Recent and notable changes to divorce, alimony, child support, and custody laws across the United States. Laws change. This page tracks what changed, when, and what it means for people divorcing now.
23 tracked changes
20 states covered
Last reviewed August 2026
Major Law Changes
These changes significantly affect divorce outcomes and costs. If your state is listed here, read the summary carefully.
Child SupportGeorgia
Major Change
Georgia Makes the Parenting Time Adjustment Mandatory
Effective January 1, 2026
SB 454 amended O.C.G.A. 19-6-15, and the parenting-time provisions took effect January 1, 2026. Where there is a court-ordered parenting time schedule, the court must now apply a set formula to the noncustodial parent's basic obligation and enter the result on Child Support Schedule C. The enacted text replaced the word "deviation" with "adjustment", which moved parenting time out of the discretionary stage of the calculation and into the presumptive one. Where no parenting time order exists, support is still calculated without it.
What this means for you
A Georgia parent with a court-ordered parenting time schedule should expect the final order to differ from the basic guideline figure, and should ask for Schedule C rather than accepting the pre-adjustment number. Our Georgia estimate is the presumptive amount before this adjustment, because we do not have the text of the formula and will not substitute one of our own for it.
Missouri SB 35, effective August 28, 2023, created a rebuttable presumption that equal or approximately equal parenting time is in the best interest of the child (RSMo 452.375).
What this means for you
Missouri custody cases now begin from a 50/50 baseline. A parent opposing equal time must rebut the presumption with specific evidence, such as documented domestic violence or an agreed parenting schedule.
The link goes to the legislature's page for the bill rather than to the enacted text. A bill page carries the same title, synopsis and effective date whether the bill passed or died, so it is not on its own evidence that this became law.
Florida Eliminates Permanent Alimony and Caps the Amount
Effective July 1, 2023
Florida SB 1416, enacted as chapter 2023-315, rewrote section 61.08 of the Florida Statutes. It eliminated permanent alimony and capped duration by marriage length: an award of durational alimony may not exceed 50 percent of the length of a short-term marriage (under 10 years), 60 percent of a moderate-term marriage (10 to 20 years), or 75 percent of a long-term marriage (20 years or longer). The same subsection also capped the amount, which is the half most summaries leave out: durational alimony is the recipient's reasonable need or 35 percent of the difference between the parties' net incomes, whichever is less.
What this means for you
Anyone divorcing in Florida after July 2023 will receive or pay time-limited alimony only, and the monthly figure has a ceiling as well as an end date. Recipients who expected permanent alimony in long marriages will receive less total support than under prior law. The section applies to petitions pending or filed on or after July 1, 2023, so the date that matters is the filing date rather than the date the divorce is final.
Florida HB 1301 also established a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing (50/50) is in the best interest of the child. Courts must begin from an equal parenting time assumption and document specific findings to deviate from it. This represents a significant shift from Florida's prior best-interest analysis that carried no presumption.
What this means for you
Parents divorcing in Florida now start from an equal parenting time baseline. If you want more than 50 percent parenting time, you need documented evidence of why equal time is not appropriate for your child.
The link goes to the legislature's page for the bill rather than to the enacted text. A bill page carries the same title, synopsis and effective date whether the bill passed or died, so it is not on its own evidence that this became law.
None of these applies to a case decided today and none of it is in our calculators. They are here for a reason all the same: if you are planning a schedule or an agreement that will still be running when one of them starts, the terms are worth knowing now. Each card says which kind it is. Some have been signed and have a start date still ahead of them. Others have cleared both chambers and are not law at all, and those carry the date we last checked.
Child SupportIllinois
Major Change
Illinois Lowers the Shared Parenting Threshold to 110 Overnights from 2027
Takes effect January 1, 2027Signed into law and not in force yet, as we last checked on August 6, 2026. Nothing in it applies to a case decided today, and none of it is in our estimate until it takes effect.
