New Hampshire

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 65 out of 100

New Hampshire presumes an equal split of all property either spouse owns, including property from before the marriage, and sets term alimony by a formula of 23 percent of the income gap for no more than half the length of the marriage. Judges can depart from both when justice requires, and fees shift only on a showing of need and ability to pay. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” New Hampshire ranks 16 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	10 / 20	Divisible property includes all property ‘belonging to either or both parties’, and the court ‘shall presume that an equal division is an equitable distribution’ unless listed factors, including premarital, gifted and inherited property, make an equal division inappropriate. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 458:16-a, I-II
Alimony	0 / 20	Term alimony is the lesser of the payee’s reasonable need or 23 percent of the difference in gross incomes, and lasts at most 50 percent of the length of the marriage, unless the parties agree or the court finds that justice requires an adjustment for listed special circumstances. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 458:19-a, II-IV
Fault	15 / 20	Fault counts in property division only if it caused the breakdown of the marriage and caused substantial physical or mental pain and suffering or substantial economic loss, while ‘the conduct of either party during the marriage, including abuse… or fault’ is a listed ground for adjusting the alimony formula and duration. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 458:16-a, II(l); 458:19-a, IV(g)
Lawyers’ fees	20 / 20	Each party ordinarily pays its own fees, but in divorce cases the court has discretion to award fees on a finding of ‘need on the part of one party and ability to pay on the part of the other’. In re Hampers, 154 N.H. 275 (2006) (quoting DePalantino v. DePalantino, 139 N.H. 522 (1995))
Second opinion	20 / 20	No rule was found that lets a divorce party remove the assigned judge without cause, and property and alimony are decided by the judge without a jury. None located (not yet checked against the source)

Getting in

No waiting period. Both people, each at least 18, apply in person to any town or city clerk, show photo ID or a birth certificate, and bring a certified divorce decree or death record if previously married. There is no waiting period, and the license is good for 90 days from filing.
RSA 457:4, 457:23, 457:26, 457:29, 5-C:42

Who can marry you. Justices of the peace, listed judges, resident ministers ordained by their denomination, licensed unordained clergy and rabbis may officiate, and any individual can apply for an $85 special license for one civil ceremony; Quaker marriages in their customary form are the one route without an officiant. The statute does not address online ordination, but a marriage is not void if either spouse believed the officiant authorized.
RSA 457:31, 457:31-a, 457:31-b, 457:32-b, 457:36

Common-law marriage: Only for a limited purpose. New Hampshire recognizes this only at death: a couple who lived together, acknowledged each other as spouses and were generally reputed to be married for three years, until one died, are treated as having been married. Marriages legally contracted elsewhere are recognized, but no case was found applying that to out-of-state common-law marriages.
RSA 457:39, 457:3; In re Estate of Buttrick, 134 N.H. 675 (1991); In re Mallett, 163 N.H. 202 (2012)

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

New Hampshire is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. New Hampshire is an all-property state: property includes everything belonging to either spouse, however titled, acquired up to the decree. The judge presumes an equal division is equitable but may depart after weighing factors, including premarital and inherited property and each spouse’s actions that raised or lowered a property’s value.
RSA 458:16-a, I-II; In re Preston, 147 N.H. 48 (2001); In re Heinrich, 164 N.H. 357 (2012)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

A judge can reach it either way. A New Hampshire judge can divide all property of either spouse, inherited or not, whether or not it touched a joint account, and may award an inheritance to the spouse who inherited it if that is equitable. No appellate decision on an inheritance deposited into a joint account was found.
RSA 458:16-a, I, II(n); In re Preston, 147 N.H. 48 (2001); In the Matter of Braga-Pillsbury, No. 2017-0656 (N.H. July 13, 2018) (order)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

The spouse who got the care pays first. The New Hampshire Supreme Court made the necessaries doctrine reciprocal between spouses and held that the spouse who received the goods or services is primarily liable and the other spouse is liable only if the recipient’s resources are insufficient; the creditor must first seek payment from the recipient.
Cheshire Medical Center v. Holbrook, 140 N.H. 187 (1995)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

A surviving spouse who waives the will takes, from the estate left after debts and administration expenses, one-third of the personalty and realty if the decedent left issue; if no issue but a parent or sibling, $10,000 of each plus one-half of the remainder; if neither, $10,000 plus $2,000 per full year of marriage plus one-half of the remainder; the share is computed on the probate estate.
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 560:10

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

Two looks, under own short statute (RSA 460:2-a) plus case law (MacFarlane 1989; Hollett 2003). A prenuptial agreement is presumed valid unless the challenger proves it was obtained through fraud, duress, mistake, misrepresentation or nondisclosure of a material fact, that it is unconscionable, or that the facts and circumstances have so changed since execution that enforcement would work an unconscionable hardship beyond the parties’ contemplation.
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 460:2-a; MacFarlane v. Rich, 132 N.H. 608 (1989); In re Estate of Hollett, 150 N.H. 39 (2003)

What an agreement needs. The contract must be written and may not abrogate the statutory or common-law rights of the couple’s minor children; no notarization, witnesses, waiting period, or counsel requirement is set by statute, but in Hollett an agreement first shown to the bride less than 48 hours before the wedding, reviewed with a lawyer arranged and paid for by the groom’s side the day before, was set aside for duress.
N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 460:2-a; In re Estate of Hollett, 150 N.H. 39 (2003)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. The parents’ combined net income is multiplied by a percentage set by income and number of children, then split in proportion to income. Support ends at 18, or at high school graduation for a full-time student, no later than two months after turning 19, and a judge cannot order college costs unless the parents agree in a court-approved stipulated decree.
RSA 458-C:3, 461-A:14, IV-V, 461-A:21

Moving away with a child. A parent may not relocate a child without a court order unless needed for safety, and 60 days’ notice is presumed reasonable. The moving parent must first show a legitimate purpose and a reasonable location, and the burden then shifts to the other parent to prove the move is not in the child’s best interest.
RSA 461-A:12

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: one year. A spouse filing alone generally needs one year of domicile in New Hampshire, with no minimum if both spouses are domiciled there when the case starts or the other spouse is personally served in the state. The cause must also arise while the filer is domiciled there, though irreconcilable differences that continue after the move count. Where the marriage took place does not matter.
RSA 458:5, 458:6; Woodruff v. Woodruff, 114 N.H. 365, 320 A.2d 661 (1974)

How long it takes. A judge must grant a divorce for irreconcilable differences that caused the irremediable breakdown, regardless of fault, with no separation or statutory waiting period. One spouse’s wish to stay married does not bar it, though a judge may first continue the case if reconciliation seems possible. A contested decree takes effect on the 31st day after the clerk’s notice; an agreed decree takes effect when signed.
RSA 458:7-a, 458:7-b; N.H. Fam. Div. R. 2.29; Desrochers v. Desrochers, 115 N.H. 591, 347 A.2d 150 (1975)

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 396 days from arrival to a final decree (365 days of residence + 31 until a contested decree takes effect; no statutory wait before the hearing). Courts often take longer.

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in New Hampshire and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a New Hampshire lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in New Hampshire” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.