes apply the same underlying SSAG methodology to arrive at a fair range.
Alberta family law draws on two federal statutes. The Divorce Act governs support when the parties were legally married. The Family Law Act (Alberta) covers unmarried cohabiting partners. Both frameworks recognize the same three grounds for entitlement to spousal support: compensatory (one spouse sacrificed career or education for the family), non-compensatory (need-based, where one spouse cannot maintain a reasonable standard of living), and contractual (the parties agreed to support in a domestic contract).
Important: Entitlement must be established before amount and duration are determined. Not every separating couple qualifies for separation support or marriage breakdown support. This calculator estimates amount and duration only — it does not assess whether entitlement exists in your specific circumstances.
How Spousal Support Is Estimated: The SSAG Formulas
The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAG), developed by Canadian law professors Carol Rogerson and Rollie Thompson and endorsed for use across Canada, provide two distinct formulas depending on whether dependent children are involved. An SSAG calculator applies one of these two models automatically based on your inputs.
Without Child Support Formula
When there are no dependent children (or all children are adults and financial independent), the SSAG uses a gross income sharing model:
Monthly amount range:
- Low end: 1.5% × years of cohabitation × (payor gross annual income − recipient gross annual income) ÷ 12
- High end: 2.0% × years of cohabitation × (payor gross annual income − recipient gross annual income) ÷ 12
The result represents a monthly spousal support range — a floor and ceiling between which a court or negotiated agreement will typically land, not a single fixed number.
Duration range:
- Low: 0.5 years for each year of cohabitation
- High: 1.0 year for each year of cohabitation
- For marriages of 20 years or more, or where the recipient is 60 or older at separation, support may be indefinite (no fixed end date).
With Child Support Formula
When dependent children reside primarily with the recipient, the SSAG shifts to a net income sharing model. This formula is more complex because it interacts directly with Federal Child Support Guidelines amounts. The key concept is notional child support — what the recipient would pay if the custody arrangement were reversed — which is used to calculate each party’s net disposable income after child support flows.
The SSAG with-child formula targets a specific sharing range of combined net disposable income (NDI):
- The recipient household should end up with approximately 46–54% of combined NDI (including child support)
- The payor household retains approximately 40–46% of combined NDI
This formula produces a lower spousal support amount than the without-child formula in most scenarios, because child support already transfers significant resources to the recipient household.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Use the Calculator
Before entering values, gather these documents: recent pay stubs or tax returns (T1 General) for both parties, your separation date, and your Federal Child Support Guidelines table amount if children are involved.
The calculator’s interface moves through four sections:
- Step 1 — Income Information: Enter the Payor’s Gross Annual Income (the spouse who will pay support) and the Recipient’s Gross Annual Income (the spouse who will receive support). Use gross income before taxes — the same figures reported on a T1 return. Income disclosure for support purposes in Alberta includes employment income, self-employment income, rental income, and certain government benefits. Do not average incomes if one party recently changed jobs; use current annualized earnings unless a different figure was agreed upon.
- Step 2 — Marriage / Cohabitation Details: Enter Years of Cohabitation, counting from the start of continuous cohabitation (including any pre-marital period of living together) to the date of separation. Select the Relationship Type (Married or Common-Law — both apply similar SSAG principles in Alberta). Optionally enter the Date of Separation and the Recipient’s Age at Separation, which the calculator uses to flag potential indefinite-support scenarios.
- Step 3 — Children & Support: Choose whether dependent children from the relationship exist. If you select Yes, Children, enter the number of dependent children, the Custody / Residence Arrangement, the Monthly Child Support Paid (Section 3) from the Federal Child Support Guidelines table, and any Monthly Section 7 Expenses (extraordinary expenses such as childcare, tuition, or medical costs that are shared proportionally by income). This activates the With Child Support Formula. If no children, the Without Child Support Formula runs automatically.
- Step 4 — Calculate: Click Calculate Support. The results screen displays a low, mid, and high monthly support amount, plus the SSAG duration range. Results are estimates only — see the disclaimer below.
Illustrative SSAG Range Reference Table
The table below shows example SSAG ranges under the Without Child Support Formula for a recipient with $35,000 gross annual income. These figures are for illustration only; your actual result depends on all inputs.
