Yes, Texas does have alimony, though state law calls the court-ordered version “spousal maintenance” and treats it as a last resort rather than a standard part of divorce. Texas recognizes three distinct forms of spousal support: temporary support while the divorce is pending, court-ordered maintenance after the divorce, and contractual alimony that the spouses negotiate themselves. The court-ordered version carries some of the strictest eligibility rules, dollar caps, and time limits in the country.
The Three Forms of Spousal Support in Texas
Which category your situation falls into decides almost everything else: what a court can order, how long payments last, and what happens if the paying spouse stops paying.
Temporary Support During the Divorce
Either spouse can ask the judge for temporary financial support while the divorce is working through the court. These orders exist to keep the household running during litigation that can drag on for months. Temporary support ends when the divorce is finalized. The judge has wide discretion over the amount, and there is no statutory cap and no requirement that the marriage lasted any particular length of time.
Court-Ordered Spousal Maintenance
After a divorce is final, a judge can order one spouse to make periodic payments to the other from future income.1State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 8.001 – Definitions This is what most people picture when they hear the word alimony, but Texas layers on eligibility rules, payment caps, and duration limits that make it genuinely hard to obtain. Because the payment comes from a court order, a spouse who refuses to pay can be held in contempt.
Contractual Alimony
Spouses can also build their own support arrangement into a divorce settlement, prenuptial agreement, or postnuptial agreement. Contractual alimony is not bound by the statutory caps or duration limits that apply to court-ordered maintenance, so couples have room to negotiate whatever amount and length they want. The tradeoff is enforcement. If the paying spouse stops paying, the recipient generally cannot use contempt proceedings and instead has to sue for breach of contract, which is slower and more expensive.2State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 8.101 – Income Withholding
Who Qualifies for Court-Ordered Maintenance
Getting a Texas court to order spousal maintenance takes two steps. First, the spouse requesting support must prove they will not have enough property after the divorce, including their own separate property, to meet their minimum reasonable needs.3State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 8.051 – Eligibility for Maintenance Second, they must fit into one of four specific categories:
- Family violence. The other spouse was convicted of or received deferred adjudication for a family violence offense committed during the marriage, within two years before the divorce was filed or while the case was pending. Marriage length does not matter when family violence is the basis.3State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 8.051 – Eligibility for Maintenance
- Disability of the requesting spouse. A physical or mental disability prevents the requesting spouse from earning enough to meet their basic needs.
- Long marriage. The marriage lasted at least 10 years and the requesting spouse cannot earn enough to cover their basic needs.
- Custody of a disabled child. The requesting spouse is the primary caretaker of a child of the marriage who has a physical or mental disability requiring substantial care, and that caregiving prevents the parent from earning sufficient income.
If your situation does not fit squarely into one of these boxes, a Texas court will not order maintenance no matter how uneven the two incomes are. This is where Texas parts ways most sharply with states that treat income disparity alone as grounds for support.
The Self-Sufficiency Presumption
A spouse pursuing maintenance on the 10-year-marriage basis faces one more hurdle. Texas law starts from a rebuttable presumption that maintenance is not warranted unless the requesting spouse has made diligent efforts to earn sufficient income or to develop the skills needed to do so.4State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 8.053 – Presumption The court examines what you did during separation and while the divorce was pending. A spouse who did nothing during that stretch will struggle. A spouse who can document job applications, coursework, or career counseling has a real case.
In contested proceedings, either side may bring in a vocational expert to evaluate the requesting spouse’s job skills, earning potential, and how long re-entry into the workforce would realistically take. That report often shapes the judge’s decision on both amount and duration.
How Much a Court Can Order
Texas caps court-ordered maintenance at the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income.5State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 8.055 – Amount of Maintenance For most households, the 20 percent figure is the controlling number because it lands well below the dollar ceiling. Certain income sources are excluded from the calculation, including VA disability compensation, Social Security disability benefits, SSI, workers’ compensation, public assistance, and foster care payments.
Contractual alimony is not subject to these caps. If both spouses agree to a higher amount in a settlement, the court will generally honor it.
When setting the amount, the judge weighs each spouse’s financial resources after the divorce, their education and job skills, the length of the marriage, the requesting spouse’s age and health, existing child support obligations, contributions as a homemaker, marital misconduct such as adultery or cruelty, and any family violence history.6State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 8.052 – Factors in Determining Maintenance Wasting community property or hiding assets can shift the outcome significantly.
How Long Payments Last
Duration is tied primarily to how long the marriage lasted:
- Under 10 years, with family violence as the basis: up to five years.
- 10 to 20 years: up to five years.
- 20 to 30 years: up to seven years.
- 30 years or more: up to 10 years.7State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 8.054 – Duration of Maintenance Order
These are ceilings, not defaults. The court is required to limit the order to the shortest period that reasonably allows the recipient to become self-supporting. A judge who orders five years of maintenance in a 12-year marriage needs a reason why the recipient needs the full stretch.
Disability is the major exception. If the recipient has a physical or mental disability that substantially or totally prevents them from becoming self-supporting, the court can extend payments for as long as the disability continues. The same open-ended exception applies to a custodial spouse caring for a disabled child of the marriage.
When Maintenance Ends or Changes
Court-ordered maintenance automatically terminates when either spouse dies or when the recipient remarries. The paying spouse can also ask the court to end or reduce maintenance if the recipient begins cohabiting with a romantic partner in a marriage-like relationship.
Either spouse can petition to modify an existing order when circumstances have materially changed. A paying spouse who loses a job, or a recipient who lands a well-paying position, may justify a modification. The court applies the same factors it used when setting the original order.
What Happens If the Paying Spouse Stops Paying
Enforcement is where the difference between the two post-divorce forms of support becomes concrete. A recipient of court-ordered maintenance can ask the court to enforce the order through contempt proceedings, which can result in fines or jail time.8State of Texas. Texas Code FAM 8.059 – Enforcement of Maintenance Order The court can also enter a judgment for the unpaid amount and collect it through wage withholding, similar to child support.
Contractual alimony works differently. Because it is a private agreement rather than a court order, the recipient generally must sue for breach of contract to collect unpaid amounts. That process is slower and carries no threat of jail, which is why the enforcement distinction matters so much during settlement negotiations.
Taxes and Bankruptcy
For any divorce or separation agreement finalized after December 31, 2018, spousal support payments are not deductible by the payer and are not taxable income to the recipient.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 504 – Divorced or Separated Individuals The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made this change permanent by repealing the old Section 71 of the Internal Revenue Code.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 71 – Repealed Older agreements dated on or before December 31, 2018 can still follow the prior rules, unless they were later modified to adopt the new treatment.
A paying spouse cannot escape a support obligation by filing bankruptcy. Federal law specifically excludes domestic support obligations from discharge, and this covers both court-ordered maintenance and contractual alimony that qualifies as a domestic support obligation.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge If a former spouse files Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, the support payments survive and remain enforceable.