Texas is one of the most restrictive states in the country for post-divorce spousal support. Where some states calculate alimony on a sliding scale tied to income and marriage length, Texas treats spousal maintenance as a narrow exception, not a default expectation.
This guide covers:
- The four paths to qualifying for court-ordered spousal maintenance in Texas
- The statutory dollar cap and how it is calculated
- How long maintenance can legally last based on marriage length
- What a recent Texas Supreme Court ruling changed about how child support factors into the analysis
Who Qualifies for Spousal Maintenance in Texas
Texas courts apply a presumption against awarding spousal maintenance. A spouse seeking it must first show they will lack sufficient property after the divorce to meet their minimum reasonable needs, and then satisfy at least one of four additional statutory conditions before a court can even consider an award. This two-step structure is stricter than what many people expect walking into a divorce, particularly those familiar with alimony practices in other states where support is calculated more routinely.
| Qualifying Path | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Family violence | Paying spouse convicted of, or received deferred adjudication for, family violence within 2 years of filing or during the case; marriage length irrelevant |
| 10-year marriage | Marriage lasted at least 10 years, and the requesting spouse cannot earn sufficient income to meet minimum needs |
| Incapacitating disability | The requesting spouse has a physical or mental disability preventing sufficient income |
| Disabled child caregiver | The requesting spouse cares for a child of the marriage with a disability requiring substantial care, preventing sufficient income |
The 10-year marriage path is the one most people assume applies broadly, but it carries an additional burden the other three do not. A spouse relying on the 10-year-marriage ground must also show they diligently attempted to earn sufficient income or develop the skills to do so during the separation and divorce. Courts presume maintenance is not warranted under this path unless that diligence is demonstrated. The family violence, disability, and disabled-child paths carry no equivalent requirement to prove job-seeking effort.
The Dollar Cap and How Courts Calculate It
Once eligibility is established, Texas Family Code Section 8.055 sets a hard ceiling on the monthly amount a court can order, regardless of need, lifestyle, or the paying spouse’s income. The court cannot order more than the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20% of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income.
This is a true ceiling, not a target. A spouse earning $10,000 per month in gross income caps out at $2,000 in maintenance under the 20% rule. A spouse earning $40,000 per month or more is capped at the flat $5,000 ceiling, since 20% of that income would exceed it. Maria Lowry, Houston Family Law represents clients navigating this calculation regularly, and the gap between what a spouse believes they need and what the statutory cap permits is often the central tension in these cases. There is no formula Texas courts use to determine the exact amount within that ceiling. Judges weigh each spouse’s financial resources after property division, education and employment skills, age and health, and the duration of the marriage, among other factors, to land on a figure at or below the cap.
How Long Maintenance Can Last
Texas law ties the maximum duration of spousal maintenance directly to how long the marriage lasted, and courts are required to order the shortest period necessary for the receiving spouse to become self-supporting, not the maximum the law allows.
| Marriage Length | Maximum Duration |
|---|---|
| Under 10 years (family violence basis only) | 5 years |
| 10 to 20 years | 5 years |
| 20 to 30 years | 7 years |
| 30 years or more | 10 years |
One important exception sits outside this table entirely. When maintenance is awarded because the requesting spouse cares for a disabled child or has an incapacitating disability of their own, the duration is not capped by the marriage-length schedule at all. It can continue for as long as the qualifying condition persists, which may extend well beyond what the marriage-length caps would otherwise allow. Maintenance can also end earlier than its stated term if either spouse dies, the recipient remarries, or the recipient begins cohabiting with a new romantic partner on a continuing basis. Family law practices such as the Law Office of Maria Lowry regularly help clients understand which duration tier applies to their specific marriage before a maintenance request is even filed.
