Alimony · TX
Texas alimony and spousal support calculator
Texas does not compute alimony; it limits what a judge may order and for how long, once a spouse qualifies.
Rules read on official Texas pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Income counted
- Gross income
- $8,000 vs $3,000 a month
- $1,600
- a month under the rule
- 12-year marriage
- 5 years
- Rules read on
- October 8, 2026
Court-ordered spousal maintenance in Texas can never be more than the lesser of $5,000 a month or 20% of the paying spouse's average monthly gross income (Family Code § 8.055). The two limits meet at $25,000 of monthly gross income: below it the percentage binds, above it the flat dollar cap does. There is no formula producing a likely amount, only this ceiling, and it applies only after the requesting spouse qualifies under § 8.051, for instance after a marriage of at least 10 years combined with an inability to earn enough for minimum reasonable needs. Duration is limited too: 5 years for a marriage of 10 to 20 years, 7 years for 20 to 30, 10 years beyond. A payer with $9,000 of monthly gross income could be ordered to pay at most $1,800 a month. Agreements the spouses sign themselves (contractual alimony) are not bound by these limits.
Estimated spousal support in Texas, per month
$1,600
Duration: up to 5 years
| Payer’s average monthly gross income | $8,000 |
| 20% of that income | $1,600 |
| Fixed monthly cap | $5,000 |
| Maximum monthly maintenance (lesser of the two) | $1,600 |
| Longest duration for this marriage length | 5 years |
This is the most a Texas court can order, not a likely amount: the spouse must first qualify under Family Code § 8.051 and lack property to meet minimum reasonable needs.
The cap is 20% of the payer's average monthly gross income because it is below $5,000.
A court may order maintenance beyond these limits for as long as a disability of the spouse or of a child of the marriage continues (§ 8.054(b)).
Estimate under the Texas formula as published; eligibility, the judge's findings and an agreement between spouses decide the real order. How this is calculated.
A ceiling, not an estimate
Most of what people call alimony calculators apply a percentage and print a number. Texas law works the other way round. Chapter 8 of the Family Code first asks whether the spouse asking for maintenance is eligible at all, then tells the judge what the order may not exceed. The figure on this page is that statutory maximum. A court can order less, and often orders nothing: maintenance is meant to help a spouse who will lack enough property, including separate property, to meet minimum reasonable needs after the divorce.
The cap compares two numbers every time. 20% of the obligor's average monthly gross income, and $5,000. Gross income here has its own definition in § 8.055(a-1): wages, bonuses, self-employment and net rental income count, while Social Security, SSI, VA service-connected disability and workers' compensation benefits are left out. Someone earning $9,000 a month faces a ceiling of $1,800; someone earning $40,000 faces $5,000, the same as anyone earning $25,000 or more.
Who can ask
Section 8.051 opens three doors. A spouse whose partner was convicted of, or received deferred adjudication for, family violence against them or their child within two years before filing or during the case. A spouse who cannot earn enough because of an incapacitating disability, or who has custody of a child of the marriage needing substantial care because of a disability. And a spouse married 10 years or longer who lacks the ability to earn enough. For that last route, § 8.053 presumes maintenance is not warranted unless the spouse made diligent efforts to earn income or develop skills while separated and during the case.
How many years
The limits run from the date of the order. A marriage of 20 years or more but under 30 allows up to 7 years, so the payer in our first example, married 22 years, faces at most 7 years. Thirty years or more of marriage opens 10 years. Short marriages under 10 years only qualify through the family-violence door, with 5 years as the ceiling. Within these limits the judge must still pick the shortest reasonable period that lets the spouse become self-supporting, unless a disability, the care of an infant or young child, or another compelling impediment stands in the way. Disability-based maintenance can continue as long as the disability does, with periodic reviews.
Maintenance ends at the death of either party or the recipient's remarriage, and the court must end it after a hearing if the recipient cohabits in a romantic relationship on a continuing basis (§ 8.056). Federal tax follows the post-2018 rule: the payer cannot deduct it and the recipient does not report it.
The Texas rule this calculator applies
Scope. Court-ordered post-divorce spousal maintenance under Tex. Fam. Code ch. 8 (contractual alimony agreed by the parties is not limited by these caps). Temporary support while the divorce is pending is not governed by ch. 8.
Amount. No guideline amount. Tex. Fam. Code § 8.055(a) caps court-ordered maintenance at the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20 percent of the obligor spouse's average monthly gross income. § 8.055(a-1) defines gross income (includes wages, self-employment, net rental income, dividends, pensions, etc.; excludes return of capital, SSI/social security, VA disability, workers' compensation, TANF, foster care payments).
Duration. Tex. Fam. Code § 8.054(a)(1): maintenance may not remain in effect more than 5 years after the order if married < 10 years and eligibility rests on family violence (§ 8.051(1)), or if married 10 to 20 years; 7 years if married 20 to 30 years; 10 years if married 30 years or more. § 8.054(a)(2): the court shall limit duration to the shortest reasonable period unless disability, care of an infant or young child, or another compelling impediment. § 8.054(b): for disability (§ 8.051(2)(A) or (C)) maintenance may last as long as eligibility continues.
Eligibility. Tex. Fam. Code § 8.051: the spouse seeking maintenance must lack sufficient property to meet minimum reasonable needs AND either (1) the other spouse was convicted of or received deferred adjudication for family violence against the spouse or the spouse's child within 2 years before filing or while the suit is pending, or (2) the spouse is unable to earn sufficient income because of an incapacitating disability, has been married 10 years or longer and lacks the ability to earn sufficient income, or is the custodian of a disabled child of the marriage. § 8.053 presumes maintenance under the 10-year ground is not warranted unless the spouse exercised diligence in earning income or developing skills.
Worth knowing in Texas
- Maintenance terminates on the death of either party or remarriage of the obligee, and the court shall terminate it on proof that the obligee cohabits with a romantic partner in a permanent place of abode on a continuing basis (Tex. Fam. Code § 8.056). source
- Court-ordered maintenance can never exceed $5,000 a month, however high the obligor's income (§ 8.055(a)). source
- Marital misconduct, including adultery and cruel treatment, is one of the 11 factors the court weighs in setting maintenance (§ 8.052(10)). source
- VA service-connected disability compensation, social security, SSI and workers' compensation benefits are excluded from gross income for the cap (§ 8.055(a-1)(2)). source