Payor Income | Years Together | Monthly Low | Monthly High | Duration Low | Duration High |
$70,000 | 5 years | $438 | $583 | 2.5 yrs | 5 yrs |
$70,000 | 10 years | $438 | $583 | 5 yrs | 10 yrs |
$90,000 | 10 years | $688 | $917 | 5 yrs | 10 yrs |
$90,000 | 15 years | $688 | $917 | 7.5 yrs | 15 yrs |
$120,000 | 20 years | $1,063 | $1,417 | Potentially indefinite | Potentially indefinite |
Recipient gross income assumed at $35,000 in all examples. Run your own numbers in the calculator for an accurate estimate.
Worked Examples
Example 1 — No Dependent Children (Without Child Support Formula)
Facts: Maya (payor, $92,000/year) and David (recipient, $36,000/year) separated after 12 years of cohabitation. No dependent children.
Income difference: $92,000 − $36,000 = $56,000
Monthly amount range:
- Low: 1.5% × 12 × $56,000 ÷ 12 = $840/month
- High: 2.0% × 12 × $56,000 ÷ 12 = $1,120/month
Duration range: 6 to 12 years
The SSAG suggests a range of $840–$1,120 per month for 6–12 years. A court or mediated agreement would determine the exact figure within this band based on need, lifestyle, and other factors.
Example 2 — Dependent Children (With Child Support Formula)
Facts: Raj (payor, $95,000/year) and Priya (recipient, $28,000/year) separated after 9 years. One child, age 7, lives primarily with Priya (sole custody). Federal child support table amount: $867/month.
Under the With Child Support Formula, the calculator computes each party’s net disposable income after child support to target the 46–54% NDI sharing range. This process accounts for the tax deductibility of spousal support to Raj and the taxable inclusion for Priya. The resulting spousal support in this scenario would fall in a lower range than Example 1 — commonly $400–$750/month in a scenario like this — because the child support transfer already narrows the income gap significantly.
Always run this scenario through the calculator directly; the net-income arithmetic is complex enough that manual estimation frequently produces unreliable figures.
Factors That Affect Your Estimate
- Length of relationship. The single largest driver of both amount and duration under the SSAG. A 20-year marriage produces dramatically different results than a 5-year one.
- Income gap between spouses. The larger the difference, the higher the support range. Both parties have an obligation to make reasonable income disclosure for support purposes.
- Presence and custody of dependent children. Switching from the Without Child Support Formula to the With Child Support Formula fundamentally changes the calculation model and almost always produces a different monthly amount.
- Recipient’s age at separation. Recipients aged 60 or older at separation are more likely to receive indefinite support because retraining or re-entry to the workforce is less feasible.
- Taxable spousal support and deductible spousal support. Under Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) rules, periodic court-ordered or formally agreed spousal support is taxable income to the recipient and tax-deductible to the payor. This tax treatment affects each party’s real after-tax income position — and the SSAG with-child formula accounts for it explicitly in the net disposable income calculation.
- Roles during the relationship. A spouse who stepped back from a career to care for children or relocate for the other’s job may have stronger compensatory entitlement, which courts may use to push the award toward the high end of the SSAG range.
- Section 7 (extraordinary) expenses. Childcare, private school tuition, and uninsured medical costs shared proportionally under Section 7 of the Federal Child Support Guidelines reduce the household resources available to the payor and can influence the spousal support landing point.
- Spousal support tax rules for lump-sum payments. A lump-sum spousal support payment is generally not tax-deductible to the payor and not taxable to the recipient, making lump sums structurally different from periodic payments. If you are considering a lump-sum settlement, consult a family lawyer and a tax advisor before agreeing to any figure.
With Child vs. Without Child Formula: Key Differences
Feature | Without Child Support Formula | With Child Support Formula |
Income basis | Gross income difference | Net disposable income (after child support) |
Primary target | Amount × duration sharing range | NDI sharing range (46–54% to recipient) |
Interaction with child support | None | Child support amount is a direct input |
Typical spousal support level | Higher (pure income gap basis) | Lower (child support bridges part of the gap) |
Duration rules | 0.5–1 year per year of marriage | Shorter — often tied to youngest child’s independence |
Notional child support used? | No | Yes (to calculate payor’s NDI) |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using net income instead of gross. The SSAG without-child formula runs on gross annual income. Entering take-home pay will produce a significantly underestimated result.
- Forgetting pre-marital cohabitation. Years of cohabitation under the SSAG includes continuous pre-marital living together, not just the legally married period. Undershooting this number shortens the duration range.
