Spousal Maintenance Eligibility in Texas

A claim for spousal maintenance can be made by a spouse at the dissolution of the marriage or after the marriage has been dissolved. When determining whether a spouse is eligible for spousal maintenance, the court will focus on the spouse’s current ability to earn an income. In order for the court to sustain an award, the spouse seeking the maintenance must prove eligibility in accordance with the Texas Family Code.

In order to establish eligibility in Texas, the spouse seeking maintenance must show a lack of sufficient income and property, including the spouse’s separate property, to provide for the spouse’s minimum reasonable needs and one of the following:

• The spouse from whom maintenance is requested has been convicted or received deferred adjudication for an act of family violence during the marriage against the spouse or child. The act of violence must have occurred within the 2 years preceding the dissolution of the marriage or while the dissolution of the marriage is pending.
• The marriage has lasted more than 10 years and one spouse lacks the ability to earn sufficient income to provide for the spouse’s minimum reasonable needs.
• The spouse who has made the maintenance request does not have the ability to provide for their own minimum reasonable needs because of an incapacitating physical or mental disability.
• The spouse who made the maintenance request is prevented from earning a sufficient income to provide for their own minimum and reasonable needs because a child born of the marriage is disabled and the spouse is the child’s custodian.

Proving a spouse’s inability to earn sufficient income can be established by analyzing a multitude of factors including income, value of separate property, and value of the property divided upon divorce. The may court look to the requesting spouse’s educational ability, skill level, prior employment, current employment, and capability of obtaining employment. Minimum reasonable needs have 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.

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