Family law
Spousal Maintenance in Texas: Who Is Eligible, How Much and How Long, and How It Differs From Contractual Alimony
Who qualifies for spousal maintenance in Texas, the $5,000 or 20 percent cap, five to ten year limits, temporary support, enforcement and contractual alimony.
Counselado · August 12, 2026 · Texas · Updated October 1, 2026
Texas uses the term "spousal maintenance" for support a court orders as part of a divorce. A court can award it only under Texas Family Code chapter 8 (opens in a new tab), and only when the spouse asking for it will lack enough property after the divorce to meet minimum reasonable needs and also fits one of four routes in the statute: a qualifying family-violence conviction or deferred adjudication, an incapacitating disability, a marriage of at least 10 years combined with an inability to earn enough, or care for a child of the marriage with a disability. The court considers listed factors, and the monthly amount can't exceed $5,000 or 20 percent of the paying spouse's average monthly gross income, whichever is less.
Key takeaways
- Texas court-ordered maintenance exists only under Family Code chapter 8, and it requires both insufficient property and one of four eligibility routes.
- A 10-year marriage is one route, not an automatic award, and a presumption works against it unless the requesting spouse showed diligence in earning income or building skills.
- The monthly cap is the lesser of $5,000 or 20 percent of the paying spouse's average monthly gross income; it is a ceiling, not a formula.
- Most orders are limited to five, seven or ten years depending on marriage length, with continuation possible for disability and disabled-child caregiving.
- Contractual alimony comes from a written agreement and contract law, and contempt enforcement is limited when it goes beyond chapter 8 limits.
- For instruments signed after December 31, 2018, federal law generally treats payments as neither deductible nor taxable income.
What spousal maintenance means in Texas
Section 8.001 (opens in a new tab) defines maintenance as "an award in a suit for dissolution of a marriage of periodic payments from the future income of one spouse for the support of the other spouse." People also say "alimony" for three other arrangements, each with its own rules.
Temporary support is a separate order a court can make while the divorce is still pending, under Family Code § 6.502 (opens in a new tab). Contractual alimony is support the spouses agree to in writing, under Family Code § 7.006 (opens in a new tab) and contract law. Social Security divorced-spouse benefits are federal benefits on a former spouse's earnings record, governed by the Social Security Administration's rules (opens in a new tab), and they have nothing to do with a Texas maintenance order. The court, the paperwork and the limits differ for each one.
Who can receive court-ordered maintenance
Every chapter 8 request starts with the same threshold. Under section 8.051 (opens in a new tab), the spouse seeking maintenance must lack sufficient property, including separate property, after the divorce to provide for minimum reasonable needs. That includes property each spouse will keep after the division of community property in a Texas divorce, so the property award and the maintenance question are closely linked.
If that threshold is met, at least one of these routes must also apply:
- Family violence. The other spouse was convicted of, or received deferred adjudication for, a family-violence offense against the requesting spouse or that spouse's child. The offense must have been committed during the marriage and within two years before the divorce was filed, or while the case was pending.
- Disability. The requesting spouse can't earn sufficient income because of an incapacitating physical or mental disability.
- A marriage of at least 10 years. The spouses were married 10 years or longer, and the requesting spouse lacks the ability to earn sufficient income for minimum reasonable needs.
- Caring for a child with a disability. The requesting spouse is the custodian of a child of the marriage, of any age, who needs substantial care and personal supervision because of a physical or mental disability, and that care prevents the spouse from earning sufficient income.
Section 8.051 reflects amendments effective June 9, 2023. A family-violence conviction alone does not settle eligibility; the timing rule and property threshold still apply. If you have experienced family violence and need immediate safety steps, our guide on how to get a protective order in Texas covers that separate process.
How the 10-year marriage route works
Marriage length opens one route but doesn't produce an award by itself. The requesting spouse still needs to show insufficient property and an inability to earn enough for minimum reasonable needs.
