Picture this – you’re in a failing marriage and realize it’s time to initiate a divorce. Your relationship with your spouse has deteriorated over the years. Sleeping in separate rooms, avoiding shared meals, and spending little time together after work. The marriage is effectively over, and you’re not interested in counseling or reconciliation. Now, it’s time to start the divorce process and plan for life after marriage, including considerations like spousal maintenance in Texas.
One little problem, however. You are a stay-at-home mother and wife who has not worked outside the home in years. True enough, you did wait tables for a bit at the beginning of your marriage. That then shifted into time spent at a local insurance agency answering the phones. That was years ago, and you have not stepped foot back into a place of business since then. Of course, that’s not to say that you haven’t worked at all. Far from it, you hold the house together with childcare, transportation, cooking, cleaning, and other domestic responsibilities. Your efforts at home (while largely unnoticed) are what kept the marriage intact for as long as it was.
Navigating Financial Concerns: Post-Divorce Spousal Maintenance Explained
Now you are sure that a divorce is necessary, but you have legitimate concerns over the financial future for you and your children. How are you ever going to afford rent on your own, not to mention a mortgage? All you’ve been reading in the paper and seeing on the news is story after story about how real estate prices are still at all-time highs in Texas. Rent goes up every year is what you hear from your friends. As the main shopper in the household, you know that grocery prices have been sky-high for some time now. What can you do at this time to step out on your own and begin to move toward a divorce? Is it even smart to do that considering the costs of moving on from your spouse?
Before you start to resign yourself to a future that is either one based on a bad marriage or financial ruin, take a deep breath, and hang with us on the blog for the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. We are going to discuss with you several important components of what is known as post-divorce spousal maintenance. This is a key part of the divorce process for many Texans going through the steps involved with ending their marriage.
Understanding Texas’ Unique Approach to Post-Divorce Financial Support
What you may not know is that Texas handles post-divorce financial support (alimony as it is known in some states) differently than most other states. With that said, what you may have heard about in the media or talked with friends about previously may not be exactly what you encounter in Texas when it comes to this subject. Before you jump to conclusions and make faulty assumptions, spend a short amount of time with us here on our blog so that we can discuss the finer points of post-divorce spousal support. We think that you will gain some confidence to where you can feel like you are ready to start making decisions based on your specific circumstances.
As with any subject in family law, you need to feel confident in what you are planning. Confidence in your situation means that you need answers to the specific questions you are facing. To schedule a free-of-charge consultation with one of the Law Office of Bryan Fagan’s experienced family law attorneys you can reach out to us today. We offer consultations over the phone, via video, or at one of our many Houston area and San Antonio office locations. You can pick the location and the method to conduct the consultation. We will provide you with the information you need to proceed confidently into your next, best step in life.
Spousal maintenance in Texas: What it can mean for you
The state of Texas has only had a statute in place that relates to post-divorce spousal maintenance for slightly under thirty years. In 1995, the State Legislature passed a law that allows family court judges to issue orders in divorce cases that require one spouse to pay the other financial support after the divorce comes to an end. Temporary support during a divorce was allowed but formal payments of support were not something that the judge could order to occur. With the passage of this law, Texans entered a new world for spousal support was possible even after the divorce came to an end.
When you and I think about “post-divorce spousal support” we probably think more about alimony than spousal maintenance. This is due in large part to the fact that we hear about spousal maintenance much less frequently than we do alimony. Alimony is a term that we hear about in the news or movies all the time. However, Texas’s laws on spousal maintenance should not be confused with alimony as we hear that term utilized in other contexts outside of the State of Texas.
Understanding Alimony and Spousal Maintenance in Texas
Alimony does exist in Texas, however, just not in the form we are discussing here in this blog post. Texas allows for contractual alimony to be paid from you to your spouse or vice versa. Contractual alimony involves the payment of money between you all by agreement. That agreement needs to be written down into a contract of sorts. Hence the name: contractual alimony. A judge cannot order contractual alimony to be paid in your divorce. That is something that you and your spouse will need to come to a settlement on. What a judge can do is enforce a divorce decree which contains orders regarding the payment of contractual alimony, however.
