In Texas, alimony is called spousal maintenance. The term “spousal maintenance” refers to periodic support payments one spouse makes to the other spouse after their divorce. The Texas Family Code determines whether a spouse is eligible for spousal maintenance. It’s rarer than people think.
The spouse seeking maintenance must first establish they won’t have enough property after the divorce to cover minimum reasonable needs. Even if the spouse seeking maintenance can establish this, the spouse must also prove that one of these four situations exists:
- Family Violence. The other spouse was convicted of a crime involving family violence against the spouse (or their child), and the crime occurred sooner than two years before the divorce began.
- Spousal Disability. The spouse seeking maintenance has an incapacitating disability that prevents the spouse from earning enough money to meet the spouse’s basic needs.
- Child Disability. The spouse seeking maintenance has custody of a disabled child of the couple whose care and supervision prevents the spouse from earning money to meet the spouse’s basic needs.
- Long-Term Marriage + Impaired Earning Capacity. The couple’s marriage lasted longer than 10 years, and the spouse seeking maintenance lacks the ability to earn enough money to provide for their basic needs. The spouse seeking maintenance must also show they have diligently tried to earn enough money or to develop the necessary skills to do so.
In sum, it’s difficult to qualify for spousal maintenance in Texas. You must have been married for more than a decade and be unable to meet your basic needs after a good faith attempt to do so. You or your custodial child must have an incapacitating disability that prevents you from earning enough income to meet your basic needs. Your former spouse must have been convicted of a recent crime involving family violence against you or your child. To boot, even if you find yourself in one of these unique situations, you still must show that you won’t have enough community or separate property after the divorce to provide for your minimum reasonable needs.