How Oregon calculates spousal support
Oregon calls this "spousal support," and it's built differently than almost any other state in this series. Instead of one all-purpose alimony concept, ORS §107.105(1)(d) splits support into three distinct categories: transitional spousal support, compensatory spousal support, and spousal maintenance. A judge doesn't just pick a number — the judge first decides which category (or categories, since more than one can apply in the same case) fits the facts, then makes findings on the factors tied to that specific category. There's no formula for any of the three; this calculator gives you a non-statutory planning estimate built around whichever category you select above.
Transitional support is meant to bridge someone into or back into the job market — think finishing a degree, getting a certification, or refreshing skills after years out of the workforce. The statute ties it to the education or training a spouse actually needs to prepare for reentry or advancement. The factors a court weighs here are the duration of the marriage, the requesting spouse's training and employment skills, work experience, the financial needs and resources of each party, tax consequences, custodial and child-support responsibilities, and — as with every category — a catch-all for any other factor the court finds just and equitable. Practitioners commonly see transitional awards run somewhere between six months and three years, tied to how long the actual training program takes; that range is a professional convention, not a number written into the statute.
Compensatory support looks backward rather than forward. It applies when one spouse made a significant financial or other contribution to building the other spouse's education, training, vocational skills, career, or earning capacity — the classic example is a spouse who worked and paid the bills while the other went through a professional degree program. The factors here focus on the amount, duration, and nature of that contribution, the length of the marriage, the gap in earning capacity between the spouses, how much the marital estate already benefited from the contribution, and tax consequences, plus the same just-and-equitable catch-all. Because this category is about repaying a specific investment rather than covering ongoing need, there's no practitioner duration benchmark behind this page for it — the term is set by the court based on the value of what was contributed.
Spousal maintenance is the closest thing Oregon has to what people usually picture when they hear "alimony" — an ongoing contribution to support, for either a specified or an indefinite period. It carries the longest factor list of the three: 11 enumerated considerations covering the length of the marriage, each spouse's age, physical and mental and emotional health, the standard of living during the marriage, each spouse's relative income and earning capacity, training and employment skills, work experience, financial needs and resources, tax consequences, custodial and child-support responsibilities, and the just-and-equitable catch-all. Practitioners commonly describe maintenance duration scaling with marriage length — sometimes summarized as roughly a year of support per three years of marriage — running toward indefinite in marriages of 20 years or more. That ratio, again, is a professional rule of thumb, not statutory text.
One rule applies across all three categories, and it's written directly into ORS §107.105(1)(d) itself rather than left to a judge's discretion: unless the judgment expressly says otherwise, liability for spousal support ends when either spouse dies. Oregon is also a no-fault divorce state, and that shows up in these factor lists — marital misconduct, including adultery, is not a named factor for transitional, compensatory, or maintenance support. Each category does carry a catch-all for "any other factor the court deems just and equitable," which in theory could touch on other considerations, but fault itself is never listed by name in any of the three factor sets.
You may see references to a 2025 change to ORS 107.105 and wonder whether Oregon overhauled its alimony rules. It didn't. 2025 c.592 (Senate Bill 163) is a parentage-terminology bill — it updates gendered language across dozens of Oregon family-law statutes and conforms references tied to gestational surrogacy and assisted reproduction. The amendment to 107.105 is one small piece of that broader terminology cleanup, not a rewrite of the three-category support framework or its factors. If a source calls this an "Oregon alimony reform," that's an overstatement worth correcting.
Last reviewed: July 2026. Statute citation: ORS §107.105(1)(d) (spousal support categories and factors).
Primary source: read the official Oregon statute text →
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Oregon have an alimony formula?
No. ORS 107.105(1)(d) gives judges three distinct categories of spousal support — transitional, compensatory, and maintenance — and a list of factors for each, but no calculation formula for any of them.
What are Oregon's three types of spousal support?
Transitional spousal support helps a spouse get education or training to reenter or advance in the job market. Compensatory spousal support repays a spouse who significantly contributed to the other's education, training, or career. Spousal maintenance is an ongoing contribution to support for a specified or indefinite period.
Does spousal support end when the paying spouse dies in Oregon?
Yes, by default. ORS 107.105(1)(d) states that liability for spousal support terminates on the death of either party, unless the judgment expressly provides otherwise.
Does adultery affect alimony in Oregon?
No. Oregon is a no-fault divorce state, and marital misconduct is not a named factor in any of the three ORS 107.105(1)(d) support categories. Each category has a catch-all for other just and equitable factors, but fault itself is never listed by name.
Did Oregon reform its alimony law in 2025?
Not substantively. 2025 c.592 (Senate Bill 163) is a parentage-terminology bill that updates gendered language across many Oregon family-law statutes, including a conforming amendment to ORS 107.105. It is not a rewrite of the spousal support categories or factors.