Austin Spousal Maintenance Attorney

Travis County judges do not treat post-divorce support as a routine add-on to a property division; Texas law makes it the exception, and a spouse who wants it has to prove the case with evidence. That is why an Austin spousal maintenance attorney matters on either side of the request. The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm that handles spousal maintenance, property division, child support, custody, and collaborative, cooperative, and mediated divorce for clients in Austin, Travis County, and across Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties.

Texas does not use the word alimony in its statutes. Court-ordered support after a divorce is called spousal maintenance, and Chapter 8 of the Family Code controls who qualifies, how much can be ordered, and for how long. The rules include a firm monthly ceiling, a short list of eligibility grounds, and a hard cap on duration tied to the length of the marriage. A spouse who assumes maintenance works like it does in other states often misjudges both the odds and the numbers.

Because the eligibility test is so narrow, maintenance cases in Austin tend to be won or lost on preparation: what a spouse can document about their earning ability, their monthly needs, and the property they will leave the marriage with. Those facts are largely settled long before a hearing, and the strongest results usually come from lawyers who build the record from the first meeting.

Why Choose Oprea & Weber for Spousal Maintenance Cases in Austin

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is led by attorneys Kevin Weber and Karen Oprea, who both graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. The firm serves clients in Austin and throughout Travis, Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties, and it takes a boutique approach: a deliberately manageable caseload, direct attorney access, and plain-language communication. Your attorney personally handles your case from the first consultation to the final decree, rather than passing it through layers of staff or junior associates.

Those credentials matter in a maintenance dispute because the fight is evidentiary. Kevin Weber trained in complex commercial litigation and negotiation at Latham & Watkins in Manhattan, experience that translates directly to untangling a business owner’s income, testing claims about earning capacity, and negotiating from a position of preparation. Karen Oprea has briefed and argued cases before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Courts of Appeals, and the New York appellate courts, which shapes how the firm builds a record that holds up if a ruling is ever challenged.

The firm prepares every case as though it may be tried, and that preparation is what gives clients leverage when settlement talks begin. Clients describe the attorneys as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring, and one reviewer noted that Kevin translates legal language into information a person can actually use. Kevin also mediates family law disputes and represents clients in mediation, so he understands what a durable maintenance agreement looks like from both sides of the table. When cooperation is possible, the firm pursues it; when it is not, the firm is ready to litigate.

Situations That Lead to Spousal Maintenance Disputes in Travis County

• Long Marriages With an Earnings Gap: The most common route to maintenance is a marriage of at least ten years where one spouse cannot earn enough to meet minimum reasonable needs. Austin’s high-wage technology, state government, and university sectors can leave a spouse who stepped back from a career years earlier facing a steep re-entry.
• Disability of a Spouse: A spouse with an incapacitating physical or mental disability may qualify regardless of how long the marriage lasted. Maintenance on this ground can continue as long as the disability does, subject to periodic review by the court.
• Disability of a Child: A spouse who must care for a child with a disability, and who therefore cannot work enough to support themselves, may qualify on the same disability ground without meeting the ten-year requirement.
• Family Violence Convictions: If the paying spouse was convicted of, or received deferred adjudication for, a family violence offense against the other spouse or that spouse’s child, within two years before the divorce was filed or while it was pending, maintenance may be available even after a short marriage, for up to five years.
• Disputes Over the Presumption Against Maintenance: On the ten-year ground, Texas law starts from a presumption that maintenance is not appropriate unless the requesting spouse has shown diligence in earning income or developing the skills to do so. Much of the courtroom work centers on proving or rebutting that diligence.
• Self-Employed and Business-Owner Spouses: When a paying spouse owns a practice, a consulting firm, or a closely held company, the fight is over what that spouse really earns. Maintenance is capped by a percentage of average monthly gross income, so how income is measured directly affects the ceiling.
• Property Division That Eliminates the Need: A spouse must lack enough property, including separate property, to meet minimum reasonable needs. In a community property state, the division of assets and the maintenance request are linked, and a generous property award can defeat a claim.
• Contractual Maintenance Agreements: Spouses can agree to support terms that go beyond what a court could order, including premarital or postmarital agreements that address support. Those agreements can be powerful, and they deserve careful drafting and review.