What Mehta v. Mehta Changed About Child Support and Maintenance
In June 2025, the Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling that directly affects how courts evaluate spousal maintenance eligibility in cases involving children, and it remains under-discussed relative to how often it will apply going forward. According to the court’s opinion in Mehta v. Mehta, decided June 20, 2025, trial courts cannot simply treat child support payments as fully available income for meeting a spouse’s own minimum reasonable needs without also accounting for the child-related expenses that child support is intended to cover.
The case involved a mother who became the primary caregiver for triplets, one of whom required extensive medical care, after leaving the workforce to manage the children’s needs full time. The marriage produced one child described in court filings as medically fragile, requiring regular trips to a children’s hospital, weekly therapy sessions, and ongoing specialized medical equipment. A lower appellate court had reversed her spousal maintenance award, reasoning that her child support payments, when combined with her income, exceeded her documented personal expenses. The Texas Supreme Court reversed that decision, holding that the appellate court erred by treating the full child support amount as money available for the mother’s own needs, when in practice a substantial portion of it was necessarily consumed by costs tied to the child’s care.
The practical effect for anyone currently negotiating spousal maintenance in a case involving children is significant. A spouse seeking maintenance can no longer be evaluated as though child support functions as personal disposable income; the actual cost of caring for the children must be weighed against it. The ruling also confirmed that courts may rely on qualitative evidence, such as testimony about caregiving responsibilities and unpaid household costs, rather than requiring exhaustively itemized financial records to support an award.
Key Takeaways
- Texas requires both a showing of insufficient property and one of four specific qualifying conditions before spousal maintenance can be awarded at all.
- The statutory cap is the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20% of the paying spouse’s gross monthly income, regardless of demonstrated need.
- Mehta v. Mehta (2025) requires courts to account for child-related expenses before treating child support as income available to meet a requesting spouse’s own needs.
Spousal maintenance in Texas is narrower and more tightly capped than most people expect walking into a divorce, and the rules around how child support interacts with that analysis are still evolving in real time. Anyone weighing whether to pursue or contest a maintenance claim benefits from understanding both the statutory framework and how recent case law is reshaping the practical evidence required to support it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much spousal maintenance can you get in Texas?
Texas Family Code Section 8.055 caps court-ordered spousal maintenance at the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20% of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income. There is no fixed formula for the exact amount within that cap; courts weigh each spouse’s financial resources, education, employment skills, and the length of the marriage to determine the specific figure.
How long does spousal maintenance last in Texas?
Duration is tied to marriage length: up to 5 years for marriages of 10 to 20 years, up to 7 years for marriages of 20 to 30 years, and up to 10 years for marriages of 30 years or more. When maintenance is based on a qualifying disability or caring for a disabled child, the duration is not capped by these tiers and can continue as long as the condition persists.
Who qualifies for spousal maintenance in Texas?
A spouse must first show they will lack sufficient property to meet their minimum reasonable needs after the divorce, then satisfy one of four conditions: a 10-year or longer marriage combined with inability to earn sufficient income, the paying spouse’s conviction for family violence, an incapacitating disability, or being the caregiver for a disabled child of the marriage who requires substantial care.
Does child support affect spousal maintenance eligibility in Texas?
Yes, and this changed meaningfully after Mehta v. Mehta (2025). Courts can consider child support as a resource available to the requesting spouse, but the Texas Supreme Court held that courts must also account for the child-related expenses that child support is meant to cover, rather than treating the full payment as the spouse’s personal disposable income.
Can spousal maintenance be modified in Texas?
Yes. Under Texas Family Code Section 8.057, either party can file a motion to modify court-ordered spousal maintenance if there has been a material and substantial change in circumstances, such as job loss, disability, or a significant income change. Contractual alimony, agreed to outside of court order, generally cannot be modified unless the agreement itself allows it.
What ends spousal maintenance in Texas before its term expires?
Court-ordered spousal maintenance automatically ends if either party dies, if the recipient remarries, or if the recipient begins cohabiting with a new romantic partner on a continuing basis, regardless of how much time remained on the original order.
