An Attorney Can Help Get You Alimony From Your Military Spouse

Suppose you are a person facing divorce in Texas and have an uncertain economic and personal financial future due to the coronavirus or any other reason. In that case, today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan Is right up your alley. Our attorneys and staff understand how difficult it can be to go through a divorce when the economy is not strong. You may have lost your job due to the virus or to the government-led shutdowns. After many years of employment, you may find yourself furloughed or even let go from your job in the oil and gas industry. Or, you may be someone who has not worked outside of the home in many years and has instead chosen to maintain your home and raise a family instead of seeking outside employment.

Whatever your specific circumstances are, if you are staying in marriage only because you have concerns over what you will do for income after your divorce, you should understand that there are options for you to take advantage of. These are not options that are unethical or morally dubious. They are an opportunity for you to solidify yourself from a personal finance perspective after a divorce that can be long and may be more expensive than you anticipate. Most divorce cases are measured in months rather than years, but the reality is that you need to be prepared for your life in a post-divorce world.

Post-Divorce Economic Challenges

To achieve consistency and stability post-divorce, address any economic instability. This holds particular importance if you’re married to a military member. In that case, you have probably become comfortable with the stability of your spouse’s military career by providing you and your family with necessities of life and a consistent, dependable source of income. Now that you’re going through a divorce, you won’t have access to that constant, reliable income anymore. What can you do to help protect yourself in the period following your divorce to ensure that you can meet your goals as a single person?

That is what I would like to discuss with you all today in our blog post. We hear a lot in the media about something called alimony. Generally speaking, we picture alimony being payments from a rich husband to a trophy wife or something along those lines. At least, that’s what almost every movie I’ve ever seen that talks about alimony cause us to imagine with the images presented on a big screen. Well, I’m sure there is some truth to this popular concept of alimony. Unique circumstances often determine the necessity of alimony or spousal support for most families.

What does spousal support mean in Texas?

Under Texas family law, you need to be aware of three forms of spousal support. The first is temporary spousal support. As the name implies, parties pay temporary spousal support during the divorce process, usually in the temporary orders phase. Its purpose is to assist in maintaining the necessities of life for the receiving spouse. At the same time, you attempt to reenter the workforce if you have been absent from it or educate yourself to be able to provide financially for yourself in a post-divorce world.

If needed, both you and your spouse will submit detailed budgets of your finances to a judge for a temporary order hearing. The judge will assess each spouse’s ability to pay for the divorce and decide whether support is necessary. Support cannot be ordered if your spouse cannot afford to pay. As the old saying goes, you can’t get blood out of a turnip. Suppose you have your hopes set on getting temporary spousal support during a divorce, but your spouse does not earn an excess of income to pay that support. In that case, you need to reconsider your goal and figure out another way to exist during your divorce.

Limited Support Likely During Divorce

In a general sense, family court judges will not bend over backward to award you temporary spousal support. However, a judge is more likely to award quick spousal support than they would be to award spousal maintenance as a result of your divorce. In general, Texas judges would prefer that people earn their way in their post-divorce life rather than rely on streams of income coming from their ex-spouse. In recent decades, legal changes have facilitated more substantial and frequent awards of spousal maintenance from one spouse to another post-divorce.

If you show that you are unable to meet your minimal, basic needs after a divorce, it is possible that a judge can award you spousal maintenance. Most spousal maintenance awards cannot exceed ten years, depending on the marriage duration. If married for less than ten years, you usually don’t qualify for spousal maintenance. However, an exception exists for victims of domestic abuse within two years of divorce, allowing for potential spousal maintenance regardless of marriage duration.

Spousal Maintenance Guidelines

Most individuals typically receive spousal maintenance capped at 20% of their spouse’s gross monthly income. There may be exceptions in some instances where high earning spouses R subject to paying support but in general, this 20% rule is a good rule of thumb for you to apply to your case. To strengthen your case before a judge in a divorce trial, collaborate with your attorney to compile a budget and other evidence demonstrating the necessity for support. In addition, you will need to display a willingness and ability to receive training or experience to reenter the workforce or enter it for the first time after your divorce.

In settlement negotiations, you and your spouse establish contractual alimony, unlike temporary spousal support and spousal maintenance, which a judge orders. Essentially, you and your spouse would enter into a contract whereby your spouse agrees to pay you a certain amount of spousal support during your post-divorce life for a certain period.

Enforcing Contractual Alimony

Keep in mind that a family court judge cannot always enforce the terms of contractual alimony stated in your final divorce decree. For instance, if your spouse fails to pay the agreed $1000 monthly spousal maintenance for two years post-divorce, you can file an enforcement lawsuit to compel payment.