What to Do Now if Maintenance Is on the Table in Austin

The first practical step is to put your finances on paper before anyone files anything. A spouse seeking maintenance needs a realistic monthly budget showing minimum reasonable needs, along with tax returns, pay records, and proof of any job search, retraining, or education. A spouse who expects to pay needs the same documents from the opposite angle, because the monthly ceiling is tied to a percentage of average gross income and the figure that matters is the one the court accepts. Gather bank statements, retirement account statements, business records, and anything showing separate property, since a spouse’s separate assets can defeat a claim that they cannot meet their own needs.

Residency decides where the case can be filed. At least one spouse must have lived in Texas for the preceding six months and in the county of filing for the preceding 90 days. For Austin residents that usually means Travis County, whose civil system includes a dozen district courts, associate courts, and Title IV-D child support courts, with contested hearings and trials generally held in person at the Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility downtown. Families in Georgetown, San Marcos, or Bastrop file in Williamson, Hays, or Bastrop County instead, where the district courts sit in those county seats. Filing in the wrong county, or filing before the residency clocks run, wastes time that is hard to recover.

Once the petition is filed, the court cannot grant the divorce until the 60th day after filing. The clock runs from the filing date, not the service date, and an agreement between spouses does not shorten it; the only exceptions involve family violence. Maintenance is typically addressed in the final decree, but the early months matter. Temporary orders can set who pays which bills while the case is pending, and the financial record created during that period often becomes the backbone of the maintenance argument.

The most common mistake is waiting. Spouses sometimes assume that a request can be raised later, only to find that the decree resolved the issue and a later claim is far harder. A second mistake is treating a settlement as only a number. The structure of a maintenance agreement, including whether payments end on remarriage, how long they last, and what happens if circumstances change, deserves as much attention as the monthly amount. A third is underestimating how closely a judge will examine a claim of inability to work, particularly when the spouse has an educational background or work history that suggests earning potential.

How Maintenance Is Limited and Measured Under Texas Law

Texas places a ceiling on what a court may order each month: the lesser of a fixed dollar amount set in the statute or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income. Because the figure is the lesser of the two, a spouse earning a moderate income hits the percentage limit long before the dollar limit. The statute also controls duration. For a marriage of at least ten but under twenty years, maintenance can last up to five years. For twenty to under thirty years, the limit is seven years, and for thirty years or more, ten years. A family violence claim after a marriage shorter than ten years is also capped at five years. Disability-based maintenance is the exception: it can continue as long as the disability or need does, subject to periodic review.

Judges are directed to order maintenance for the shortest reasonable period that allows the requesting spouse to earn sufficient income, unless the disability ground applies. In practice, that means a spouse who can realistically complete a degree, certification, or return to a prior profession should expect an order built around that plan rather than an open-ended obligation. Courts also weigh factors such as each spouse’s education and employment skills, the length of the marriage, age, health, contributions as a homemaker, and any history of family violence.

Maintenance interacts with everything else in the divorce. Texas divides community property in a manner that is just and right, which does not always mean equal. A larger share of the estate can substitute for ongoing support, and a smaller share can strengthen a claim for it. Child support is calculated separately from maintenance, using guideline percentages of the paying parent’s net monthly resources, and a court sets both obligations with the whole picture in view. Planning the property settlement, the parenting schedule, and the maintenance question together is almost always better than treating them as separate negotiations.

Spousal Maintenance Questions Austin Clients Ask

Does Texas allow permanent alimony?

No. Texas maintenance is time-limited in nearly every case, with durations capped by the length of the marriage. The exception is maintenance based on a spouse’s or child’s disability, which can last as long as the disability or need continues, though the court reviews it periodically.

How long must we have been married to qualify for maintenance?

For the most common ground, the marriage must have lasted at least ten years, and the requesting spouse must be unable to earn enough to meet minimum reasonable needs. Two grounds do not depend on that length: an incapacitating disability of the spouse or a child, and a family violence conviction or deferred adjudication within two years before the divorce was filed or while it was pending.

Is there a maximum amount a court can order each month?

