Spousal Support

Spousal Maintenance in Texas Divorce Cases

Published on: April 13, 2020 | by McClure Law Group

In a Texas divorce, a spouse who cannot support herself or himself because of an incapacitating disability and does not have sufficient property to meet their needs may be eligible for spousal maintenance. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 8.051. Spousal support is generally limited in time, but a court may order spousal maintenance indefinitely to a spouse who is disabled. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 8.054. There are statutory limits to the amount of spousal maintenance a court can award. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 8.055.

A husband recently challenged an award of spousal maintenance to the wife. He filed for divorce after the couple had been married for more than 18 years. The wife filed a counterpetition and sought spousal maintenance.

At trial, the wife testified she owned as separate property a house she received in a previous divorce. She expected to receive $96,000 in proceeds from its sale to put toward buying a new home. She testified she would “barely have enough to pay for [the new] house.”

Ongoing Obligation Under I-864 Affidavit of Support after Texas Divorce

Published on: April 6, 2020 | by McClure Law Group

In many cases, when a person seeks to obtain lawful permanent resident status in the United States, also known as a green card, they must have a sponsor who agrees to support them. If the person is moving to the United States as a spouse of or to marry a lawful permanent resident or a U.S. citizen, the spouse often serves as the sponsor. The sponsor must sign a Form I-864 Affidavit of Support, which is a legally enforceable contract in which the sponsor agrees to use their financial resources to support the person who intends to immigrate. After the person becomes a lawful permanent resident, the sponsor’s support obligation generally continues until one of the specified conditions is met, including the immigrant becoming a US citizen or earning 40 work quarters toward Social Security. Divorce is not one of the conditions that relieves the sponsor of his or her support obligation. Therefore, the support obligation may become an issue in a Texas divorce involving an immigrant who has not become a US citizen.

The support obligation was at issue in a recent case. The wife had moved to the United States from Mexico to be with the husband in 2014. They married in June 2016. The husband signed an I-864 affidavit of support in August 2016, agreeing to provide the wife with any support needed to keep her income level at at least 125% of the federal poverty level. The wife later became a lawful permanent resident.

The husband filed for divorce in July 2017. In her counterpetition, the wife asked the court to order the husband “to support her under his federal contractual obligation” based on the form I-864. The trial court heard evidence and granted the divorce, but took the issue of the husband’s obligation pursuant to the I-864 affidavit under advisement to review the case law submitted by the parties. The court held multiple hearings on the issue.

Diligence and Spousal Maintenance in Texas Divorces

Published on: July 6, 2018 | by McClure Law Group

In a Texas divorce, the court may award spousal maintenance if the marriage lasted at least 10 years and the spouse seeking maintenance lacks sufficient property to meet his or her minimum reasonable needs and has insufficient earning capability to support herself or himself. A Texas court recently considered whether spousal maintenance was appropriate when the spouse receiving maintenance had maintained employment with the same organization for over 30 years.

The couple had been married for nearly 40 years when they divorced. The court ordered the husband to pay $650 per month for five years or until certain specified events occurred. She was also awarded a 100% interest in the joint and survivor’s annuity of his retirement pension.

The husband appealed, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support the spousal maintenance award. He argued the wife’s annual salary was more than sufficient to meet her minimum reasonable needs. He also argued she had requested the marital home and that put her in a worse financial situation.

Requests to Modify Spousal Maintenance in Texas

Published on: January 8, 2018 | by Francesca Blackard

In a recent Texas alimony decision, an ex-husband appealed the granting of spousal maintenance to his ex-wife. The couple had married in 2005. The man sued for divorce 10 years later. The woman claimed that the formal marriage had occurred in 2005, but they had married in 1999 when she was 16. They had two kids.

Around age 16, she lived with the man and his son. She was prevented from working, and he paid all of the bills and paid for food, while she cleaned and cooked and went to parent-teacher meetings for her stepson. She did finish high school and took classes to become a surgical technologist, even though she claimed she wasn’t allowed to work outside the house. She almost finished the program but was stopped from finishing by her husband. She testified later she couldn’t go back and finish the program because students weren’t allowed to re-enter after dropping out.

Once the husband sued for divorce, she worked as a waitress and then in retail. She got under $2,000 in monthly income, and her expenses were almost twice that. She didn’t have enough money, even with child support being paid, to cover her reasonable needs. She also said she didn’t have the education necessary for a better job. She estimated that getting the education she needed while caring for two kids would take five or six years, due to clinical hours.

Temporary Spousal Maintenance in Texas

Published on: September 25, 2017 | by Kelly McClure

In a recent Texas spousal maintenance case, a husband appealed from a final divorce decree. He claimed the court made a mistake by awarding the wife $1,500 in spousal maintenance, awarding temporary spousal support of $2,500 each month, ordering him to pay $20,000 in delinquent temporary spousal support payments, failing to issue appropriate factual and legal findings, and failing to award him property he believed was solely his separate property.

In 2014, the parties agreed in court that the husband would pay the wife $2,500 each month before the divorce as temporary alimony. The wife asked for the entry of an order reflecting that. However, the husband filed a proposed rule 11 agreement, claiming an error in calculating his income. He asked for a modification of the agreement.

Another hearing was held related to the temporary orders. There, the husband’s attorney told the court that there had been an error in the first agreement. The wife’s attorney said he understood that the husband’s income was around $5,000. The husband’s attorney claimed he’d withdrawn money from his 401K, and the monthly income of about $1,400 wouldn’t be available.

It’s Not Too Late to Get a Prenup!

Published on: March 15, 2016 | by Kate Mataya

I know what you’re thinking…. “I’m already married; how is it not too late?” Don’t worry; the solution is a postnup! The Texas Family Code allows for couples to enter into a postnuptial agreement (or marital property agreement), which will offer many of the same protections and advantages that a prenuptial agreement offers.

Current Property. At the time of marriage, both spouses often have separate property interests and liabilities that were acquired prior to marriage. Without a prenup, the spouses’ separate property estates often become commingled and indistinguishable from the community estate of the spouses that begins upon marriage, especially if the spouses have been married for a substantial period of time. For example, during marriage, a spouse may inherit a large estate from a relative, gifts, buy a house, sell or trade property, or put separate property money in the same bank account. Although you and your spouse did not execute a premarital agreement, it is not too late to distinguish your separate property in a marital property agreement.

Chapter 4 of the Texas Family Code, Subchapter B, outlines the statutory requirements and guidelines for a marital agreement. Section 4.102 states:

With Child Support Off the Table, Celebrity Asks for “Pet Support”

Published on: December 14, 2015 | by Kate Mataya

Nearly a year after separating, Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams are still trying to negotiate a settlement for divorce. The reason for the drawn out divorce? Alimony. Continue Reading ›