Section 8.053 (opens in a new tab) adds a rebuttable presumption that maintenance under the 10-year route is not warranted. The requesting spouse can overcome it by showing diligence in earning sufficient income or developing the necessary skills during the separation and while the divorce was pending. Employment, education and training records from that period bear directly on this presumption.
This Texas rule is separate from the Social Security 10-year marriage rule (opens in a new tab) for divorced-spouse benefits, which has its own federal requirements.
What factors the court considers
Once a spouse is eligible, the court considers all relevant factors in deciding whether to order maintenance. Section 8.052 (opens in a new tab) lists these:
Hover or tap a row to highlight it.
| Area | What the court looks at |
|---|---|
| Resources | Each spouse's ability to meet minimum reasonable needs independently and each spouse's financial resources after the divorce |
| Skills and training | Education and employment skills, time needed for education or training, and whether that training is feasible |
| The marriage | Length of the marriage and property each spouse brought into it |
| The requesting spouse | Age, employment history, earning ability, physical and emotional condition, and efforts to pursue available employment counseling |
| Other obligations | Each spouse's ability to meet needs while paying child support or maintenance |
| Handling of property | Excessive or abnormal spending, destruction, concealment or fraudulent disposal of community or jointly held property |
| Contributions | Contributions to the other spouse's education, training or earning power, and contributions as a homemaker |
| Lost opportunities | Education or employment opportunities given up because of the marriage |
| Conduct | Marital misconduct, including adultery and cruel treatment, and any history or pattern of family violence |
| Health coverage | Availability and cost of health insurance |
Income, property, expense, employment, health, caregiving and family-violence records, where they apply, are what these factors turn on.
How much a court can order
Section 8.055 (opens in a new tab) sets the ceiling: a court may not order monthly maintenance greater than $5,000 or 20 percent of the paying spouse's average monthly gross income, whichever is less. That cap was set by HB 901, effective September 1, 2011, which raised the former maximum from $2,500, according to the HB 901 fiscal note (opens in a new tab).
The cap is a limit, not a calculation. There is no Texas formula that turns income into an expected award; the court sets an amount within the cap after considering the factors above.
Section 8.055 also defines gross income for this purpose. It counts wages, salary, commissions, tips, bonuses, interest, dividends, self-employment income, net rental income, retirement benefits, pensions, annuities, capital gains, unemployment benefits and alimony, among other items. It leaves out items such as return of principal, certain public-assistance benefits, VA service-connected disability compensation, SSI, Social Security and disability benefits, and workers' compensation benefits.
How long maintenance can last
Section 8.054 (opens in a new tab) generally caps the length of an order:
Hover or tap a row to highlight it.
| Situation | Maximum length |
|---|---|
| Marriage of at least 10 but not more than 20 years | Five years |
| Marriage of at least 20 but less than 30 years | Seven years |
| Marriage of 30 years or more | Ten years |
| Family-violence route, including marriages under 10 years | Five years |
| Disability or disabled-child caregiving route | As long as the spouse continues to meet the eligibility criteria |
Within those limits, the court must keep the order to the shortest reasonable period that lets the requesting spouse earn enough for minimum reasonable needs. The exception is when that ability is substantially or totally reduced by a physical or mental disability, duties as custodian of an infant or young child, or another compelling impediment. The continuation rule for the disability and caregiving routes took effect June 9, 2023, as the Texas Judicial Branch legislative update (opens in a new tab) describes.
Temporary spousal support while the divorce is pending
While a divorce case is open, Family Code § 6.502 (opens in a new tab) lets the court, after notice and a hearing, issue temporary orders. Those can include support payments for either spouse, financial inventories, attorney's fees and orders protecting property.
Temporary support only covers the time the case is pending. It does not follow the chapter 8 eligibility routes, cap and duration rules, which apply to final maintenance. For the steps of the divorce case itself, see our guide on how to file for divorce in Texas.
