Spousal Maintenance in Texas

Which spouses are eligible to receive spousal maintenance in Texas?

Eligibility starts with need: Section 8.051 of the Texas Family Code permits an award only when the requesting spouse will come out of the divorce without enough property, separate property included, to cover minimum reasonable needs. That spouse must also fit at least one of the four situations the statute lists.

Family violence

Within the two years prior to filing, or while the case is pending, the spouse who would pay received a conviction or deferred adjudication for an offense involving family violence, committed against the requesting spouse or that spouse's child.

Incapacitating disability

The requesting spouse cannot earn enough to meet minimum reasonable needs because a physical or mental disability is severe enough to be incapacitating.

Marriage of 10 years or longer

The spouses were married at least 10 years and the requesting spouse lacks the ability to earn enough to meet minimum reasonable needs.

Caring for a disabled child

The requesting spouse is the custodian of the couple's child, whatever the child's age, and the child's physical or mental disability demands so much care and supervision that the spouse cannot earn sufficient income.

For the 10-year route, Section 8.053 presumes maintenance is not warranted unless the requesting spouse has been diligent in earning income or building job skills while separated and during the case. See Section 8.051.

How long can a maintenance order last under Section 8.054?

Texas Family Code Section 8.054 caps the length of a maintenance order at five, seven or ten years after the order, depending on how long the spouses were married. Within that cap, the court must choose the shortest reasonable period that lets the receiving spouse meet minimum reasonable needs.

The shortest-period rule gives way when a disability, duties as custodian of the couple's infant or young child, or another compelling impediment substantially limits the spouse's ability to meet those needs. See Section 8.054.

A Texas maintenance order cannot exceed $5,000 a month or 20 percent of gross income

Texas Family Code Section 8.055 bars a court from ordering monthly maintenance above the lesser of $5,000 or 20 percent of the paying spouse's average monthly gross income. A spouse earning $10,000 a month in gross income, for example, could be ordered to pay no more than $2,000 a month.

Gross income for this cap includes wages, bonuses, self-employment income, interest, dividends, net rental income and retirement benefits. It excludes Social Security, SSI and disability benefits, workers' compensation, VA service-connected disability compensation and public assistance. The full list is in Section 8.055.

Under Section 8.052, the judge weighs factors including each spouse's resources and job skills, the length of the marriage, age and health, homemaker contributions, marital misconduct and family violence.

When does spousal maintenance end, change or get enforced?

Texas Family Code Section 8.056 ends future maintenance when either spouse dies or the receiving spouse remarries. A court must also end it, after a hearing, if the receiving spouse lives with a romantic partner in a permanent home on a continuing basis. Payments already due are still owed.

• Modification. Under Section 8.057, the court that made the order may adjust the amount when circumstances have shifted in a material and substantial way. Any adjustment reaches only payments due after the motion is filed and cannot go beyond the original amount or length.
• Enforcement. Under Section 8.059, the court can enforce a maintenance order by contempt and can enter a judgment for unpaid amounts.
• Income withholding. Subchapter C of Chapter 8, beginning at Section 8.101, allows an order or writ that requires the paying spouse's employer to withhold maintenance from earnings.

Spousal maintenance in Texas: common questions

Last reviewed: November 8, 2026. Statute sections and figures on this page were checked against the Texas Family Code on the Texas Legislature website on November 7, 2026.