Texas Alimony Calculator
Wondering how much alimony you might pay or receive in a Texas divorce? Our free Texas spousal maintenance calculator applies the exact statutory formula from Texas Family Code § 8.055 to calculate the maximum monthly amount a court can order, and § 8.054 to calculate the maximum duration based on your marriage length. Whether you're in San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, or anywhere in Bexar County or Texas, this calculator gives you the numbers courts actually use.
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Texas is one of the most restrictive states in the country for spousal maintenance. Unlike most states, the Texas Family Code provides a specific statutory formula for both the maximum amount and maximum duration of court-ordered alimony.
First, we confirm you meet Texas eligibility requirements. You must show inability to meet minimum reasonable needs from your own property PLUS fit one of four categories: 10-year marriage with inability to earn enough, family violence, incapacitating disability, or caring for a disabled child of the marriage.
The statutory maximum is the lesser of $5,000 per month OR 20% of the paying spouse's average monthly gross income. This is an absolute ceiling — courts cannot order more, even in high-income divorces where both spouses agree more is appropriate.
Duration is capped by marriage length: 5 years max for marriages of 10–20 years, 7 years for 20–30 years, 10 years for 30+ years. Family violence cases get up to 5 years regardless of marriage length. Disability cases can extend as long as the disability continues.
Texas Family Code § 8.054 sets hard limits on how long court-ordered spousal maintenance can last, based on marriage length. These limits are maximums — courts are required to order the "shortest reasonable period" that lets the receiving spouse become self-supporting.
| Marriage Length | Maximum Duration | Basis | Typical Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 years | 5 years | Family violence only | Marriages under 10 years don't qualify unless there was family violence, disability, or disabled child care. |
| 10 – 20 years | 5 years | Any eligibility basis | Most common tier. Courts usually order shorter periods tied to the time needed to retrain or re-enter the workforce. |
| 20 – 30 years | 7 years | Any eligibility basis | Longer-term marriages where earning-capacity gaps are often more severe and harder to close. |
| 30+ years | 10 years | Any eligibility basis | Longest possible court-ordered duration. Often applies to retirement-age homemakers with little independent earning history. |
| Any length | Indefinite | Disability or disabled child care | For as long as the disability continues. Reviewed periodically under § 8.057. |
Texas alimony law is fundamentally different from most states. Texas didn't even allow court-ordered post-divorce alimony until 1995, and even today courts start with a legal presumption AGAINST awarding it. These rules dramatically shape what your case is really worth — whether you're in San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, or a smaller Texas county.
Texas courts begin with the presumption that maintenance is NOT warranted. The spouse seeking maintenance must affirmatively prove they exercised diligence in earning income or developing skills to meet their minimum reasonable needs. Without that showing, the presumption defeats the claim.
Court-ordered maintenance cannot exceed the lesser of $5,000/month or 20% of the paying spouse's average gross monthly income. This cap applies regardless of lifestyle, income, or need. The $5,000 ceiling has not been raised since the statute was modernized in 2011 despite significant inflation.
Most eligibility paths require a 10-year marriage. If you were married fewer than 10 years, you can only qualify through the family-violence, disability, or disabled-child-care provisions. This alone disqualifies most short-marriage divorce claims.
Texas law looks at "minimum reasonable needs" — not the standard of living during the marriage. This is a conservative figure covering housing, food, utilities, basic transportation, and health insurance — not luxury items, vacations, or the lifestyle the spouse enjoyed while married.
Spouses can agree to alimony amounts and durations that exceed the statutory limits via contractual alimony — a negotiated agreement in the divorce decree. Contractual alimony is common in high-asset Texas divorces and is enforced as contract law, not under Chapter 8 enforcement provisions.
Maintenance automatically terminates on the death of either spouse or remarriage of the recipient. It can also be terminated if the recipient cohabitates with a romantic partner on a continuing basis — but only after a court hearing and finding.
For divorces finalized after December 31, 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changed the rules: the paying spouse can no longer deduct maintenance, and the receiving spouse doesn't report it as taxable income. This significantly affects negotiation leverage.
Under § 8.101, Texas maintenance orders can be enforced through mandatory income withholding — the employer is required to deduct payments directly from the payer's paycheck, just like child support. Missed payments can also trigger contempt proceedings.
Barton & Associates has represented divorcing spouses across San Antonio, Bexar County, Comal County, Guadalupe County, Kendall County, and surrounding Central Texas communities for years. Spousal maintenance cases in Bexar County family courts follow the same Chapter 8 statutory framework as the rest of Texas, but local judges and magistrates have distinct tendencies on evidence, diligence documentation, and how they weigh the § 8.052 factors.
Cases are typically filed at the Bexar County Courthouse, 100 Dolorosa, San Antonio, TX 78205, and heard in one of the Bexar County District Courts with family law jurisdiction. Associate judges handle many of the preliminary and temporary-orders matters, while contested final maintenance questions typically go before the elected district judge in the assigned court.
Whether you're a stay-at-home parent from the Stone Oak area, a military spouse stationed at Lackland AFB, Fort Sam Houston, or Joint Base San Antonio, a professional earning significant income in the Medical Center, or a business owner with complex community property in the Pearl or Southtown, the spousal maintenance analysis starts with the same four-part statutory framework but the evidence required to succeed varies enormously. Our San Antonio divorce attorneys handle both sides — petitioners seeking maintenance and respondents defending against excessive or unwarranted claims.
Common San Antonio spousal maintenance scenarios we handle: military service-connected disability cases, long-term homemaker divorces after 20–30 year marriages, high-asset divorces where contractual alimony is more useful than statutory maintenance, divorces involving family businesses where income calculations are disputed, modification proceedings where a former spouse's circumstances have changed, and enforcement actions against non-paying ex-spouses.
A calculator can show you the statutory maximums. Only an experienced Texas divorce attorney can analyze your actual eligibility, project what a Bexar County judge is likely to order in your specific case, and advise whether contractual alimony might get you a better outcome than court-ordered maintenance. Free consultation, no pressure.
While this online tool provides an excellent statutory estimation under the strict caps of the Texas Family Code, spousal maintenance is one of the most heavily litigated elements of a high-asset dissolution. Texas courts do not award alimony automatically; the requesting spouse must overcome a steep legal presumption to prove a true lack of sufficient property to meet minimum reasonable needs. Whether you are seeking to secure necessary financial support or defending your hard-earned assets against overreaching claims with a family law attorney in San Antonio, having a precise advocate matters. Partnering with a skilled San Antonio property division lawyer is the most reliable way to accurately evaluate complex assets, business holdings, and contractual alimony variables.
Because spousal support structures are intrinsically tied to how the rest of your marital estate is carved up, your overall legal blueprint requires comprehensive oversight. An experienced San Antonio divorce attorney can help you strategically balance alimony negotiations against retirement account divisions, real estate equity, and tax implications, ensuring you enter your next chapter on stable financial footing.
Spousal maintenance depends heavily on the facts of your marriage. Learn more about alimony and spousal support in San Antonio, or talk with our San Antonio divorce lawyers.
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