Houston, Texas, Spousal Support Lawyer
While you are married in Texas, each spouse must support the other spouse. While a divorce is pending, Texas courts will usually order the spouse with higher-income to provide support payments to the spouse with lower income. These payments, known as temporary alimony, will end once the divorce is final or until further order by the court.
Every two years for as long as I have been a lawyer, Texas lawmakers have been presented with proposals to provide post-divorce alimony. However, these were regularly voted down by legislators. A few years ago, legislators did provide a version of post-divorce alimony termed spousal maintenance.
Spousal maintenance, or post-divorce support, in Texas is nothing like alimony in other states. Texas spousal maintenance was originally enacted as an anti-welfare statute. It provides minimal payments for a limited time to help a non-working spouse get trained and into the workforce to earn enough money to cover their minimum needs.
To receive spousal maintenance in Texas, you must have been married for at least 10 years, unless you are disabled or have a serious health problem making you unable to work. Spousal maintenance is capped at $2,500 a month for a maximum time period of three years. This is the maximum amount of money and time that can be awarded—you are not guaranteed this amount. Spousal maintenance can be reduced or eliminated if the person receiving maintenance gets even a minimum-wage paying job.
When resolving divorce issues through negotiation or collaborative law, there may be times when the higher-income spouse may agree to provide something called "contractual alimony" to the other spouse. This may be done for tax reasons or in exchange for more flexibility on another issue, such as child visitation. In that instance, as is true with alimony or maintenance, the contractual alimony payment is deductible by the party paying it and taxable income to the party receiving it.
Contact me today if you are looking for a board-certified family law attorney who will provide you with experienced counsel and personal attention to your needs. I serve clients in Houston, Texas, and all surrounding communities.
