How Long Will I Have to Pay Alimony?

The duration of alimony payment usually depends on the length of the marriage.

The answer to this burning question recently changed, because the law recently changed. Although Texas still has one of the most limited alimony laws in the country, it is significantly broader than it was before. Additionally, the law is subjective in terms of the amount and duration of payments. More on these things below.

Because the alimony law in Texas is subjective, both obligors (people paying support) and obligees (people receiving support) have important legal rights. Only a good Ft. Worth family law attorney effectively upholds these rights. Moreover, alimony expertise is not enough to successfully handle a divorce or modification case. Attorneys must also deal with issues like child custody, property division, and child support.

Duration of Payments

In Texas, the duration of alimony payments usually depends on the underlying basis for alimony payments as well as the length of the marriage.

Sometimes, a judge orders alimony payments because the obligor “was convicted of or received deferred adjudication for a criminal offense that also constitutes an act of family violence” within two years of the filing date and the alleged victim was the spouse or a child of that spouse.

Alimony is appropriate in these situations for several reasons. Sudden marital trauma, like physical abuse, usually leaves the obligee with little or no financial means. Furthermore, abuse has long-lasting physical and emotional effects that make it difficult or impossible to become economically self-sufficient.

Lack of self-sufficiency is a much more common basis for alimony payments. The same alimony test applies:

• The obligee must be unable to earn sufficient income to provide for the spouse’s minimum reasonable needs because of an incapacitating physical or mental disability, or
• The marriage lasted at least ten years and the obligee “lacks the ability to earn sufficient income to provide for the spouse’s minimum reasonable needs,” or
• The obligee is the custodian of a child of the marriage of any age who requires substantial care and personal supervision because of a physical or mental disability that prevents the spouse from earning sufficient income to provide for the spouse’s minimum reasonable needs.

A minimum duration presumption applies. The judge may only approve alimony payment for the minimum amount of time for the obligee to become economically self sufficient, subject to the limits discussed below.

The time limits are new. Spousal support payments are capped at five, seven, and ten years. The five-year limit applies if the marriage lasted between ten and twenty years or the aforementioned domestic violence factor applies.

The seven-year cap applies if the marriage lasted between twenty and thirty years. The ten-year cap applies if the marriage lasted more than thirty years. The domestic violence rule doesn’t apply in these two cases.

Amount of Payments

Chapter 8 enumerates several factors the judge must use to determine the duration of payments, subject to the limits discussed above, and the amount of payments, which are capped at $5,000 per month or 20 percent of the obligor’s gross income, whichever is less.

• Each spouse’s ability to provide for that spouse’s minimum reasonable needs independently, considering that spouse’s financial resources on dissolution of the marriage,
• Relative education and employment skills of the spouses,
• Time necessary for the obligor to acquire sufficient education or training to earn sufficient income, and the availability and feasibility of that education or training,
• Duration of the marriage,
• Relative age, employment history, earning ability, and physical and emotional condition of each spouse,
• Effect on each spouse’s ability to provide for that spouse’s minimum reasonable needs while providing periodic child support payments or maintenance, if applicable,
• Dissipation (waste) of community assets,
• Contribution by one spouse to the education, training, or increased earning power of the other spouse,
• Noneconomic contributions to the marriage,
• Fault in the breakup of the marriage, and
• Any history or pattern of family violence.

A Ft. Worth family law attorney can modify payments if any of these factors substantially and permanently change.

Reach Out to a Diligent Tarrant County Lawyer

Alimony length depends on several factors. For a confidential consultation with an experienced family law attorney in Ft. Worth, contact the Law Office of Kyle Whitaker. Convenient payment plans are available.