Texas Long-Term Spousal Support Laws

There are three different arrangements people describe as long-term spousal support, and they operate under different rules. Two are court-ordered under Chapter 8 of the Texas Family Code. The third is a private agreement.

• A maintenance order at the long end of the statutory brackets. For marriages of 20 years or more, the statute permits orders of seven or ten years depending on how long the marriage lasted.
• An open-ended maintenance order. Where eligibility rests on the receiving spouse’s own incapacitating disability, or on caring for a disabled child of the marriage, support can continue as long as that condition lasts.
• Contractual alimony. This is an agreement between spouses rather than a court award, and it is not bound by the statutory caps on amount or duration.

The distinction matters at the start of a case, because the statutory limits on court-ordered maintenance and negotiated alimony shape what a reasonable settlement even looks like.

Who Qualifies for a Long-Term Maintenance Order

The spouse seeking maintenance must lack sufficient property, including separate property, on dissolution of the marriage to meet minimum reasonable needs. One of four additional grounds must also apply.^[1]

• Family violence. The other spouse was convicted of, or received deferred adjudication for, a family violence offense against you or your child. It must have occurred within two years before filing, or while the suit was pending.
• Your own disability. An incapacitating physical or mental disability prevents you from earning enough to meet minimum reasonable needs.
• A marriage of 10 years or longer. You were married at least 10 years and lack the ability to earn enough to meet those needs.
• Care of a disabled child of the marriage. You are custodian of a child of any age who needs substantial care and supervision, and that duty prevents you from earning enough.

Eligibility turns on what you hold once the estate is split, which makes the result of dividing the marital estate decisive.

In 2025 the Texas Supreme Court addressed how this works when children are involved. A court may count child support as property available to meet your needs. It may not treat all of it as available while ignoring the child-related expenses that support is meant to cover.^[2]

The 10-year ground carries an extra hurdle. A rebuttable presumption says maintenance is not warranted unless you showed diligence in earning sufficient income, or in developing those skills, during separation and while the suit was pending.^[3]

How Long an Order Can Last

The maximum is tied to the length of the marriage, and a court cannot exceed it.^[4]

• Five years. Marriages of at least 10 but not more than 20 years, and marriages under 10 years where eligibility rests on family violence.
• Seven years. Marriages of at least 20 but not more than 30 years.
• Ten years. Marriages of 30 years or more.

These are ceilings, not defaults. The court must limit the order to the shortest reasonable period that lets you earn enough to meet minimum reasonable needs. That instruction drops away where disability, care of an infant or young child, or another compelling impediment substantially diminishes that ability.

Two grounds allow an order with no fixed end date. Those are your own incapacitating disability and the care of a disabled child. The court may order maintenance for as long as you keep meeting the criteria, subject to periodic review.

What a Court Can Order One Spouse to Pay

Monthly maintenance is capped at the lesser of $5,000 or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income.^[5]

Gross income is defined broadly. It covers wages, commissions, overtime, bonuses, self-employment and net rental income, interest, dividends, retirement distributions, and severance. Excluded are VA service-connected disability compensation, Social Security and disability benefits, workers’ compensation, and federal public assistance.

The cap is an outer limit. It does not indicate what a judge will actually order.

How a Judge Sets the Amount and Duration

The statute directs the court to weigh eleven factors in setting the nature, amount, duration, and manner of payments.^[6]

A few carry most of the practical weight in contested cases. Those are each spouse’s ability to meet minimum reasonable needs independently, your education and employment skills, and the time needed to retrain. The length of the marriage and your age, work history, earning ability, and health also weigh heavily.

The rest cover contributions as homemaker, property brought to the marriage, and support one spouse gave the other’s education or earning power. Also weighed are waste or concealment of community property, marital misconduct, and any history of family violence.

How the Request Moves Through the Case

Maintenance is decided inside the case that ends the marriage. The record you build during the divorce process that produces the final decree is the record the judge rules on, and we take clients through it step by step.

1. Plead it. The request has to appear in the pleadings. Raised late, it may never be reached.
2. Address support while the case is pending. Either spouse can ask for temporary orders covering support. That request uses different standards and aims at holding the financial status quo.
3. Build the needs record. A documented monthly budget supported by statements and bills, with child-related expenses itemized separately.
4. Prove the ground. Medical records for a disability claim, the judgment for a family violence ground, marriage dates for the 10-year ground, and evidence of diligence where that ground applies.
5. Verify income. Tax returns, pay records, and business returns where a spouse is self-employed.
6. Settle it or try it. Most disputes resolve, and mediation gives both spouses a confidential setting to test amounts and durations before a judge decides.

Changing or Ending an Order

Either party affected by the order may move to modify it in the court that rendered it. After a hearing, the court may modify on a showing of a material and substantial change in circumstances occurring after the order.^[7]

Two limits catch people out. Modification applies only to payments accruing after the motion is filed, and the court may not increase maintenance beyond the original amount or remaining duration.

A job loss or a disability arising after the divorce is not a ground to create a maintenance obligation the decree never contained.

Future maintenance ends on the death of either party or on the remarriage of the receiving spouse.^[8]

After a hearing, the court must also terminate it on a finding of cohabitation with a dating or romantic partner in a permanent place of abode on a continuing basis. Amounts that accrued before termination remain owed.

Since September 1, 2025, a court may award attorney fees, costs, and expenses in a proceeding to terminate, modify, or enforce maintenance.^[9]That cuts both ways on a post-decree motion.

Contractual Alimony When the Statute Does Not Fit

Some spouses do not qualify for court-ordered maintenance but still want ongoing support in the settlement. Contractual alimony is an agreement written into the decree rather than an award under Chapter 8, so the statutory caps do not constrain it.

The trade-off is enforcement. Where a court approves an agreed maintenance order, it cannot use contempt against any part of the obligation exceeding what it could have ordered under Chapter 8.^[10]

The excess is still enforceable, but as a contract debt. That is often the practical answer for a marriage under 10 years where no eligibility ground applies.

Michael Ireland & Associates represents spouses on both sides of long-term maintenance claims, from building the eligibility case to defending against one. A maintenance award is not decided on argument. You have to prove minimum reasonable needs with specific, documented records.

Michael Ireland leads the firm as a Board-Certified Family Law Specialist recognized by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The team handles maintenance matters across Bexar, Comal, and Victoria counties, including eligibility analysis, temporary support requests, modification, and termination. You get clarity about what Chapter 8 allows, an honest read on your facts, and a clear path forward.

What working with the firm looks like:

• A clear read on your position. An honest assessment of whether your facts meet the statutory tests before you commit to a position.
• Preparation that holds up. A documented needs analysis and verified income records a judge can rely on.
• Focused action on timing. Raising maintenance in the pleadings early, and preparing you for the hearing that decides it.
• Direct, candid communication. Clear updates and honest assessments of risk, with no guarantees about specific results.

Schedule a Consultation

Get a clear read on whether long-term maintenance applies to your marriage. Bring what you have, even if it is incomplete, and we will tell you which ground fits, what the statute allows, and what a realistic ask looks like.

Call to schedule a consultation: (830) 357-7437.

Offices in San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Victoria. Consultations are by appointment.

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