When getting divorced in Texas, there are a few different issues to consider – like property division, child custody, and spousal support. While it is not available in every case, spousal support (or Spousal Maintenance as it’s officially called in Texas) is the court-ordered payment from one spouse to another after a divorce. Alimony is a term most have heard, but in Texas, the term is Spousal Maintenance.
Spousal support is not automatic in a Texas divorce. However, parties can agree to contractual alimony in mediation or settlement. However, in certain situations, the court may consider a spouse’s request for spousal maintenance. With the help of a seasoned Austin spousal support attorney, you may be able to successfully seek – or oppose – spousal maintenance as part of a divorce.
At the Law Office of Jason Wright, our team has extensive experience handling spousal maintenance issues and can provide you with effective advocacy at every step of the process. We will ensure that your rights are represented and do everything that we can to ensure that whatever arrangements are made reflects your best interests. Contact our law firm today to schedule a consultation with a member of our legal team.
Alimony – or spousal support in Texas – is the financial support that one spouse provides to their ex after a divorce or separation. The goal of spousal maintenance is to help a lower-earning spouse maintain their standard of living after a divorce and adjust to a new life. In Texas, spousal support is not automatically ordered.
Under state law, the party seeking spousal maintenance must prove to the court that they are eligible. Either spouse may request maintenance in Texas, but a person can only qualify for support in limited situations. There are specific ways in which a spouse is eligible for spousal maintenance.
To qualify for spousal maintenance, the requesting party (dependent spouse) must first show that they won’t have enough property to provide for their minimum reasonable needs after the divorce. If they can prove that, they will then need to prove that at least one of the following circumstances exist in order to be awarded spousal maintenance.
If a couple was married for at least ten (10) years, either spouse may qualify to receive spousal maintenance. However, to establish eligibility on this basis, the requesting spouse must show that they lack the assets or income to provide for their reasonable needs.
Even for a lengthy marriage, spousal support may not be granted if both parties are able to earn enough money – or if they have enough assets – to provide for themselves. In Texas, the purpose of alimony is to provide financial support to a spouse who can’t otherwise provide for themselves, so if both spouses are financially stable, then spousal support typically won’t be ordered even for a longer marriage.
In addition, the dependent spouse may qualify for spousal maintenance if they are disabled, or caring for a minor child with a disability, and cannot earn an income that would provide for their reasonable needs as a result.
For example, if the parties have a minor child who requires significant care because of a developmental disability, then the requesting spouse may qualify for spousal support if they can’t work because of the hours that they must devote to taking care of their child. Similarly, if the dependent spouse is unable to work and provide for themselves because of their own physical or mental disability, they could qualify for spousal maintenance.
If the party from whom spousal maintenance is sought was convicted of a family violence offense within two years of filing for divorce or received deferred adjudication for such an offense, the other spouse may qualify for spousal support. However, the offense must have been committed against the spouse seeking maintenance or their children. For these purposes, the length of the marriage is irrelevant. In this situation, a court may award spousal maintenance for up to five years.
While Texas courts will not award alimony in every case, spouses can agree on their own. Often, these agreements come up in the form of prenuptial or postnuptial agreements, which are contracts between spouses entered into before or after the marriage is finalized. In this context, the parties can agree to whatever duration of spousal maintenance payments they see fit. A judge will approve or disapprove of these agreements before issuing a divorce decree.
If one of these qualifying circumstances (such as disability or domestic violence) is not present, the requesting spouse must prove that they have tried to earn sufficient income to meet their minimum needs. Specifically, the dependent spouse must show that they have either tried to earn enough income or develop the skills to earn a steady income while the couple was separated and the divorce process was ongoing. In other words, it often is not enough to simply say that you can’t earn enough to support yourself – you must prove that you have tried to do so.
For example, consider a situation where one spouse is a high-earning medical doctor while the other spouse (who has a master’s degree) left their job in human resources to stay home and take care of the kids. If they divorce after 20 years of marriage, the requesting spouse would not be awarded alimony without proving that they couldn’t get a job that would pay them enough to meet their basic needs. Even though their soon-to-be-ex earns significantly more money than they likely would, the dependent spouse does not necessarily qualify for spousal support.
Of course, each situation is unique – and there are circumstances where the spouse in this example would qualify for spousal maintenance. The best way to protect your rights is to work with an experienced Austin spousal support attorney who can explain your options and advocate for your best interests.
In Texas, a court may order temporary spousal maintenance while the parties are separated and until the divorce is finalized. The purpose of temporary spousal support is to try to keep the parties on equal footing while the divorce is pending. Without this type of support, some people might not be able to leave their spouses – which is why it is so important.
Of course, divorce can be expensive. At a minimum, the couple is switching from maintaining one household to two. If one spouse requests temporary maintenance, the court will examine the couple’s financial situation and make a determination that is fair based on these circumstances.
If the court determines that spousal maintenance is appropriate, it still must determine the amount of the maintenance payments. The court will consider a variety of factors, including:
A court awarding spousal maintenance is limited in the amount it requires a spouse to pay. Typically, the maximum monthly payments equal the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income. A person’s monthly gross income includes money received from all sources, including a job, Social Security benefits, disability benefits, and more.
If the court determines spousal maintenance is appropriate, the payments may be ordered for up to 10 years, depending on the length of the marriage:
These periods of time are considered the maximum length that spousal maintenance may be awarded. However, there are exceptions to this rule. A court may order maintenance for a shorter period of time until the requesting spouse can become self-sufficient. In addition, spousal maintenance may be ordered for a longer period of time if there is a compelling reason why the dependent spouse cannot become self-supporting, such as their own disability or the need to care for a minor child.
In addition to these time limitations, spousal maintenance will end if and when the dependent spouse either remarries or moves in with a romantic partner on a continuing basis. For example, if a spouse was awarded spousal maintenance for 10 years but gets married 3 years after the divorce was finalized, then their spousal support payments will end.
It is possible to change a spousal maintenance order in Texas – but only to decrease or terminate alimony. Generally, if there has been a substantial and material change in circumstances since the date of the divorce, then the support order could be modified. For example, if the paying spouse becomes disabled and is unable to work, then they could seek to have their support obligations reduced or even eliminated.
If you see divorce on the horizon and are concerned about how spousal maintenance may play into the process, reach out to the Law Office of Jason Wright for immediate assistance. Attorney Jason Wright is a skilled Austin divorce lawyer with extensive experience handling some of the most complex and contested divorces, including those involving requests for spousal maintenance.
He takes a practical approach to every case he handles, attempting to resolve as many issues as possible through agreement to decrease the stress and anxiety that often comes along with going through a divorce. However, as an experienced litigator, Attorney Jason Wright is prepared to aggressively advocate on your behalf when your spouse is unwilling to come to a fair agreement. To learn more and to schedule a confidential consultation, call 512-706-9662 today. You can also reach us through our online contact form.
“Jason is very professional and friendly. He patiently explained everything as many times as I needed and made the law easier to understand. Gave great advice and listened to all of my suggestions walking me through if they would work or not.”
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