When getting a divorce in Texas, many topics are brought before the court that you may not have thought of before. Spousal support is one of those subjects. You may have faced the fact that your debt and assets are going to be divided, but you or your spouse may qualify for spousal support or maintenance payments.
Qualifying for support payments is outlined in the Texas Family Code as being the payment made from one spouse to another with the receiving spouse not having sufficient property when the marriage is ended to survive from month to month. The spouse who pays may have been convicted of or had adjudication deferred for a criminal offense that was an act of family violence against the other spouse or a child. Another qualification for spousal support is that it must be filed within two years of the date of the initial filing for divorce.
If the receiving spouse simply does not have enough income to provide for his or her needs and cannot make that amount by being employed, this may trigger payments. A reason that the receiving spouse has for not being able to generate income may be that he or she is taking care of a child from the marriage that has a physical or mental disability and prevents the parent from working outside the home.
It is totally up to the court to decide how much is paid, how long the payments can go on and how the payments are to be made. You can see that having a professional who knows the Family Code of the state of Texas can make a huge difference by stating your case to the judge.
Another area that the court has in its realm of power is whether or not the receiving spouse needs education and job training skills so that they can become a bread winner for themselves. The paying spouse may end up footing the bill for this.
If you are getting a divorce and have questions about spousal support, you may want to contact someone who can answer your questions and guide you through the court system.
Source: Texas Family code, “Subchapter B. spousal maintenance” Dec. 19, 2014
