Court-Ordered Spousal Maintenance in Texas

Under Chapter 8 of the Texas Family Code, a court may order maintenance only when the requesting spouse will lack sufficient property to meet minimum reasonable needs and meets a statutory gateway — most commonly a marriage of ten years or longer, a disabling condition, or family violence within the statutory window. Even then, Texas caps monthly maintenance and limits its duration by the length of the marriage. Courts presume maintenance is not warranted unless the requesting spouse has exercised diligence in developing earning ability. This is a demanding standard, and cases are won or lost on how the evidence of need and diligence is built.

Contractual Alimony Is a Different Instrument

Spouses can agree to support beyond what a court could order — higher amounts, longer terms, different triggers. But contractual alimony is enforced as a contract, not as a court-ordered maintenance obligation, and that distinction controls the remedies available when payments stop. Texas courts have made clear that agreed support cannot simply be converted into court-ordered maintenance after the fact. If the decree is not drafted with the correct statutory findings and enforcement language at the outset, the paying spouse's obligation may be far harder to enforce than the recipient believes. We draft these provisions so the enforcement mechanism is decided before it is ever needed.

When You Need Counsel

Seeking support

Eligibility must be pleaded and proven correctly the first time. A decree entered without the required findings can bar enforcement remedies permanently.

Resisting an overreaching demand

Maintenance is the exception in Texas, not the rule. We hold the requesting spouse to the statute — the gateway, the diligence presumption, the caps.

Enforcing an existing obligation

Whether your support is court-ordered maintenance or contractual alimony dictates whether contempt, income withholding, or breach-of-contract remedies apply. We analyze the decree before promising a remedy, because the wrong enforcement vehicle wastes months.