Yes, you can get a reverse mortgage if you are receiving alimony, when occupancy, title, and residual income still pass. Jay Zayer, CRMP, is a reverse mortgage specialist at reversemortgage.coach. HUD does not print an alimony deny in 24 CFR Part 206. Spousal support is income on the financial assessment, or it is not documented enough to count. A family-court caption is not a HUD bar. A handshake from an ex-spouse is not underwriting.
A common scenario: Hester, 64, occupies a paid-off house in Oceanside, California, and deposits monthly support under a judgment. If the order is current, the deposits match, and leftover income can carry property charges — with a LESA if required — the file can be an ordinary origination. If the order ended last year and the checks are a courtesy, I will not treat courtesy as income.
A HECM remains FHA-insured. Alimony is not a government support rider on the note.
Does receiving alimony by itself qualify or deny a HECM?
Neither. 24 CFR 206.33 age, 24 CFR 206.39 occupancy, and 24 CFR 206.35 title still decide the rest of the stack. Mortgagee Letters 2014-21 and 2014-22 still test whether leftover income can carry taxes, insurance, and other charges. Documented alimony can help that test. It cannot invent occupancy. See disability income for another income type. Stay here for support.
Hester’s leftover cash still tracks the mid-30s to low-50s of value after age and expected rate. I will not quote a live cell. Run the worksheet after the real residual-income numbers, not after a hoped-for court increase.
How do Mortgagee Letters 2014-21 and 2014-22 treat spousal support?
As a financial-assessment exhibit when it is verified and likely to continue. I will not invent a HUD remaining-term table or a haircut percentage. Confirm the live overlay with the underwriter. Needs-Jay already has parallel items on irregular-income and self-employed haircuts. The same rule applies here: do not publish a number HUD did not print.
If residual income requires a LESA, that set-aside is still origination-only. A LESA holds estimated taxes and insurance. It does not replace Hester’s support check. Servicing cannot add a LESA later because the order expired.
Mortgagee Letter 2017-12 still charges 2.00% initial MIP of claim amount on an alimony-income HECM. Annual MIP is 0.50% of outstanding balance. 2026 files still use the $1,249,125 cap in Mortgagee Letter 2025-22. Origination is still capped at $6,000 under 24 CFR 206.31. A support order does not discount MIP.
Counseling still costs $125–$175. The HUD certificate lasts 180 days. California Civil Code 1923.2(k) still adds seven days after counseling on Hester’s Oceanside file. Do not start that clock on a verbal promise.
What if alimony is about to end?
Then residual income has to work without it, or the file waits. A balloon of unpaid arrears that recorded as a lien is a title payoff, not income. See judgment lien. Paying lawful support from leftover HECM draws is allowed as a personal expense after mandatory obligations, subject to 24 CFR 206.25 first-year caps. Amounts vary by age, home value, and rates. I will not promise the ex-spouse gets paid in full.
A second geography: a 67-year-old in Mesa whose Arizona support deposits hit the same account as Social Security. Same federal residual-income test. Arizona has no 1923.2(k) pause. Documentation still has to match the order.
An adjustable HECM after support is verified still accrues at 1-month CMT plus lender margin. Expected rate still rounds to 0.125% under 24 CFR 206.3. Jay still quotes about 30 days on a complete refinance after the income paper is real, not while the order is a rumor.
Heirs who later keep Hester’s house repay the outstanding loan balance under 24 CFR 206.125(a)(2)(i). A support order does not rewrite that subsection.
Who should not originate on a verbal support promise?
This path does not help a household that wants me to count a text from an ex as income. I will not. Occupancy is still 24 CFR 206.39. I work with multiple lenders. I will originate when support is documented and residual income is real. I will turn away a courtesy-check file whose only exhibit is last Thanksgiving.
Can leftover HECM cash pay alimony arrears at closing?
Leftover funds after mandatory obligations may pay lawful personal debts, subject to 24 CFR 206.25 first-year caps. Amounts vary by age, home value, and rates. A recorded support lien is a title payoff. Hester’s Oceanside current order is income. Mesa deposits that match an Arizona order are the same federal residual-income test. A text from an ex is not.
I will not promise the family-court balance disappears. I will not count courtesy checks as verified continuing income. Documented remaining term still has to cover residual-income months the underwriter will count. A handshake from an ex-spouse is still not that table. Hester’s Oceanside decree is the exhibit. Confirm remaining-term overlays with the underwriter. I will not invent a HUD alimony-duration chart.