Is alimony allowed in Texas?
In Texas, alimony is also called spousal maintenance. Spousal maintenance provides a spouse with periodic payments from the former spouse’s future income that continues after the divorce. The court may order (alimony is not a guarantee) spousal maintenance for a spouse if a spouse was convicted for family violence within two (2) years before the date the petition for divorce was filed or the marriage was ten (10) years duration. The spouse who is seeking spousal maintenance must show that he/she lacks sufficient resources to provide for his/her minimal reasonable needs. The spouse seeking future support must show that employment is difficult to maintain or gainful employment is not possible because of a physical or mental disability. Spousal maintenance may be ordered if a child has a disability that prevents the spouse from being employed outside the home. The courts may order spousal support if a spouse clearly lacks ability in the work place. Factors that determine eligibility for a
Texas has long had “contractual alimony” where the parties agree to alimony. There are any number of reasons why the parties may agree to alimony, but the most common is that it is difficult to divide the community property without alimony. For example, most of the community property estate is tied up in a single large asset which the parties cannot or do not wish to liquidate, such as a house or a retirement plan. In order to compensate the other party for their fair share of the asset, the person receiving the asset may agree to make periodic payments to the other party. Although this can be done simply as a promissory note, making it as alimony has some advantages. If it can pass muster as “in the nature of support” according to IRS guidelines, it is a debt that must be paid, and cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and it also is tax deductible to the person making the payments. In 1995 Texas became a limited alimony state, meaning that the court could order alimony even if the part
