Austin Spousal Support & Maintenance Lawyer
Texas law makes receiving post-divorce spousal support harder than in most other large states. Your marriage generally has to have lasted ten years; you have to prove you meet strict eligibility criteria; and a judge can only order a limited amount of support. Our attorneys at WSM Law build maintenance claims to survive the Texas standard and negotiate contractual alimony to reach past the statutory ceiling.
WSM Law is a family law firm devoted exclusively to representing women. That focus keeps each client’s priorities at the center, and every strategy in a WSM file is built to protect the money and the standing you leave the marriage with. Call (512) 598-6745 for a free consultation, or contact us online to have our Austin spousal support lawyers review your numbers before you settle for the statute.
Why Women Choose Our Austin Spousal Support Lawyers
We have litigated hundreds of high-asset and high-conflict divorce and custody cases in Travis County courts. Our Austin spousal support lawyers run these files with a specific set of habits:
- Model both paths: Our team runs the numbers for statutory maintenance and contractual alimony side by side before settlement talks begin.
- Price the concession: We never trade maintenance for property division without knowing what the maintenance would have been worth over its statutory run.
- Draft to be collected: Our attorneys write contractual alimony with security, acceleration, and remedies that make a breach expensive.
- Anticipate income games: We retain forensic accountants on high-asset files, since a spouse who suddenly earns less the year you file is exactly what the Texas Family Code invites.
A divorce built by attorneys who work only for women is a divorce built to know what the other side is about to try.
Temporary Spousal Support in Austin
Temporary spousal support is money one spouse pays the other while the divorce is pending. Under Texas Family Code § 6.502, a judge can order it based on need and ability to pay, and none of the strict post-divorce eligibility rules apply.
A woman who does not qualify for court-ordered maintenance after the decree can still receive substantial monthly payments during the case, giving Austin women meaningful early leverage in one of the few places the law offers it. Filing on day one keeps the household running while the case proceeds.
How Is Spousal Maintenance Determined in Texas?
Court-ordered maintenance after the divorce is a stricter test. Eligibility requires one of four conditions:
- A marriage of at least ten years, plus the inability to meet minimum reasonable needs
- A family violence conviction within two years before filing
- An incapacitating disability
- Care of a child whose disability requires substantial supervision
Once you qualify, the judge weighs eleven factors, including your earning ability, the duration of the marriage, marital misconduct, and any contribution you made to your spouse’s earning power. Contribution as a homemaker sits on that list explicitly, which is how a woman who paused her career supports a claim without an income of her own.
What Are the Limits on Amount and Duration in Texas?
Texas caps both the payment and the term. Under Texas Family Code § 8.055, monthly maintenance cannot exceed the lesser of $5,000 or 20% of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income.
Duration follows a schedule tied to the marriage length:
- Ten to twenty years married: Maintenance runs up to five years.
- Twenty to thirty years married: Maintenance runs up to seven years.
- Thirty or more years married: Maintenance runs up to ten years.
- Disability or child disability: Payments continue as long as the qualifying condition does.
The cap is why women married to high earners often finish with less than what settlement talks initially suggested was possible.
How Is Spousal Support Enforced in Travis County?
Enforcement in Austin runs through the district court that entered the order. Wage withholding runs through the Travis County District Clerk.
A maintenance order can include a withholding order served on your ex’s employer, routing the payment before it reaches an account you cannot see. Filing quickly on the first missed check sets the tone that your ex will pay attention to.
Contractual Alimony in Texas
Contractual alimony comes from the spouses’ settlement rather than a court’s maintenance award. Two spouses can agree to any amount for any duration in a divorce settlement.
That agreement is enforced as a contract rather than under Chapter 8. A divorce involving substantial assets in Austin often settles for this reason, as the statute leaves too much money on the table.
Contractual alimony can:
- Exceed the $5,000 cap
- Run longer than the duration schedule allows
- Be secured by life insurance so a spouse’s death does not end the payments
The tradeoff is that contempt isn’t available to enforce a support order; instead, collection happens through a breach-of-contract action. That tradeoff is usually worth it, provided the agreement is drafted to make collection realistic.
Austin Spousal Support FAQ: What Women Need to Know
Can You Get Spousal Support If You’re a Stay-at-Home Mom With No Recent Work History?
Yes, and this is often the strongest kind of case. A gap in your work history that resulted from raising children or supporting the marriage isn’t held against you; it’s evidence a judge can weigh directly under the homemaker-contribution factor when deciding both eligibility and amount.
Does Cheating Affect Your Spousal Maintenance in Texas?
Sometimes. Adultery is one of eleven factors a judge weighs, and a cheating spouse’s excessive spending on the affair carries more weight than the affair itself.
Does Maintenance End If You Remarry or Move in With Someone?
Court-ordered maintenance ends on remarriage and can be terminated on cohabitation in a dating relationship. Contractual alimony follows whatever the parties wrote, so read the settlement agreement before you let anyone assume the check keeps coming.
Build Your Maintenance Claim With Our Austin Spousal Support Lawyer
Texas is not a state that easily awards spousal support to women who wait. The cap is fixed, the eligibility list is short, and any ceiling above the statute only exists if it’s written into a contract at the right moment.
Bring the case to WSM Law and put a maintenance strategy in front of attorneys who build these numbers for a living. Call (512) 598-6745 or reach our firm online to have your Austin spousal support lawyer on the case before your ex writes the terms for you.
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