Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

Re: Texas allimony laws entitlements.

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Texas historically was the only state in the Union that did not permit an award of

court-ordered alimony in divorce cases. That changed, effective September 1, 1997, when a

new alimony statute took effect. But the change arrived with a whimper, not a bang. Alimony

awards remain rare because it is so difficult to obtain them.

Alimony is defined as money earned in the future, after a divorce is granted. Under the new

statute, alimony is supposed to be "rehabilitative." It is designed to be a stop-gap measure to

support stay-at-home spouses who have lost their employment skills or never had any.

In the past, the courts ruled that the Texas Constitution does not allow alimony because it is

not community property existing at the time of divorce. The lack of power to award alimony

has caused unjust results in some cases. Typically, women who remained at home and raised

children were penalized. If the family did not manage to acquire substantial assets during the

marriage, there was little for the court to divide upon divorce. Most commonly, the husband

worked outside the home and had a job from which he could continue to be paid and maintain

his standard of living. The wife, out of the job force for many years and possibly without job

skills, sometimes was relegated to minimum-wage jobs, if she could find a job at all.