- Skipping Section 7 expenses. Parents often omit extraordinary childcare or medical costs that materially affect the with-child formula’s net disposable income calculation.
- Treating the midpoint as the guaranteed outcome. The SSAG produces a range. A court can and does award outside that range in exceptional circumstances. The midpoint is a useful planning anchor, not a binding number.
- Assuming all income is excluded. Self-employment draws, rental income, and CERB-type benefits are typically included in income for support purposes under the Federal Child Support Guidelines income rules, which the SSAG incorporates by reference.
- Conflating child support and spousal support. These are separate legal obligations with different formulas, different tax treatment, and different enforcement mechanisms. Altering one does not automatically adjust the other.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Alberta courts use the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAG), which offer two formulas. Without dependent children, support equals 1.5%–2% of the gross income difference multiplied by years of cohabitation, divided by 12 for a monthly figure. With dependent children, the calculation shifts to a net disposable income sharing model that factors in child support payments already flowing between the parties.
Entitlement is assessed before amount. You may qualify on compensatory grounds (you sacrificed career advancement for the family), non-compensatory grounds (you cannot maintain a reasonable standard of living post-separation), or contractual grounds (a domestic agreement provides for it). Short relationships with no income disparity often do not generate entitlement. A family lawyer can assess your specific situation.
Under the SSAG without-child formula, duration ranges from 0.5 to 1 year for each year of cohabitation. A 10-year marriage suggests 5–10 years of support. Marriages of 20 or more years, or cases where the recipient is 60 or older at separation, may result in indefinite (no fixed end date) support.
Without children, the formula compares gross incomes directly. With dependent children, the formula uses net disposable income after child support is accounted for, and introduces the concept of notional child support (what the recipient would hypothetically pay if custody were reversed). The with-child formula generally produces a lower spousal support figure because child support already transfers resources to the recipient household.
Gross annual income before taxes, mirroring the income definition in Schedule III of the Federal Child Support Guidelines. This typically includes employment income, self-employment income, rental income, investment income, and certain government benefits. Deliberate underemployment may be imputed at a higher notional income by the court.
Periodic spousal support paid under a court order or formal written agreement is tax-deductible to the payor and taxable income to the recipient under CRA rules. Lump-sum payments are generally not deductible to the payor and not taxable to the recipient. This difference makes the choice between periodic and lump-sum support a significant financial and tax planning decision.
Yes. The SSAG are advisory, not mandatory. A judge may award outside the range in exceptional circumstances — for example, where one spouse has exceptional medical needs, where the payor's income is very high, or where there was a significant pre-existing domestic contract. However, departures from the SSAG range must be explicitly justified, and most outcomes in Alberta fall within the guidelines.
Child support and spousal support interact directly under the with-child SSAG formula. Because child support is paid first and is generally higher-priority, it reduces the payor's available income and the recipient's need, which typically lowers the spousal support range compared to an equivalent scenario without children.
Spouses can negotiate and formalize support terms in a Separation Agreement without going to court. The agreement should be in writing, signed by both parties, and witnessed. For the tax deduction/inclusion rules to apply, the agreement must meet CRA's requirements for a "written agreement." Courts retain the power to vary support set by agreement if circumstances change materially.
Official Sources & Regulation References
- Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines — Rogerson & Thompson (2008, as updated): the named SSAG document published by the Canadian Department of Justice. Available through the Department of Justice Canada website.
- Divorce Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 3 (2nd Supp.)) — the primary federal statute governing spousal support for married couples in Alberta and across Canada.
- Family Law Act (R.S.A. 2000, c. F-4.5) — Alberta’s provincial statute covering support for unmarried cohabiting partners.
- Federal Child Support Guidelines (SOR/97-175) — governs child support amounts and Section 7 expense sharing, which directly feeds into the SSAG with-child formula.
- Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) — Support Payments (IT-530R) — the authoritative CRA guidance on the tax treatment of periodic vs. lump-sum support payments.
Disclaimer
This calculator and the content on this page are provided for general educational and informational purposes only. Results are estimates based on the Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines (SSAG) and do not constitute legal advice, financial advice, or a prediction of any court outcome. Every separation is unique — entitlement, amount, and duration depend on facts and circumstances that this tool cannot assess. Consult a licensed family lawyer in Alberta before making any decisions about spousal support. The SSAG formulas and the federal/provincial legislation referenced above are subject to amendment; verify currency with the Department of Justice Canada and the Law Society of Alberta before relying on any figures.
Last Update: June 2026