On the other hand, because contractual alimony is more akin to contract disputes than it is a violation of a family court order, a family court judge would likely not be able to help you if your ex-spouse were to start paying you contractual alimony in the future. For this reason, you and your attorney need to consider whether or not contractual maintenance is in the direction you want to go if you are in financial need in the immediate years following your post-divorce life. You may have other options available, such as receiving a disproportionate share from the community estate, which may be preferable for both you and your spouse.

Divorcing a military member spouse: what you need to know about alimony

While there are no innate differences between a military divorce and civilian divorce, the circumstances that your military family finds itself in may differ significantly from that of a comparable civilian family. There are different laws in place regarding how retirement benefits can be divided for a military family and how and when you can serve notice of your lawsuit to your spouse if they are deployed currently. These are just two examples of how a military divorce can differ in some respects from a civilian divorce.

Jurisdiction in Military Divorce

If you plan on filing for divorce from your military spouse in Texas, you need to 1st make sure that Texas has jurisdiction over your case. Jurisdiction means that a Texas judge can issue rulings related to your property and your children. Without jurisdiction, you run the risk of a family court either throwing your divorce out or giving orders that are void due to lack of jurisdiction. As mentioned earlier, determining jurisdiction relies on residency, which can be complex in a military context where you and your spouse may not reside physically in Texas.

Additionally, a Texas family court judge considers factors such as the length of your marriage, your earning abilities, ages, and educational levels when awarding spousal maintenance or temporary support. I was hoping you would not assume that because your spouse is in the military, this will mark your favor regarding spousal maintenance awarding. To my knowledge, that is not something that a judge would consider in and of itself when determining whether a special support award is appropriate.

Furthermore, federal laws do not dictate how or if spousal support should be awarded in a divorce. However, it’s important to note that support payments cannot exceed 50% of your spouse’s income.

Military Divorce and Healthcare Benefits

Finally, there is a relationship between your right to medical benefits under your spouse’s health insurance plan and the length of your marriage. The general rule of thumb is that if your marriage lasted at least 20 years before a divorce occurs, you would be able to keep your health insurance as long as those 20 years of marriage also ran concurrently with your spouse having 20 years at least of military service. Considering all these factors together is crucial when addressing spousal support during and after your divorce.

Given the complexity involved, seeking the assistance of an experienced family law attorney is advisable to navigate your military divorce successfully. While we’ve covered one aspect of Texas divorce law here, many others will require attention throughout your case. It would be unreasonable to expect you to be able to adequately handle each of those areas without the experienced hand of a family law attorney helping guide you.

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Other Articles you may be interested in:

1. What is The Punishment For Adultery in the Military?
2. Basic Allowance for Housing details for military families
3. Military health insurance and divorce
4. Military Families and Child Custody Challenges in Texas: A Comprehensive Guide
5. Examining Military Divorce Law in Texas
6. Is military disability pay a marital asset?
7. Do deployed soldiers cheat, and more questions for military divorces in Texas
8. What is the “10/10” rule in the military?
9. Does my ex get half my military retirement?
10. Child Support, Military Entitlements, and Calculations
11. Division of military retirement pay in Texas divorces
12. How do you choose the right state for a military divorce?
13. Military disability pay in a Texas divorce case
14. Division of military retirement pay in Texas divorces
15. What rights does a military spouse have in a Texas divorce?

Frequently Asked Questions

Bryan Joseph Fagan( Attorney )

Bryan Fagan, a native of Atascocita, Texas, is a dedicated family law attorney inspired by John Grisham’s “The Pelican Brief.” He is the first lawyer in his family, which includes two adopted brothers. Bryan’s commitment to family is personal and professional; he cared for his grandmother with Alzheimer’s while completing his degree and attended the South Texas College of Law at night.

Married with three children, Bryan’s personal experiences enrich his understanding of family dynamics, which is central to his legal practice. He specializes in family law, offering innovative and efficient legal services. A certified member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, Bryan is part of an elite group of legal professionals committed to ongoing education and high-level expertise.

His legal practice covers divorce, custody disputes, property disputes, adoption, paternity, and mediation. Bryan is also experienced in drafting marital property agreements. He leads a team dedicated to complex family law cases and protecting families from false CPS allegations.

Based in Houston, Bryan is active in the Houston Family Law Sector of the Houston Bar Association and various family law groups in Texas. His deep understanding of family values and his professional dedication make him a compassionate advocate for families navigating Texas family law.