How spousal maintenance works in Texas
Texas does not use a formula for alimony. The Family Code sets who may ask for it, a monthly ceiling and a time limit. Inside those limits the judge decides whether to order it, how much and for how long. The calculator above shows the limits for your numbers. It cannot tell you what a court will order.
Who is eligible
A court may order maintenance only if the spouse asking for it will lack enough property, including separate property, to meet minimum reasonable needs, and meets one of these tests (Tex. Fam. Code §8.051):
- The other spouse was convicted of, or received deferred adjudication for, family violence against the spouse or the spouse's child, and the offense happened within two years before the divorce was filed or while it is pending.
- The spouse cannot earn enough because of an incapacitating physical or mental disability.
- The spouses were married 10 years or longer and the spouse lacks the ability to earn enough.
- The spouse is the custodian of a child of the marriage, of any age, who needs substantial care because of a disability that keeps the spouse from earning enough.
For the 10-year marriage ground there is a rebuttable presumption against maintenance unless the spouse has been diligent in earning income or developing skills, during the separation and while the case is pending (§8.053).
What the judge weighs
Section 8.052 lists the factors. They include each spouse's ability to meet minimum reasonable needs, education and employment skills, the length of the marriage, age and earning ability, the effect of child support or maintenance on the payer's needs, wasteful or fraudulent spending of property, contributions to the other spouse's education or earning power, property brought into the marriage, homemaker contributions, marital misconduct and any history of family violence.
The monthly limit
Maintenance cannot be more than the lesser of $5,000 or 20% of the paying spouse's average monthly gross income (§8.055). At $9,000 a month of gross income, 20% is $1,800, so $1,800 is the ceiling. Gross income here includes wages, interest, dividends, royalties, self-employment and net rental income. It leaves out items such as public assistance and Social Security or disability benefits.
The time limit
| Length of marriage | Longest order |
|---|---|
| Under 10 years (family violence ground only) | 5 years |
| 10 to 20 years | 5 years |
| 20 to 30 years | 7 years |
| 30 years or more | 10 years |
The statute's ranges both include a marriage of exactly 20 years, and both include exactly 30 years, without saying which limit applies on that anniversary; the calculator shows both figures only in those two cases and asks for months so that, for example, 20 years and 6 months shows only the 7-year limit. The clock runs from the date of the order. Even within these limits, the court must keep the order to the shortest reasonable period that lets the spouse earn enough, unless a disability, the care of an infant or young child, or another compelling impediment gets in the way (§8.054). For a spouse who qualifies because of their own disability or a disabled child, the order can last as long as the criteria are met, with periodic review if either side asks.
When it ends
The duty to pay future maintenance ends when either person dies or the recipient remarries. After a hearing, the court must also end it if the recipient lives with a dating or romantic partner in a permanent home on a continuing basis (§8.056). Maintenance already due stays owed.
Maintenance and child support
Maintenance is separate from child support. A Texas court may take alimony paid or received into account when it looks at whether to depart from the child support guideline. See the Texas child support calculator for that side.