Illinois SB 3524 was approved by the Governor on July 31, 2026 and is Public Act 104-0733. It takes effect January 1, 2027, so an order entered today runs on the current rule and none of it is in our Illinois calculator yet. Shared physical care will begin at 110 overnights a year rather than 146, and a court, or the parents by agreement, may count certain periods of substantial daytime care as overnight equivalents where the child is in a parent's physical care and under direct supervision without sleeping there. A new table in 750 ILCS 5/505(a)(3.8)(3) will then raise the shared care obligation for a parent below 146 overnights, by 10 percent just above the 110 mark down to 2 percent for a parent on 140 to 145 overnights, and the adjusted figure may not come out above what the ordinary guideline would have produced. 146 stays the pivot: at 146 and above the calculation runs without that adjustment, so this lowers the entry point rather than replacing the number. The act also sets a minimum order of $40 per month per child for an obligor at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty guideline for one person, with the total across all of that obligor's children capped at $120 a month. Separately, 750 ILCS 5/510, the modification statute, gains a presumption that a parent incarcerated for more than 180 consecutive days cannot pay, worked through a filed notice of incarceration, a 45-day window to object, and reinstatement 90 days after release.
What this means for you
Nothing about an Illinois order entered today changes. If you are negotiating a parenting schedule that will still be running in 2027, the 110-overnight figure is worth knowing, because a schedule short of 146 nights today could reach the shared care route from January 1 and change what is paid. We cannot tell you which way it moves, and that is not a hedge: the act directs the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to publish the worksheets the calculation runs on, and those do not exist yet. What the text does say is that the adjustment between 110 and 145 nights raises the shared care obligation rather than discounting it, and that the adjusted figure may not exceed the ordinary guideline amount. Our Illinois estimate applies the current 146-overnight rule under 750 ILCS 5/505(a)(3.8), and we will build the new mechanism once those worksheets are published rather than substituting arithmetic of our own.
Illinois Lowers the Shared Parenting Threshold to 110 Overnights from 2027
Takes effect January 1, 2027Signed into law and not in force yet, as we last checked on August 6, 2026. Nothing in it applies to a case decided today, and none of it is in our estimate until it takes effect.
Illinois SB 3524 was approved by the Governor on July 31, 2026 and is Public Act 104-0733. It takes effect January 1, 2027, so an order entered today runs on the current rule and none of it is in our Illinois calculator yet. Shared physical care will begin at 110 overnights a year rather than 146, and a court, or the parents by agreement, may count certain periods of substantial daytime care as overnight equivalents where the child is in a parent's physical care and under direct supervision without sleeping there. A new table in 750 ILCS 5/505(a)(3.8)(3) will then raise the shared care obligation for a parent below 146 overnights, by 10 percent just above the 110 mark down to 2 percent for a parent on 140 to 145 overnights, and the adjusted figure may not come out above what the ordinary guideline would have produced. 146 stays the pivot: at 146 and above the calculation runs without that adjustment, so this lowers the entry point rather than replacing the number. The act also sets a minimum order of $40 per month per child for an obligor at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty guideline for one person, with the total across all of that obligor's children capped at $120 a month. Separately, 750 ILCS 5/510, the modification statute, gains a presumption that a parent incarcerated for more than 180 consecutive days cannot pay, worked through a filed notice of incarceration, a 45-day window to object, and reinstatement 90 days after release.
What this means for you
Nothing about an Illinois order entered today changes. If you are negotiating a parenting schedule that will still be running in 2027, the 110-overnight figure is worth knowing, because a schedule short of 146 nights today could reach the shared care route from January 1 and change what is paid. We cannot tell you which way it moves, and that is not a hedge: the act directs the Department of Healthcare and Family Services to publish the worksheets the calculation runs on, and those do not exist yet. What the text does say is that the adjustment between 110 and 145 nights raises the shared care obligation rather than discounting it, and that the adjusted figure may not exceed the ordinary guideline amount. Our Illinois estimate applies the current 146-overnight rule under 750 ILCS 5/505(a)(3.8), and we will build the new mechanism once those worksheets are published rather than substituting arithmetic of our own.
