Spousal maintenance is defined legally as the support extended by either the husband or wife to the other after a divorce has been granted. There are two common questions asked regarding spousal maintenance, and they are often whether one will receive or extend it.
There are occasions where one of the parties requests for spousal maintenance somewhere in the middle of the divorce hearing but opening up the conversation right at the beginning of the first consultation.
For this post, we will be looking into the different kinds of spousal maintenance that can be requested and the conditions surrounding spousal maintenance in the state of Texas.
Kinds of Spousal Maintenance
Generally, there are two different kinds of spousal maintenance the first one is called “court-ordered spousal maintenance” and the second one is called “contractual support”. The differences between the two kinds of this spousal maintenance are how you’re going to receive the support, how much the support is going to be, the length of time it is handed out, and how they can be modified and imposed.
There is another kind of spousal maintenance that can be discussed over the course of divorce, which is called “interim divorce attorney fees”.
The conditions for each kind of spousal maintenance will be discussed in the next section of this article.
Conditions that Determine Spousal Maintenance in Texas
According to the Texas Family Code Chapter 8, Section 8.502, there are about 11 factors that can help determine the level of spousal maintenance granted by the Texas judiciary court. These are the following:
“(1) each spouse’s ability to provide for that spouse’s minimum reasonable needs independently, considering that spouse’s financial resources on dissolution of the marriage;
(2) the education and employment skills of the spouses, the time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the spouse seeking maintenance to earn sufficient income, and the availability and feasibility of that education or training;
(3) the duration of the marriage;
(4) the age, employment history, earning ability, and physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance;
(5) the effect on each spouse’s ability to provide for that spouse’s minimum reasonable needs while providing periodic child support payments or maintenance, if applicable;
(6) acts by either spouse resulting in excessive or abnormal expenditures or destruction, concealment, or fraudulent disposition of community property, joint tenancy, or other property held in common;
(7) the contribution by one spouse to the education, training, or increased earning power of the other spouse;
(8) the property brought to the marriage by either spouse;
(9) the contribution of a spouse as homemaker;
(10) marital misconduct, including adultery and cruel treatment, by either spouse during the marriage; and
(11) any history or pattern of family violence…”
The terms of duration also varies depending on the kind of spousal maintenance that is being considered.
For one, the maintenance cannot be any longer than 5 years if the spouses were married for less than 10 years if the spouse on the receiving end of the maintenance was convicted of any criminal offense.
Discuss your Alimony with a Divorce Attorney in Fort Worth, Texas
Opening the conversation regarding spousal maintenance should begin right at the start of your divorce. If it could begin between you and your spouse first, all the better. As for the conditions surrounding your alimony, it will be determined by several factors. A good reference regarding spousal maintenance, the Texas Family Code Chapter 8 is a good starting point.
That being said, the importance of getting in touch with a divorce attorney Fort Worth, TX cannot be stressed especially with matters concerning spousal maintenance during the divorce and after the divorce had been finalized.
If you need help regarding alimony, whether how much you’re going to provide as spousal maintenance or how much you’re going to receive, you can start by getting in touch with our expert divorce attorneys at Turner-Monahan, PLLC.
