Divorce Recovery Budget Calculator

Rebuild finances post-divorce with income changes, legal fees, transition costs, and emergency fund timeline.

Inputs

Post-divorce income/mo ($)

Alimony received/mo ($)

Child support received/mo ($)

New housing cost/mo ($)

Legal fees remaining ($)

Tab to move between fields

Results

Total monthly income ($)

$4,800.00

≈ 5 smartphones

Needs budget ($)$2,880.00

After housing & legal ($)$3,183.00

Legal fee payment/mo ($)$417.00

One-time transition costs ($)$4,800.00

Months to emergency fund27

Wants Budget$960.00

Monthly Surplus1,743

Housing Ratio25%

How to Use This Calculator

Enter your post-divorce monthly income, along with any alimony and child support you receive.
Enter your new monthly housing cost and the legal fees still outstanding from the divorce.
Review your total monthly income and the automatic needs, wants, and debt/savings budget split.
Check what's left after housing and the monthly legal fee payment (spread over 12 months), plus the one-time transition cost estimate for moving and setup.
Use the months-to-emergency-fund estimate to see how long it will take to build a 3-month income cushion.

How the result changes with Post-divorce income/mo ($)

Post-divorce income/mo ($)	Total monthly income ($)
5,000	$6,300.00
17,500	$18,800.00
32,500	$33,800.00
45,000	$46,300.00

What each input means

Post-divorce income/mo ($): Your monthly take-home pay.
Alimony received/mo ($): Monthly alimony/spousal support received.
Child support received/mo ($): Monthly child support received.
New housing cost/mo ($): Rent for new living situation.
Legal fees remaining ($): Outstanding attorney and court fees.

What each result means

Total monthly income ($): All income sources combined.
Needs budget ($): 60% for essentials during recovery.
After housing & legal ($): Remaining after fixed obligations.
Legal fee payment/mo ($): Monthly payment on 12-month plan.
One-time transition costs ($): Estimated moving, deposits, furnishing.
Months to emergency fund: Time to build 3-month emergency fund.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Post-divorce income/mo ($) = 3500, Alimony received/mo ($) = 500, Child support received/mo ($) = 800, New housing cost/mo ($) = 1200 = 5 input(s) provided
Calculate Total monthly income
Total monthly income = postDivorceIncome + alimonyReceived + childSupportReceived
4800 = $4,800
Calculate Needs budget
Needs budget
2880 = $2,880
Calculate After housing & legal
After housing & legal = totalIncome - newHousingCost - legalFeeMonthly
3183 = $3,183

Engine last updated August 6, 2026. Checked against 2 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators.

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