How else could one know what is fair?
The Alimony Calculator determines each spouse's net disposable income after child support, income taxes, FICA/Medicare, and other obligations — so practitioners and judges can see, with precision, what each party will actually have to live on each month.
The Calculator is an essential tool for practitioners and judges in the South Carolina Family Court. It accounts for every factor that meaningfully alters a party's bottom line, and presents the full picture in a single, readable analysis.
Enter the parties' income and basic facts — the Calculator handles the rest, automatically computing the:
- Income taxes of each party (factoring in alimony)
- FICA and Medicare taxes (including self-employment taxes)
- Earned Income Tax Credit
- Alternative Minimum Tax
- Child support obligations of the noncustodial parent
- True, net after-tax cost or benefit of the alimony
A fair number is a visible one.
Alimony decisions turn on a question that is easy to ask and surprisingly hard to answer — what will each party actually have to live on?
Gross income figures rarely tell the story. Once child support is paid, taxes are withheld, FICA is deducted, and credits are factored in, the picture can shift dramatically — and a number that looked equitable on paper can leave one household comfortable and the other unable to make rent.
The Calculator collapses that arithmetic into a single readable analysis. Practitioners can model an alimony figure and see, line by line, what each spouse takes home after every meaningful adjustment. Judges can test the parties' proposals against the same framework. The tool does not decide what is fair, but it makes the consequences of any proposed number visible — which, in the end, is what allows a fair decision to be made.