Spousal Maintenance - Alimony Texas Style
Until 1995, Texas was the only state without any form of alimony or maintenance following separation and divorce. Texas was able to avoid the “A” word (“alimony”) for quite some time. Following welfare reform on a national level, spousal maintenance in Texas, at least in theory, is designed to prevent the economically disadvantaged spouse from going on welfare.
When people think of alimony, they may reflect upon the lives of the rich and famous, but spousal maintenance in Texas is nothing like this. To read the full spousal maintenance statutes, refer to Chapter 8 of the Texas Family Code.
Maintenance is defined as “an award in a suit for dissolution of marriage of periodic payments from the future income of one spouse for the support of the other spouse.” See Tex. Fam. Code Sec. 8.001 (1). The statute is written so that either husband or wife may seek maintenance from the other spouse.
There are two strict criteria for a spouse to qualify for maintenance. The first involves history of domestic violence in the marriage, and the second involves marriages of 10 years or more.
Generally, a spouse may seek maintenance if there is a recent history of domestic violence. Specifically, the offending spouse must have been convicted of domestic violence (or received deferred adjudication) within the previous 2 years from the date the divorce action was filed, or during the time the divorce action is pending.
If a couple is married for 10 years or more, and the spouse seeking maintenance cannot provide for his/her minimum reasonable needs, the spouse may seek maintenance.
