The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (President Trump's tax reform passed at the end of 2018) ended the alimony tax deduction for divorce agreements starting on January 1, 2019.  For an explanation of this tax law change see our previous post:  The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 Includes a Divorce “Penalty” . In Massachusetts our alimony statute includes a formula for calculating the maximum general term alimony in a divorce case.  However, this formula was created with the intention that alimony was tax-deductible to the payor and taxable income to the recipient.  Under §53 general term alimony is capped at the recipient’s “need” or 30-35% of the difference in the parties’ gross incomes.   Since the act was passed, the courts have clarified that “need” is a relative term and must reflect the parties' marital lifestyle in addition to other mandatory considerations contained in § 53(a).  For a more in depth analysis of the statute and subsequent cases, s...