Most people walk away from divorce court with a stack of paperwork they never read again. Then, months later, they decide to buy a house and discover that a single line—'Husband shall pay Wife $1,500 per month for 60 months'—can swing their qualifying amount by $40,000. That feels terrifying, but it's actually predictable math.

Mortgage guidelines treat alimony as either a debt or income, never both. If you're paying, we add the monthly amount to your other obligations. If you're receiving, we add it to your gross income—provided it hits the stability tests. The key is knowing which loan program applies the gentlest test. FHA wants six months of payment history and a three-year continuance. VA is similar but allows a letter from a divorce attorney in place of a court order. Conventional loans let us gross-up non-taxable support by 25%, which can offset a lower credit score.

At NMHL we run two sets of numbers before you ever pay for an appraisal: one using standard guidelines and one using the loopholes most banks forget—like excluding alimony from DTI on bank-statement loans or counting future raises documented by an employer letter. The difference can turn a denial into an approval overnight.

Underwriters love patterns. Give them a clean six-month pattern of support payments and they'll check their box. The magic trio is:

• Your final divorce decree (every page—not just the signature page)
• Bank statements showing the deposits labeled as support
• A letter from your attorney or ex stating payments will continue for three years

But here are the two silent killers we pre-empt: missing memo lines and irregular amounts. If your ex sometimes pays $1,400 and sometimes $1,600, we need a simple one-page spreadsheet showing the average equals the court-ordered amount. If the memo is blank, we have your ex write 'alimony for [month/year]' on a piece of paper, sign it, and upload it. Five minutes of work saves two weeks of underwriting delays.

National Mortgage Home Loans keeps these templates in a shared folder; you download, fill, and email back. No legal fees, no 60-day waiting games.

Last month Miguel, a diesel mechanic in Tucson, thought he'd never qualify. He pays $800 in child support for two kids and takes home $5,200. His bank showed a 45% debt-to-income ratio—too high for their 5%-down conventional loan. Here's what we did:

• Switched him to FHA, which lets us exclude child support from DTI if the kids live with him more than 50% of the year—documentation took one school attendance record
• Added the $600 monthly child support he receives for his oldest daughter, grossing it up 15% because it's non-taxable
• Used NMHL's CredBoost rapid re-score to remove an old $40 medical collection, lifting his mid-score from 615 to 652 in 10 days

Result: new DTI 37%, approved for $285,000 with $9,975 down. Closing took 28 days start to finish. Miguel's realtor later told us two other lenders had turned him down because they ran conventional numbers only.

Your situation might be the mirror image—receiving support and worried it won't count—but the principle is identical: run the right program, show the right paper, and the door opens wider than you imagined.

Maybe your support ends in 18 months and you don't have a big raise on the horizon. You still have options. Some borrowers use a bridge strategy: buy now with FHA counting the support, then refinance into a conventional loan once you've built 24 months of payment history and 10% equity. The equity growth in many markets does the heavy lifting.

Others choose a Non-QM bank-statement loan that qualifies you off 12 months of business or personal cash flow, ignoring alimony altogether. Rates run 1–1.5% higher, but you can refinance into a lower-rate conventional product once your financial picture stabilizes. Think of it as a bridge, not a life sentence.

NMHL's 2-Step Exit Planner maps both routes side by side so you can see break-even points, total interest, and minimum timeframes. We update it quarterly with current market rates and your actual prepayment penalties (many of our Non-QM loans have none after year three).

The worst choice is waiting on the sidelines while home prices rise faster than your savings account. We've seen clients lose $30,000 of affordability in nine months because they feared a slightly higher rate today.

Nothing feels better than watching an underwriter type 'Approved' after months of sleepless nights. The fastest path is a 15-minute call with an NMHL loan officer who specializes in divorce-related income. Bring your last two pay stubs, last two years of tax returns, and your decree (even if it's not final). We'll run two scenarios while you're on the phone and email you a Pre-Approval Letter you can hand to any realtor today.

If you're not quite ready to talk, text 'ALIMONY' to (888) 964-LOAN and we'll send a link to our income calculator plus a checklist you can tick off at your own pace. Either way, you leave with numbers, not maybes.

National Mortgage Home Loans is licensed in 29 states and carries every major loan program—FHA, VA, USDA, conventional, Non-QM, bank statement, and ITIN—so we can pivot if the first answer isn't the best one. No surprises, no hidden fees, and we never charge an application fee until you've chosen your program and locked your rate.

You've already survived the hard part—life after divorce. Let us handle the spreadsheet.