Fort Bend County Spousal Maintenance Lawyer
Your post-divorce financial position can be greatly affected by the amount of spousal support — if any — that you receive from or pay to your former spouse. In order to make sure you are treated fairly when it comes to the determination of alimony, it is essential to work with an experienced Texas family law attorney.
At Kerr, Hendershot & Cannon, P.C., we represent clients who are seeking spousal maintenance and clients who will be paying support. Our attorneys have handled divorce and alimony cases for more than 20 years. We know that a judge in Fort Bend County will expect something different from a judge in nearby Harris County or Waller County. We adapt our approach to account for the differences in judges' expectations so that we can achieve positive results for clients in any location.
To discuss your specific situation with our Houston alimony lawyers, call 866-398-1856/888-654-7305 or contact us online.
Understanding Spousal Maintenance in Texas
Whether you have modest resources or are involved in a high-asset divorce, alimony may be an important part of your case. If alimony is an issue, you can trust that our experienced attorneys will do everything possible to protect your rights, whether you are receiving or paying support. There are generally two kinds of alimony in Texas:
- Temporary spousal support: If one spouse is considered dependent, he or she may be awarded temporary support. This type of maintenance is designed to support the dependent spouse during the divorce process. Some of the common reasons that a court may grant temporary support include higher education, job skills training, living expenses while seeking a new residence, health insurance costs, and many other reasons. The support payments end when the divorce is finalized.
- Permanent spousal support: This form support is ongoing and can last a very long time. To be eligible to receive this form of maintenance, the marriage must have lasted ten or more years. In addition, the receiving spouse must fall into one of the three following categories: unable to be employed due to a disability; have a child who has special needs requiring that the parent not work in order to care for the child; clearly lack earning power in today's market.
A number of factors go into the court's decision to award spousal support. The court will consider the:
- Length of the marriage
- Vocational skills and employability of the spouses
- Assets and debts of the parties
- Special needs of the parties
- The age of the parties
- Benefits the innocent spouse would have received had the marriage continued
- Education level
- Number of children
- Amount of separate property
- Whether the spouse caused or was at fault in the break-up of the marriage
What About Contractual Alimony?
Spouses are sometimes able to agree to a contractual arrangement for spousal support and additional child support, above the state guidelines. Contractual alimony may include a monthly amount for housekeeping expenses, health care needs and other expenses. If your marriage lasted less than 10 years, the court may not order traditional spousal maintenance, so a contractual arrangement may be the only option.
Contact Our Southeast Texas Family Law Attorneys
To arrange an initial consultation about your divorce and the possibility of alimony, call us at 866-398-1856/888-654-7305 or contact our law firm online. We are available at our Sugar Land, Corpus Christi and Galveston offices by appointment only.