Spousal maintenance is a term that is used in Texas family law to refer to spousal support paid by your spouse to you after the divorce comes to an end. These are payments that begin once you and your spouse are no longer married, in other words. Temporary spousal support during the divorce is possible, as well. These are orders which can be issued towards the beginning of your divorce known as temporary orders. If you have an acute need for financial assistance for any number of reasons, then you can ask the court for that relief in your Original Petition for Divorce.
Navigating Spousal Maintenance and Temporary Support in Texas
Comparing spousal maintenance to temporary spousal support, you will quickly realize that it is much easier to receive temporary spousal support than spousal maintenance. Since Texas is a community property state, the order of temporary spousal support is essentially just a temporary division of your community estate. As a result, your receiving that support is just a way for you to get your hands on the income that is just as much yours under Texas law as it is your spouse. The consideration becomes much tougher when you consider that your soon-to-be ex-spouse could be ordered to pay your spousal maintenance out of their separate estate once the divorce comes to an end.
A key to this entire discussion is to understand that a family court judge will not be looking for an opportunity to award your spousal maintenance. As you may have guessed based on the relatively recent passage of a law on spousal maintenance, the State of Texas is not putting its judges in a position where they are going to be able to award you maintenance at the slightest sign that you may be in a tough financial situation once your divorce comes to an end.
Establishing Eligibility for Spousal Maintenance
Your divorce case will begin with the judge presuming that you are not entitled to spousal maintenance. The default setting for a Texas family court judge, in other words, is that you do not need to receive spousal maintenance once your case comes to an end. Your need to receive spousal maintenance must be proved with evidence in the divorce. Being able to plan a case where you can put your best foot forward in this regard is essential. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan know how to help you build a case where spousal maintenance can be ordered on your behalf.
What are the conditions that must be met for you to be awarded spousal maintenance?
There are a series of conditions that must be met for you to be able to receive spousal maintenance in a Texas divorce. Remember that we are talking about financial support from your spouse that could be paid to you after the divorce comes to an end. If you have concerns about receiving money to help you pay for rent, expenses, and other bills during the divorce then that will occur during the temporary orders phase of your ongoing divorce case.
To begin with, to qualify for spousal maintenance you will need to be able to show a family court judge that you do not have enough property (income, assets that can be sold for money, etc.) to be able to provide for your minimum basic needs. The property that we are talking about here includes your separate property estate. Without getting too into the weeds of community property here in this blog post, separate property is any property that you owned before your marriage or acquired during the marriage by gift or inheritance. You can read more about separate property considerations in a divorce here.
Qualifying Factors for Spousal Maintenance
A judge will need to assess your situation based on the separate property estate that you own as well as the available property to be divided in the community estate. Judges are more likely to divide your community property estate in a disproportionate fashion (unevenly to favor you, as compared to evenly between you and your spouse) rather than to award spousal maintenance. However, if you can show that you lack the wherewithal based on an analysis of your community property and separate property estates to meet your minimal basic needs then you would still need to prove the following to be paid maintenance.
First, you can qualify for spousal maintenance if your spouse has been convicted of or has received deferred adjudication for a criminal offense that also constitutes an act of family violence during the marriage and was within two years of the date that your divorce was filed. That offense can also have occurred during the divorce is ongoing. This accounts for situations where family violence is an issue in your home. What we are about to see is that the family violence scenario can supersede the following factors which require that your marriage have lasted a specific length of time to be awarded spousal maintenance.
Eligibility Criteria for Spousal Maintenance
When it comes to seeking spousal maintenance, you must be able to show the court that you are not able to earn a sufficient income to provide for your minimal, basic needs due to a physical or mental disability. This is an option that you can choose to argue to a judge, to be as clear as possible. If you are unable to work outside the house because you are disabled or you are the primary caregiver for a child who is disabled, then you can offer evidence of this sort of a judge in your trial.