Georgia Makes the Parenting Time Adjustment Mandatory
Effective January 1, 2026
SB 454 amended O.C.G.A. 19-6-15, and the parenting-time provisions took effect January 1, 2026. Where there is a court-ordered parenting time schedule, the court must now apply a set formula to the noncustodial parent's basic obligation and enter the result on Child Support Schedule C. The enacted text replaced the word "deviation" with "adjustment", which moved parenting time out of the discretionary stage of the calculation and into the presumptive one. Where no parenting time order exists, support is still calculated without it.
What this means for you
A Georgia parent with a court-ordered parenting time schedule should expect the final order to differ from the basic guideline figure, and should ask for Schedule C rather than accepting the pre-adjustment number. Our Georgia estimate is the presumptive amount before this adjustment, because we do not have the text of the formula and will not substitute one of our own for it.
The 2025 Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines, effective December 1, 2025, raised the combined parental income run through the formula from $400,000 to $450,000 per year, increased the reasonable child care benchmark from $355 to $430 per week per child, and for the first time addressed children with more than two legal parents.
What this means for you
New Massachusetts child support orders reflect the higher income threshold and child care figures, which can change support amounts for higher-income families. Our Massachusetts estimate applies none of the three. The number on our Massachusetts page comes from our own approximation of an income shares schedule rather than from the Massachusetts guidelines, so it does not stop at $450,000 of combined income and it does not use either child care benchmark.
Maryland HB 1191 was approved by the Governor on May 13, 2025 as Chapter 483, and took effect October 1, 2025. It adds a new subtitle to the Family Law article. Section 9-201 lists sixteen factors a court may consider in deciding legal and physical custody, and requires the court to state its findings of fact on the record or in a written opinion, covering each of those factors and any other factor it weighed. Section 9-202 sets the standard for changing an existing order: a material change in circumstances since the order that relates to the needs of the child or the parents' ability to meet them, plus the best interest of the child. It also provides that a proposed relocation which would make physical custody impracticable counts as a material change on its own. The act creates no presumption of joint custody and no presumption of equal parenting time. The 2025 bills that would have created one, SB 521 and its cross-file HB 1505, both died in committee.
What this means for you
A Maryland parent can now read the list a judge works from, and can expect the reasons in writing or on the record rather than a bare ruling. If you are weighing a move that would make the current schedule unworkable, section 9-202(b) treats that as a material change by itself, so either parent can ask the court to revisit custody on that basis alone. Maryland does not start you at fifty percent: our Maryland pages say the state has no equal parenting time presumption, and that is still right.
Oklahoma amended Title 43 (Chapter 24, Laws 2024), effective November 1, 2024, to set a preference toward joint custody and to require a court that declines joint custody to issue written findings of fact explaining the deviation.
What this means for you
Oklahoma custody decisions now lean toward shared arrangements, and a court ordering sole custody must document why joint custody was not appropriate.
The link goes to a third-party reproduction of Oklahoma's code rather than to the state's own publication of it.
Minnesota H.F. 3204, effective August 1, 2024, reformed spousal maintenance. It replaced the 'temporary' and 'permanent' maintenance labels with 'transitional' and 'indefinite' support and updated how courts set and revisit awards.
What this means for you
New Minnesota maintenance orders use the transitional and indefinite framework. The court's case-by-case analysis of need and ability to pay still drives the amount.
Utah HB 272, known as Om's Law, effective May 1, 2024, directs judges to prioritize child safety in custody decisions and to weigh evidence of domestic violence. It limits court-ordered reunification therapies that separate a child from a bonded parent, requires expert witnesses to be properly credentialed, and mandates child-safety and domestic-violence training for judges and court staff.
What this means for you
Utah custody cases now place greater weight on documented safety concerns, and courts face new limits on reunification treatments and new training requirements.
