Determining the Amount of Spousal Maintenance in Texas
Spousal maintenance in Texas is a set amount of payments that one spouse pays to the other after the divorce is final. In Texas, there is a presumption that spousal maintenance is not necessary and therefore should not be awarded. However, a spouse seeking maintenance can overcome that presumption by presenting evidence showing an inability to earn a “sufficient income” to meet their “minimum reasonable needs.”
A spouse’s ability to earn a “sufficient income” is founded on several factors including income, value of separate property, and value of the property divided upon divorce. If a spouse or the child of the spouse is disabled and seeking spousal maintenance, proof of a mental or physical incapacitating disease may provide grounds for a spousal maintenance award. The court will look to the requesting spouse’s educational capacity, skill level, prior employment, current employment, and capability to obtain employment. Texas courts have awarded spousal maintenance to a wife, where her minimum needs could not be provided for because her lack of education and her skill level restricted only to minimum wage jobs. Another case concluded that spousal maintenance was not warranted where a wife had high blood pressure and cholesterol, along with emotional and physical problems. She still had the ability to work as a bookkeeper and therefore had the capability of earning a “sufficient income.”
“Minimum reasonable needs” has not been clearly defined and is heavily fact dependent. Every case is decided on the specific facts and there is no clear answer as whether spousal maintenance is warranted in your situation. Simply stating the amount you need per month is insufficient to show the amount of your minimum reasonable needs. Every case is different factually and in order to determine a spouse’s minimum reasonable needs will largely depend on the exact circumstances of your case.
The Texas Family Code sets out a variety of factors that the court will consider in awarding a spouse spousal maintenance. The court should consider all relevant factors when ordering a maintenance support.
- Spouses’ ability to provide minimum reasonable needs
- Effect of child-support payments or maintenance
- One spouse’s contribution to other’s earning power
- Separate property brought into the marriage
- Duration of the marriage
- Age, earning ability, employment history, earning ability, and physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking the maintenance
- Spouses’ education and employment skills
- Homemaker contribution
- Marital misconduct
- Family violence
The total amount of spousal maintenance that can be awarded per is month is limited to the lesser of $5,000 or 20% of paying spouse’s gross income. Unlike child support where the percentage is based on a parent’s net resources, spousal maintenance requires a percentage of all resources prior to deductions.
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