The other circumstance that could lead to you receiving post-divorce spousal maintenance relates to the length of time that you and your spouse have been married. If you and your spouse have been married for at least ten years, then you may be eligible to request and receive spousal maintenance in the divorce. That you are unable to meet your minimal, basic needs through a combination of work and property from the divorce must still be true.
Duration Limits for Spousal Maintenance
The longer that you and your spouse have been married the longer your award of spousal maintenance. There are three different standards that a judge must look to when awarding spousal maintenance in your divorce. An award of spousal maintenance based on a conviction or deferred adjudication for an act of family violence cannot last longer than five years.
Suppose that you and your spouse have been married for at least ten years but no longer than nineteen years. In this situation, your award of spousal maintenance could not last for longer than five years. If your marriage duration falls between twenty and twenty-nine years, the maximum duration for spousal maintenance you can receive is seven years. Lastly, if your marriage has lasted for at least thirty years, there is a maximum duration for spousal maintenance, which cannot exceed ten years. Please note there is no cap on the length of time you can receive spousal maintenance related to a disability for yourself or your child.
How much money can you expect to receive when it comes to spousal maintenance?
Judges have standards to consider for both the duration and amount of spousal maintenance awards. Unlike the clear guidelines for child support, there’s no fixed formula for determining spousal maintenance payments. If you are familiar with the guideline amounts for child support contained in the Texas Family Code, then you may be expecting us to list out a formula that courts can use to determine the payment of spousal maintenance. However, there is no formula that we can look to for spousal maintenance.
The law in Texas states that your spouse cannot be required to pay more than the lesser of $5,000 or twenty percent of their gross monthly income. This will vary, of course, depending upon your specific circumstances as well as the earnings of your spouse. You and your attorney can perform these calculations to determine what is the most likely number you would receive in spousal maintenance. It is also wise to start to compile a detailed budget both to present to a judge as evidence of your needs each month as well as for yourself to start to live on after the divorce.
Requirements for Seeking Spousal Maintenance
You will also need to show the court that you are doing everything you can to earn sufficient income on your own to meet your minimum basic needs. This means providing the court with proof that you are on job boards, applying for work, or otherwise attending job interviews to gain employment on your own. Make sure that you are documenting the steps that you are taking to meet your minimum, basic needs through gainful employment.
Lastly, you must demonstrate to the court your efforts to develop job skills that facilitate employment and meet your minimum needs during the divorce proceedings. This might involve pursuing a degree or completing certification courses. Regardless of your circumstances, presenting evidence to a judge can be challenging. If you need assistance navigating the complexities of spousal maintenance in Texas, the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan are equipped to help you present your case in the most favorable light possible.
Questions about the material contained in today’s blog post? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
If you have any questions about the material contained in today’s blog post please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our licensed family law attorneys offer free-of-charge consultations six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video. These consultations are a great way for you to learn more about the world of Texas family law as well as how your family’s circumstances may be impacted by the filing of a divorce or child custody lawsuit.
Other Related Articles:
- Spousal maintenance: What you need to know in a Texas divorce
- Supporting Disabled Spouses: A Guide to Spousal Maintenance in Texas
- Assessing Spousal Maintenance Guidelines in Texas
Evan Hochschild was raised in Houston, TX and graduated from Cypress Creek High School. He went on to graduate from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX with an undergraduate degree in Political Science. While in college, Evan was a four-year letterman on the Cross Country team.
Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and uncle before him, Evan attended law school after he completed in his undergraduate studies. He graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law and has practiced in a variety of areas in the law- including family law.
Mr. Hochschild is guided by principles which place the interests of clients first. Additionally, Evan seeks to provide information and support for his clients with the heart of a teacher.
Evan and his wife have four small children together. He enjoys afternoons out and about with his family, teaching Sunday school at his church and exercising. A veteran attorney of fourteen years, Mr. Hochschild excels in communicating complex ideas in family law simply and directly.