The link goes to the legislature's page for the bill rather than to the enacted text. A bill page carries the same title, synopsis and effective date whether the bill passed or died, so it is not on its own evidence that this became law.
California Updates Spousal Support Guideline Factors
Our record dates this to January 1, 2024No statute or court rule took effect on this date. What is described here is how courts have been deciding, or a requirement that has not changed.
California courts began applying updated interpretations of Family Code Section 4320 factors, placing greater emphasis on the supported spouse's ability to achieve self-sufficiency within a reasonable period. Courts are increasingly awarding time-limited support even for long marriages where the recipient has employable skills.
What this means for you
Alimony recipients in California long marriages may find duration awards shorter than under older interpretations. The emphasis on self-sufficiency means recipients should document any barriers to employment.
North Carolina Continues Debate on One-Year Separation Requirement
Our record dates this to January 1, 2024No statute or court rule took effect on this date. What is described here is how courts have been deciding, or a requirement that has not changed.
North Carolina's one-year physical separation requirement before filing for divorce remains in effect as of 2026, despite ongoing legislative proposals to shorten or eliminate it. Several bills have been introduced in recent sessions but none have passed. The requirement remains one of the most restrictive separation prerequisites in the country.
What this means for you
People divorcing in North Carolina must still live in separate residences for a full year before filing. Monitor legislative updates if you are early in the separation period, as a change in this requirement would affect your timeline.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to North Carolina's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
Texas updated its collaborative family law statutes effective September 2023, expanding the range of cases eligible for collaborative process and strengthening confidentiality protections for collaborative communications. The changes also clarify the process for transitioning out of collaborative process if it fails.
What this means for you
Texas divorces with complex assets or business interests now have a clearer collaborative divorce framework available. The expanded confidentiality protections make collaborative process more attractive for high-profile or high-asset cases.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to Texas's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
Missouri SB 35, effective August 28, 2023, created a rebuttable presumption that equal or approximately equal parenting time is in the best interest of the child (RSMo 452.375).
What this means for you
Missouri custody cases now begin from a 50/50 baseline. A parent opposing equal time must rebut the presumption with specific evidence, such as documented domestic violence or an agreed parenting schedule.
The link goes to the legislature's page for the bill rather than to the enacted text. A bill page carries the same title, synopsis and effective date whether the bill passed or died, so it is not on its own evidence that this became law.
Florida Eliminates Permanent Alimony and Caps the Amount
Effective July 1, 2023
Florida SB 1416, enacted as chapter 2023-315, rewrote section 61.08 of the Florida Statutes. It eliminated permanent alimony and capped duration by marriage length: an award of durational alimony may not exceed 50 percent of the length of a short-term marriage (under 10 years), 60 percent of a moderate-term marriage (10 to 20 years), or 75 percent of a long-term marriage (20 years or longer). The same subsection also capped the amount, which is the half most summaries leave out: durational alimony is the recipient's reasonable need or 35 percent of the difference between the parties' net incomes, whichever is less.
What this means for you
Anyone divorcing in Florida after July 2023 will receive or pay time-limited alimony only, and the monthly figure has a ceiling as well as an end date. Recipients who expected permanent alimony in long marriages will receive less total support than under prior law. The section applies to petitions pending or filed on or after July 1, 2023, so the date that matters is the filing date rather than the date the divorce is final.
Florida HB 1301 also established a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing (50/50) is in the best interest of the child. Courts must begin from an equal parenting time assumption and document specific findings to deviate from it. This represents a significant shift from Florida's prior best-interest analysis that carried no presumption.
What this means for you
Parents divorcing in Florida now start from an equal parenting time baseline. If you want more than 50 percent parenting time, you need documented evidence of why equal time is not appropriate for your child.
The link goes to the legislature's page for the bill rather than to the enacted text. A bill page carries the same title, synopsis and effective date whether the bill passed or died, so it is not on its own evidence that this became law.
Illinois Continues to Refine Maintenance Formula Application
Our record dates this to January 1, 2023No statute or court rule took effect on this date. What is described here is how courts have been deciding, or a requirement that has not changed.