Yes. A court cannot order more than the lesser of a fixed dollar ceiling set by statute or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income. Because the figure is the lesser of the two, the percentage limit often controls.

Does separate property affect my claim?

It can, significantly. The requesting spouse must lack enough property, including separate property, to provide for minimum reasonable needs. A spouse who receives substantial assets in the property division, or who owns separate property, may find the claim reduced or defeated.

What does diligence mean in a maintenance case?

On the ten-year ground, the law presumes maintenance is not appropriate unless the requesting spouse has shown diligence in earning income or developing the skills to do so during separation and while the divorce is pending. Job applications, enrollment in classes, certifications, and consistent work history are the kind of evidence that overcomes the presumption. The presumption does not apply to the disability or family violence grounds.

Can maintenance be modified after the divorce?

Maintenance orders can be modified or ended in certain circumstances, and they end by operation of law on events such as remarriage or the death of either party. A material change in circumstances can support a request to modify, but the standards are specific. If you are unsure whether an existing order can change, bring the decree to an attorney for review.

If my spouse and I agree on support, do we still need the court?

Yes. A written agreement must be incorporated into the final decree to be enforceable by the court. We draft clear, enforceable terms so there is no ambiguity about duration, termination events, or what happens if one spouse’s income changes.

Can I get maintenance after a common-law marriage ends?

If the relationship qualifies as an informal marriage, ending it requires a divorce, and maintenance rules apply the same way. A couple must have agreed to be married, lived together in Texas as spouses, and represented to others that they were married, or have filed a declaration of informal marriage. Texas has no minimum cohabitation period, and the length of the marriage still controls the duration of any maintenance.

How long does a maintenance dispute take in Travis County courts?

The 60-day waiting period is the minimum for any divorce, and an agreed case can often wrap up soon after. Contested maintenance cases, especially those involving business income, retirement assets, or disputes about earning capacity, commonly take many months. The pace depends on how quickly financial information is exchanged and on the court’s schedule.

Does a spouse’s disability affect how long support lasts?

Often it does. Maintenance based on an incapacitating disability is not subject to the same duration caps as the ten-year ground and can continue as long as the disability lasts. The court can review the order periodically to decide whether it should continue.

Can maintenance be ordered if I was the spouse who filed for divorce?

Yes. Eligibility does not depend on who filed. It depends on the statutory grounds, your financial needs, and your ability to support yourself. Texas does not require both spouses to agree to the divorce, so either spouse can request maintenance regardless of who is the Petitioner or Respondent.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the amounts at stake seem small?

Maintenance can last for years, so even a modest monthly amount adds up substantially over the life of the order. The decree also controls how your other financial rights are treated. Getting the terms right the first time is far less costly than trying to fix them later.

Representing Maintenance Clients Throughout Austin and Central Texas

Our Austin spousal maintenance work begins in Travis County, where we represent clients from Downtown, Clarksville, Hyde Park, Tarrytown, and Zilker through Barton Hills, South Congress, Bouldin Creek, and East Austin. We also serve families in Mueller, Windsor Park, Cherrywood, Crestview, Allandale, Northwest Hills, Circle C, Southwest Austin, Lakeway-area communities, Pflugerville, Manor, Bee Cave, and Lago Vista. Many of these households include dual-career couples, state employees, university staff, and technology professionals, and their financial profiles shape how maintenance claims are built and contested.

Beyond Travis County, we represent clients in Williamson County, including Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander, Hutto, Taylor, and Liberty Hill. In Hays County we serve San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Dripping Springs, and Wimberley. In Bastrop County we work with families in Bastrop, Elgin, Smithville, and the communities surrounding them. Wherever you live in these counties, you will work directly with an attorney who knows the local courts and the financial questions that drive maintenance cases.

Talk With an Austin Spousal Maintenance Lawyer

Whether you expect to ask for support or to be asked to pay it, the strongest position comes from understanding the statute, documenting your finances, and deciding early whether a cooperative path or a litigated one fits your situation. An Austin spousal maintenance lawyer at Oprea & Weber can review your marriage, your income, and your property, tell you plainly where you stand, and build a plan around what matters most to you. Call to schedule a consultation and speak directly with an attorney who will handle your case from start to finish.