Alimony in Texas: Who Qualifies and How Long It Lasts

In Texas, court-ordered alimony (called "spousal maintenance") is not automatic and is capped by law. A judge can only order it if the requesting spouse first lacks enough property — including what they're awarded in the divorce — to cover their minimum reasonable needs, and also fits one of a short list of specific situations. Even when maintenance is awarded, Texas law limits both the monthly amount and how long it can last.

Who qualifies for spousal maintenance in Texas

Texas Family Code Sec. 8.051 sets a two-part test. First, the spouse seeking maintenance must lack sufficient property — including property awarded to them in the divorce — to provide for their minimum reasonable needs. Second, they must also fall into at least one of these categories:

• The other spouse has a family-violence conviction or received deferred adjudication for family violence within two years before the divorce was filed or while the case is pending;
• The requesting spouse has an incapacitating physical or mental disability that prevents them from earning enough to meet their minimum reasonable needs;
• The marriage lasted 10 years or longer, and the requesting spouse lacks the ability to earn enough income to meet their minimum reasonable needs; or
• The requesting spouse is the custodian of a child of the marriage (of any age) who requires substantial care and supervision because of a physical or mental disability, which prevents the custodial spouse from earning enough income.

Meeting the property shortfall alone is not enough — one of the four boxes above also has to be checked.

Factors a Texas court weighs

Once eligibility is established, Texas Family Code Sec. 8.052 directs the court to weigh all relevant factors in deciding the nature, amount, duration, and manner of payment, including:

• Each spouse's ability to meet their own minimum reasonable needs independently, considering their financial resources;
• The education and employment skills of the spouse seeking maintenance, the time needed to acquire enough education or training to find suitable employment, and the availability of that training;
• The duration of the marriage;
• The age, employment history, earning ability, and physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance;
• The effect of the property division on each spouse's ability to meet their reasonable needs;
• Contributions by one spouse to the other's education, training, or increased earning power;
• A spouse's contribution as a homemaker;
• Marital misconduct, including excessive or abnormal spending, destruction, concealment, or fraudulent disposition of community property; and
• The history and pattern of family violence.

There is no fixed formula that spits out a dollar figure — a Texas judge weighs these factors together against the statutory caps described below.

The 10-year-marriage route has an extra hurdle

Time-sensitive point: if a 10-year (or longer) marriage combined with an earning gap is your only qualifying ground, Texas Family Code Sec. 8.053 creates a rebuttable presumption that maintenance is not warranted. To overcome that presumption, you generally need to show you exercised diligence in earning enough income or developing the skills needed to provide for your own minimum reasonable needs — both during any period of separation before the divorce and while the case has been pending. In practice, this means documenting job searches, training, or other efforts to become self-supporting as early as possible, rather than waiting until a hearing is close. Confirm with your Texas court how this presumption will be applied to your specific timeline.

How much and how long: the statutory caps

Even where maintenance is fully justified, Texas law puts a ceiling on both amount and duration.

Amount

Under Texas Family Code Sec. 8.055, a court cannot order the paying spouse to pay more per month than the lesser of $5,000 or 20 percent of that spouse's average monthly gross income. This cap applies no matter how great the requesting spouse's need is.

Duration

Texas Family Code Sec. 8.054 ties the maximum length of a maintenance order to how long the marriage lasted (or the qualifying ground):

• Up to 5 years — if the marriage lasted less than 10 years and the ground is family violence, or if the marriage lasted at least 10 but not more than 20 years;
• Up to 7 years — if the marriage lasted at least 20 but not more than 30 years;
• Up to 10 years — if the marriage lasted 30 years or more.

Within those outer limits, the court must order maintenance for the shortest reasonable period that allows the receiving spouse to earn enough income to meet minimum reasonable needs — unless the disability or disabled-child-caregiving ground applies, in which case maintenance may continue indefinitely as long as that condition persists.

When maintenance ends or can be changed

Under Texas Family Code Sec. 8.056, the obligation to pay future maintenance automatically ends when either spouse dies or when the receiving spouse (the obligee) remarries. A court must also terminate maintenance on a finding that the obligee is cohabiting with someone in a romantic or dating relationship, in a permanent residence, on a continuing basis. Note that maintenance payments that already accrued before one of these events survive the termination — the obligor still owes past-due amounts.

Time-sensitive point: under Texas Family Code Sec. 8.057, maintenance can be modified only on a showing of a material and substantial change in circumstances since the order was entered. A court cannot increase maintenance beyond the amount or remaining duration set in the original order, and any modification is not retroactive — it cannot reach back before the date the motion to modify was filed. If your circumstances have changed, filing promptly matters, since you generally cannot recover the difference for the period before you filed.

Spousal maintenance and bankruptcy

If the paying spouse later files for bankruptcy, spousal maintenance generally cannot be discharged. Under federal law (11 U.S.C. §§ 507, 523), a "domestic support obligation" such as child support or spousal maintenance cannot be wiped out in bankruptcy and is paid ahead of most other unsecured debts. Property-settlement debts owed to an ex-spouse under a divorce decree are also generally non-dischargeable in a typical Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. This federal protection applies regardless of what a Texas order says.

What you can do in Texas

1. Check the two-part eligibility test first. Before assuming you qualify, confirm you can show both a shortfall in property to meet minimum reasonable needs and at least one of the four specific grounds under Sec. 8.051.
2. Start building your evidence early, especially for the 10-year route. If a long marriage is your ground, document job searches, training, applications, and other efforts to become self-supporting — the presumption in Sec. 8.053 can defeat a claim without this record.
3. Gather documentation on the Sec. 8.052 factors. Pull together records on your education, work history, health, homemaker contributions, and the property division so the court has a full picture.
4. Run the numbers against the statutory cap. Estimate the paying spouse's average monthly gross income and compare 20% of that figure against $5,000 to understand the realistic ceiling before negotiating.
5. Watch your timeline for modification. If income or circumstances change materially after the order, file a motion to modify promptly — relief is not retroactive before the filing date.
6. Confirm current details with the Texas court handling your case or a licensed Texas attorney. This article summarizes the general framework; your specific numbers, deadlines, and forms should be confirmed locally.

This article is general information about Texas law, not legal advice for your situation.