When maintenance ends or can be changed
Under section 8.056 (opens in a new tab), future maintenance ends on the death of either party or on the remarriage of the spouse receiving it. Cohabitation works differently: the court must hold a hearing and find that the recipient lives with someone in a dating or romantic relationship in a permanent residence on a continuing basis before it terminates the order. Termination does not erase payments that came due before it.
Section 8.057 (opens in a new tab) lets either party file a motion to modify in the court that issued the order. The motion needs a material and substantial change in circumstances that happened after the order. A modification applies only to payments that come due after the motion is filed, and it can't raise maintenance above the original amount or extend it past the remaining term. The other party is served with citation and must answer by 10 a.m. on the first Monday after 20 days from service.
Section 8.057(d) adds that losing a job or becoming disabled after the divorce is not grounds to start a new maintenance obligation for a former spouse. An existing order can still be modified when the statutory requirements are met.
How a Texas maintenance order is modified
- A change in circumstancesA material and substantial change in circumstances happens after the order was issued.
- Motion filedEither party files a motion to modify in the court that issued the order.
- Citation servedThe other party is served with citation.
- Answer dueThe other party must answer by 10 a.m. on the first Monday after 20 days from service.
- Hearing and rulingThe court decides the motion; any change applies only to payments that come due after the motion was filed and cannot raise the amount or extend the term.
What happens if payments are not made
A maintenance payment that isn't made on time becomes an arrearage under section 8.058 (opens in a new tab). Under section 8.059 (opens in a new tab), the court can enforce a maintenance order by contempt. After notice, service of citation, any answer and a hearing finding that payments were missed, the court may enter a judgment for the arrears. That judgment can be collected the way other debt judgments are, including an order or writ of withholding sent to the employer and a maintenance qualified domestic relations order. Section 8.101 (opens in a new tab) authorizes income withholding in any proceeding where maintenance is ordered, modified or enforced.
Enforcement runs through the court that issued the order. The Texas Office of the Attorney General's enforcement program (opens in a new tab) handles child support, which is covered in our guide to child support in Texas. Chapter 8 was also amended by HB 2524, effective September 1, 2025, with changes touching enforcement and attorney's fees, so read the current chapter 8 text (opens in a new tab) alongside any older order.
What happens when Texas maintenance payments are missed
- Missed paymentA payment not made on time becomes an arrearage under section 8.058.
- Enforcement requestThe court that issued the order can enforce it by contempt under section 8.059.
- Notice and hearingAfter notice, service of citation and any answer, the court holds a hearing on whether payments were missed.
- Judgment for arrearsIf it finds noncompliance, the court may enter a judgment for the unpaid amounts.
- CollectionThe judgment can be collected like other debt judgments, including a writ of withholding sent to the employer or a maintenance qualified domestic relations order.
How contractual alimony differs
Family Code § 7.006 (opens in a new tab) lets spouses sign a written agreement covering property, debts and the maintenance of either spouse. If the court finds the agreement just and right, its terms bind the court, and the court can include it in the final decree or incorporate it by reference. If not, the court can ask for a revised agreement or set a contested hearing.
Support agreed to this way is generally a contract. In In re Marriage of Eilers (opens in a new tab), the Texas Supreme Court described voluntary support agreements as contractual obligations, separate from court-ordered chapter 8 maintenance, which carries its own eligibility, amount, duration and termination rules.
Enforcement is where the difference shows. Section 8.059 allows contempt for a court order or a court-approved agreement for periodic maintenance under chapter 8, but section 8.059(a-1) (opens in a new tab) limits contempt for agreed maintenance that goes beyond the amount or duration a court could have ordered. Contract remedies may still be available, depending on the agreement and the decree, and a family-law lawyer can draft or review the wording.