Illinois courts continued refining how the statutory maintenance formula applies in cases with higher combined incomes. The formula applies up to a defined combined gross income threshold, above which courts use discretion. Recent appellate decisions have clarified how factors such as marital standard of living and earning capacity factor into discretionary awards above the threshold.
What this means for you
Illinois couples with combined income near or above the statutory threshold should expect outcomes to depend more on judicial discretion. Documenting marital standard of living and each spouse's earning trajectory is increasingly important for predictable awards.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to Illinois's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
New Jersey Courts Apply 2014 Alimony Reform to Long Marriages
Our record dates this to January 1, 2023No statute or court rule took effect on this date. What is described here is how courts have been deciding, or a requirement that has not changed.
Our copy records New Jersey courts continuing to work out how the 2014 alimony reform applies to marriages that were already long-term when it passed, and reports appellate decisions holding that its durational cap (generally not to exceed the marriage length below 20 years) reaches new filings even where the marriage began before 2014. Neither the reform nor any of those decisions has been read here. The last attempt was 2026-08-06, when both njleg.state.nj.us hosts refused the connection and law.njoag.gov did not resolve, so this entry is our record of the position rather than a reading of it.
What this means for you
If our record is right, a New Jersey couple in a 15 to 20 year marriage divorcing now faces a durational limit where pre-2014 law could have produced an indefinite award. Confirm it with a New Jersey attorney before planning around the term, because we have not opened the statute, and the last time we tried, on 2026-08-06, the state's legislature hosts turned the request down.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to New Jersey's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
Pennsylvania Courts Emphasize Self-Sufficiency in Alimony Awards
Our record dates this to January 1, 2023No statute or court rule took effect on this date. What is described here is how courts have been deciding, or a requirement that has not changed.
Pennsylvania appellate courts issued several decisions in 2022 to 2023 reinforcing that alimony in Pennsylvania should be rehabilitative where possible, emphasizing the receiving spouse's obligation to take steps toward self-sufficiency. Courts are increasingly scrutinizing whether recipients are making reasonable efforts to increase their earning capacity.
What this means for you
Pennsylvania alimony recipients who are capable of working should expect courts to consider their employability and efforts at self-support. Passive receipt of alimony without efforts toward self-sufficiency is increasingly questioned by Pennsylvania courts.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to Pennsylvania's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
Kentucky Updates Child Support Guidelines for Equal Parenting
Our record dates this to July 15, 2022
Our record carries a 2022 Kentucky update to the child support guidelines, bringing them into line with the equal parenting presumption Kentucky already had and adding a route for cases where parenting time is equal or close to it. No Kentucky guideline document has been opened here, and the last time anybody went looking was 2026-08-06, when the one retrieval we tried came back with a different section of the Kentucky code. So the shape of that route is our record rather than a reading of it, and we cannot tell you what it returns.
What this means for you
A Kentucky order in a shared arrangement can come out lower than the plain guideline figure, and that is worth raising with your attorney. Our Kentucky estimate does not apply it: the number on our Kentucky page is the amount before any parenting-time adjustment, and it does not move whatever overnight count you enter, so read it as a starting point rather than as what a shared schedule would produce.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to Kentucky's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
Colorado updated its requirements for parenting plans submitted to family courts, requiring more specificity on decision-making for education, medical care, and extracurricular activities. Courts now review plans more carefully for completeness before acceptance.
What this means for you
Colorado divorcing parents must submit more detailed parenting plans than before. Vague plans that leave major decisions unaddressed will be returned for revision. Working with a family law attorney or mediator to draft a complete plan upfront saves time.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to Colorado's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
Georgia updated its mandatory parenting plan forms used in divorce and custody cases. The updated forms require more detailed provisions for technology use, travel, and notification requirements when either parent relocates. Courts began requiring the new forms for all cases filed after July 1, 2022.
