Alimony Calculator - Texas

No. Texas uses court-ordered “spousal maintenance” only when Texas Family Code § 8.051’s eligibility requirements are met. A ten-year marriage opens one eligibility pathway, but the requesting spouse must still show insufficient property for minimum reasonable needs and inability to earn sufficient income, subject to rebuttable presumptions under Texas Family Code § 8.053 in many ten-to-twenty-year cases. Shorter marriages require a different statutory gate, such as family violence or disability-based pathways.

Texas Family Code § 8.055 caps periodic spousal maintenance at the lesser of $5,000 per month or twenty percent of the obligor’s average monthly gross income, subject to legislative adjustment of the dollar figure. Courts must still tie the award to fact findings on need and eligibility. Property division and contractual payments may be used to address support goals outside this cap when lawfully structured.

Texas Family Code § 8.054 sets duration limits based on the length of marriage and the basis for maintenance. For example, maintenance for a spouse who qualified under the ten-year pathway generally may not exceed five years if the marriage lasted at least ten but less than twenty years, subject to exceptions for disability-based eligibility or parental duties regarding a disabled child. Longer marriages can fall into longer statutory caps. Read § 8.054 carefully with counsel because categories overlap.

Temporary support can be addressed through temporary orders in the dissolution case, but final eligibility and amounts still track Chapter 8 for court-ordered maintenance. Parties sometimes negotiate contractual temporary payments during litigation. The distinction between temporary orders and final maintenance findings matters for appeal and enforcement strategy.

Yes. Texas Family Code § 8.051(1) includes a pathway for shorter marriages when the spouse from whom maintenance is requested was convicted of or received deferred adjudication for a criminal offense that constitutes family violence against the other spouse or the other spouse’s child within two years of the divorce filing or while the suit is pending. The statute’s precise elements must be satisfied with admissible evidence.

Texas Family Code § 8.052 requires the court to evaluate financial resources after property division, education and skills, time needed to acquire training, marriage duration, age and health, misconduct affecting property (as limited by statute), and contributions as a homemaker. The court orders maintenance only to the extent the requesting spouse’s minimum reasonable needs are not met after property division and separate property are considered.

Parties may contract for payments as part of a settlement if they comply with contract law and public policy, but those payments are not Texas Family Code Chapter 8 “maintenance” unless incorporated as such. Tax and enforceability consequences differ. Any agreement should be reviewed by counsel to avoid unenforceable vagueness and unintended tax characterization.

Modification requires a material and substantial change in circumstances and must satisfy Texas family modification statutes applicable to the order. The obligor should document involuntary termination, job search, and income changes. Until an order is modified, prior amounts may continue to accrue. Timing and diligence are critical; bring pay stubs, termination notices, and applications to support the motion.