How payments are treated for federal taxes
For a divorce or separation instrument signed after December 31, 2018, the IRS says (opens in a new tab) alimony payments are not deductible by the payer and are not included in the recipient's income. An older instrument modified after 2018 follows the newer rule when the modification expressly says so; otherwise older instruments may keep the former deduction and inclusion treatment, as IRS Publication 504 (opens in a new tab) explains. A tax professional can review how your instrument is worded.
What it costs and where to find lower-cost help
Filing, issuance and service fees vary by Texas county, and TexasLawHelp (opens in a new tab) directs people to the district clerk's office in the county where the case is filed for current amounts. If you can't afford court costs, the Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs is the form used to ask for a waiver, as TexasLawHelp's fee-waiver page (opens in a new tab) describes, under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 145 (opens in a new tab).
Other options include TexasLawHelp's divorce and temporary-order forms and its legal-help directory (opens in a new tab), legal-aid organizations with their own eligibility rules (opens in a new tab), and limited-scope representation, where a lawyer handles only defined parts of a case. Our guide on what a divorce lawyer costs covers how family-law fees are charged. Spanish speakers can read TexasLawHelp's Manutención conyugal (pensión alimenticia) (opens in a new tab) page.
How Texas compares with other states
California Family Code § 4320 (opens in a new tab) directs courts to consider factors such as earning capacity, marketable skills, needs, ability to pay, age, health, length of the marriage and domestic violence, without Texas's eligibility routes or its $5,000 and 20 percent cap. New York Domestic Relations Law § 236 (opens in a new tab) uses an income cap for guideline calculations and an advisory duration schedule: 15 to 30 percent of the marriage's length for marriages up to 15 years, 30 to 40 percent for marriages over 15 through 20 years, and 35 to 50 percent for marriages over 20 years. If you divorced or may divorce outside Texas, that state's own statute controls.
Check what you know
Frequently asked questions about spousal maintenance in Texas
A few related questions come up often.
Can a Texas court order maintenance if we were married less than 10 years?
Yes, through a route other than marriage length. The disability route, the disabled-child caregiving route and the family-violence route under section 8.051 (opens in a new tab) do not depend on a 10-year marriage, and the family-violence route allows up to five years of maintenance even for a shorter marriage.
Does remarriage cancel payments that are already past due?
No. Under section 8.056 (opens in a new tab), remarriage ends future maintenance, but amounts that accrued before termination are still owed and can be enforced as arrears.
Can a modification increase maintenance?
A modification under section 8.057 (opens in a new tab) cannot raise the amount above the original order or extend it past the remaining term. It applies only to payments that come due after the motion is filed.
Finding a Texas family-law firm
If you would like to talk with a law firm about spousal maintenance, temporary support or a support agreement in Texas, browse the family law firms in our directory or start from the family law practice area. These rules are current as of October 1, 2026.
Terms in this guide
Tap a term to see what it means.
Spousal maintenance. In Texas, court-ordered periodic payments from one spouse's future income for the support of the other spouse, awarded in a divorce under Family Code chapter 8.
Temporary support. Support a Texas court can order for either spouse while the divorce case is still pending, under Family Code section 6.502.
Contractual alimony. Support the spouses agree to in a written agreement, governed by the agreement and contract law rather than by chapter 8's rules.
Rebuttable presumption. A legal starting point that evidence can overcome; in Texas, maintenance under the 10-year route is presumed not warranted unless the requesting spouse shows diligence.
Gross income. For Texas maintenance, the income measure used for the 20 percent cap, which counts items such as wages, bonuses, interest and self-employment income and leaves out items such as SSI and Social Security benefits.
Arrearage. A maintenance payment that was not made on time.
Contempt. A court's power to enforce its order against a party who does not comply, which Texas courts can use for maintenance orders.
Writ of withholding. A document issued by the court clerk and delivered to an employer, directing that earnings be withheld for maintenance.
This guide gives general legal information, not legal advice for your situation. Laws change and differ by state; a lawyer licensed in your state can tell you how they apply to you.