What this means for you
Georgia divorcing parents must use the updated parenting plan forms. The new forms require more upfront decisions about technology, travel, and relocation that may reduce future disputes but require more thought at the time of the divorce.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to Georgia's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
Washington Clarifies Domestic Partnership Dissolution Procedures
Our record dates this to June 1, 2022
Washington updated procedures for dissolving registered domestic partnerships, aligning them more closely with divorce procedures and clarifying how community property rules apply to domestic partnership assets. The changes affect same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples over age 62 who registered domestic partnerships.
What this means for you
Washington domestic partners dissolving their partnership now follow procedures more similar to divorce. If your domestic partnership has significant shared assets, the community property rules apply in the same way they do to marriages.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to Washington's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
Arizona Strengthens Equal Parenting Time Presumption
Our record dates this to January 1, 2022No statute or court rule took effect on this date. What is described here is how courts have been deciding, or a requirement that has not changed.
Arizona courts reinforced the application of the equal parenting time presumption established in 2013. Appellate decisions in 2021 to 2022 clarified that the burden of proof to deviate from 50/50 parenting time rests squarely on the parent seeking deviation, and that general preference for more time is not sufficient grounds to deviate.
What this means for you
Arizona parents seeking more than 50 percent parenting time face a meaningful evidentiary burden. Documented safety concerns, documented history of involvement, or demonstrated impact on the child's schooling or wellbeing are the types of evidence courts look for.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to Arizona's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
Our record carries a Michigan child support formula revision effective January 2021, adjusting the income tables that set base support, and no document behind that revision has been opened here. What has been read is the Michigan Child Support Formula Manual the estimate on this page runs on, so this is the mechanism as it stands. Michigan adjusts for parenting time at every overnight count. MCSF 3.03(B)(1) says an offset for parental time generally applies to every support determination, and 3.03(C) applies it whenever the approximate annual number of overnights can be determined. There is no threshold, no floor and nothing to trigger it: a parent with a handful of nights a year gets an adjustment, and the figure moves smoothly all the way to an even split.
What this means for you
Michigan parents holding an order entered before 2021 may be eligible for a modification review, and a change in income or in overnights is what makes it worth asking for. Do not plan around an overnight threshold. There is no count in the Michigan formula that switches the calculation on, so every night you negotiate moves the number, and the nights nearest an even split move it most. This entry named a threshold here until August 2026. Michigan has none, and the count it named belongs to another state.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to Michigan's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
Tennessee Updates Child Support Guidelines for Shared Parenting
Our record dates this to January 1, 2021
Our record carries a 2021 update to Tennessee's Income Shares child support guidelines, with a revised approach to shared parenting arrangements as the main change. No Tennessee guideline document has been opened here, so how that approach works, and how much it moves a figure, is not something we can tell you.
What this means for you
A Tennessee order in a more equally divided schedule can come out lower than the plain guideline figure, and an order entered before the update may be worth reviewing. Our Tennessee estimate does not apply it: the number on our Tennessee page is the amount before any parenting-time adjustment and does not change with the overnights you enter.
No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to Tennessee's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.
This page tracks notable changes to family law statutes and court interpretations across the United States. We focus on changes that directly affect divorce costs, alimony, child support, property division, and custody outcomes.
Not every entry here rests on the same evidence, and the cards say which is which rather than leaving you to guess. 7 of 23 link the instrument itself: a chapter of the session laws, a signed act, a codified section, a set of published guidelines. The rest link a state judiciary or legislature site without a document behind them, or a page for a bill, and those say so on the card and date the change to our record rather than asserting an effective date for it.
The reason for drawing that line: a bill page carries the same title, synopsis and effective date whether the bill passed or died. One entry here cited a Maryland bill that failed in committee, for a year, under an effective date that was correct because October 1 is the default date for a regular session bill in that state. What its page did not carry was a chapter number, and that is now the thing we look for.
This estimate is for planning purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Consult a licensed family law attorney in your state for guidance specific to your situation.
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