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Can your spouse get spousal maintenance a.k.a. “Alimony” in a Texas divorce?
- Texas Attorney Ryan Putz
- Mar 17, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 24, 2023
Spousal “Maintenance” is when a divorcing spouse is awarded periodic support payments that are paid from the future income of the other spouse. Spousal Maintenance is also known to many as “Alimony.” In Texas, we call it Spousal Maintenance.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE?
Generally speaking, in a Texas divorce proceeding, either spouse may be eligible for spousal maintenance when the spouses have been married for 10 years or longer, AND the spouse seeking the maintenance lacks sufficient property and ability to earn sufficient income at the time of the divorce in order to provide for their MINIMUM REASONABLE NEEDS. There are other ways for a spouse to claim eligibility for maintenance, including acts of family violence by the non-requesting spouse and whether the requesting spouse or any children have disabilities that require special care. For purposes of this article, I will not be going into depth on maintenance eligibility based on family violence, or when a spouse or child requires maintenance due to disabilities.
THE PRESUMPTION IN TEXAS IS THAT NO SPOUSE SHOULD GET SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE
A spouse seeking spousal maintenance must request it. If the requesting spouse fails to include a request for spousal maintenance in their divorce pleadings, eligibility will not be determined by the court and spousal maintenance will not be ordered. If the request is properly made, the burden of proof falls on the requesting spouse to rebut and overcome the presumption that neither spouse should get spousal maintenance. This means that the requesting spouse would need to show that the property division in the divorce does not allow the spouse to provide for their Minimum Reasonable Needs, and then additionally show the requesting spouse lacks the ability to earn sufficient income to provide for their Minimum Reasonable Needs.
WHAT CONSTITUTES “MINIMUM REASONABLE NEEDS”?
The Texas Family Code does not provide a specific definition for Minimum Reasonable Needs, but it is exactly what it sounds like – MINIMUM. REASONABLE. NEEDS. – and as it pertains to the requesting spouse, not the children. It is important to understand that Spousal Maintenance is distinct from Child Support, they have nothing to do with one another. Child Support is for the support of the kiddos, and Spousal Maintenance is for the support of the spouse.
Section 8.055 of the Texas Family Code limits the amount of maintenance that can be ordered by a Texas court, and provides as follows:
“(a) A court may not order maintenance that requires an obligor to pay monthly more than the lesser of:
(1) $5,000; or
(2) 20 percent of the spouse's average monthly gross income….”
So, if your gross monthly earnings are $25,000 and greater, your obligation to pay spousal maintenance is not going to exceed $5,000 per month. If your gross monthly income is less than $25,000, any obligation to pay monthly spousal maintenance is not going to exceed 20 percent of that number. What we can gather from this information is that anything more than $5,000 is not reasonable minimum needs, no matter how much the non-requesting spouse earns in income, or what kind of lifestyle the requesting spouse is accustomed to living.
As previously stated, Minimum Reasonable Needs are determined after taking into consideration the property division of the divorce as well as the ability of the requesting spouse to earn income. For example if over the course of a 11-year marriage, the requesting spouse received $60,000 in the property division, and the requesting spouse failed to show good cause for not being able to obtain a part-time minimum wage job that required minimum skill or education, then the amounts received from the property division as well as the amounts of income the spouse is able to earn should be taken into consideration to off-set the Minimal Reasonable Needs determination.
FACTORS IN DETERMINING SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE
Section 8.052 of the Texas Family Code provides a list of factors in determining spousal maintenance. Once a court determines that a spouse is eligible to receive maintenance, the court will then determine the nature, amount, duration, and manner of periodic payments by considering all relevant factors, including:
(1) each spouse's ability to provide for that spouse's minimum reasonable needs independently, considering that spouse's financial resources on dissolution of the marriage;
(2) the education and employment skills of the spouses, the time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the spouse seeking maintenance to earn sufficient income, and the availability and feasibility of that education or training;
(3) the duration of the marriage;
(4) the age, employment history, earning ability, and physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance;
(5) the effect on each spouse's ability to provide for that spouse's minimum reasonable needs while providing periodic child support payments or maintenance, if applicable;
(6) acts by either spouse resulting in excessive or abnormal expenditures or destruction, concealment, or fraudulent disposition of community property, joint tenancy, or other property held in common;
(7) the contribution by one spouse to the education, training, or increased earning power of the other spouse;
(8) the property brought to the marriage by either spouse;
(9) the contribution of a spouse as homemaker;
(10) marital misconduct, including adultery and cruel treatment, by either spouse during the marriage; and
(11) any history or pattern of family violence, as defined by Section 71.004.
HOW LONG CAN A SPOUSE RECEIVE SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE?
Section 8.054 of the Texas Family Code discusses the Duration of a Maintenance Order.
Notwithstanding certain exceptions, such as disabilities of a spouse or children, the maximum time an eligible spouse may receive periodic payments for spousal maintenance is as follows:
Length of Marriage Maximum Time for Maintenance Payments
10 years to 20 years 5 years
20 years to 30 years 7 years
30 years or more 10 years
Keep in mind that the numbers above are the Maximum Time for Maintenance. Courts in Texas must limit the duration of a maintenance order to the shortest reasonable period that allows the spouse seeking maintenance to earn sufficient income to provide for the spouse's Minimum Reasonable Needs.
Do not wait until it is too late, schedule your consultation for your family law or divorce matter today. Contact the Law Office of Ryan Putz and get the representation you need and deserve!
PHONE: (281) 206-2696
EMAIL: ryanputzlaw@gmail.com
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