Louisiana final periodic support eligibility
Louisiana final periodic support requires more than the one-third ceiling calculation.
Civil Code Article 111 authorizes final periodic support for a party who is in need of support and free from fault before the filing of the proceeding to terminate the marriage, subject to the following articles. [1]
Article 112 directs the court to consider the parties’ income and means, financial obligations, earning capacity, child-custody effects on earning capacity, education or training time, health and age, marriage duration, tax consequences, and domestic abuse. The court also considers the claimant’s need and the other party’s ability to pay. [2]
Louisiana final periodic support ceiling
Ordinary final periodic support cannot exceed one-third of the obligor’s net income.
Article 112(D) states that the sum awarded under the article shall not exceed one-third of the obligor’s net income. The calculator applies that fraction and shows the annual and monthly ceiling. [2]
Ordinary ceiling = one-third of obligor net income.
The ceiling is not the amount the court must award. A lower amount or no award may result after the court applies need, ability to pay, fault, and the other statutory factors.
Louisiana statutory exceptions
Some domestic-abuse and specified fault-based divorce cases are not limited by the one-third ceiling.
Article 112(D) states that when support follows certain fault-based divorce judgments or when the court determines that a spouse or child was the victim of domestic abuse by the other spouse, support may exceed one-third of the obligor’s net income and may be awarded as a lump sum. This calculator does not attempt to decide whether an exception applies. [2]
Questions about the Louisiana alimony calculation.
Is Louisiana final spousal support always limited to one-third of net income?
No. One-third is the ordinary ceiling in Article 112(D), but the statute contains exceptions for specified fault-based divorce and domestic-abuse circumstances.
Does a one-third result mean the recipient will receive that amount?
No. The result is a maximum for the ordinary statutory branch. The court still decides entitlement, need, ability to pay, amount, and duration.
Does Louisiana call this alimony?
Louisiana Civil Code uses the term “spousal support.” This page uses “alimony calculator” in the page title because that is common everyday search language, while the explanation uses the statutory term.
Louisiana alimony sources and calculator limits
- 01Louisiana Legislature: Civil Code Article 111, spousal support authority
- 02Louisiana Legislature: Civil Code Article 112, final periodic support
Public-source check: September 6, 2026. Current calculator rules release: 0.18.0. Source checking and automated testing are not attorney review or a guarantee of legal correctness.