How Long Do you Have to be Married to get Alimony after a Divorce - California and Texas Laws Compared

Divorce can often be one of the most traumatic experiences that a person can go through in his or her lifetime. The end of a marital relationship that was expected to last a lifetime, a divorce also brings about the disintegration of an entire family and has long term effects on children.

One of the most unfortunate consequences of divorce is that it leaves the financially weaker spouse facing an uncertain future.  The civil laws of a society have provisions for alimony, to ensure that spouses continue to maintain an equitable standard of living, even after a divorce.

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Alimony is the financial support that one spouse is required to give the other in the event of a divorce or a legal separation. In a majority of cases, it is the wife who is entitled to alimony from her ex-husband, since she has looked after the home and children, instead of being employed in the workforce during the term of their marriage. However, keeping in mind the principle of equality of sexes, a court can award alimony to the husband too, if it can be proven that his ex-wife is earning more than him.

There are various factors which determine whether alimony will be provided to one of the parties after divorce, and the duration of the marriage is only one of them. In the United States, conditions for awarding alimony are determined by the laws of the state where the divorce case is being heard. Likewise, the tenure of marriage necessary to qualify for alimony, also varies from one state to another.

Under Californian law for instance, the length of the marriage is an important factor in taking decisions on alimony and other types of spousal support. While determining how much and for long alimony will be awarded to the financially weaker spouse, the judge will consider how long the divorcing couple has been married to each other. Generally, the receiving party has greater chances of being paid alimony if the marriage has been of a “long duration”, or where the couple had been married for ten years or more. In such cases, the payee is often entitled to life-long payment of alimony or until he/she remarries. If on the other hand, the marriage has survived for less than ten years, then the court may order that the alimony be paid for a period equal to half the tenure of the marriage. For instance, if a couple had been married for eight years before seeking a divorce, the receiving spouse will be entitled to alimony payment for half of eight years, that is, for four years.

However, there are other conditions which may qualify the above principles. The respective financial position of the divorcing spouses, their future financial prospects and the custody of children, are other factors which come into play, while deciding how much alimony the receiving spouse is entitled to and for how long.

While Californian law has one of the more flexible provisions for alimony in the United States, the laws governing spousal support in a state like Texas, are far more stringent. In Texas law, alimony is known as maintenance, and is offered only when one of two qualifying circumstances are met. While the period of marriage is one of them, the principle is again governed by several sub-qualifications. Under Texas law, maintenance is awarded, only if the couple has been married for a minimum of ten years. However, the spouse claiming maintenance has to prove that he or she is:

• Physically or mentally disabled and unable to earn to support oneself
• Responsible for looking after a child who is physically or mentally disabled and thus unable to earn a living.
• Without enough assets or property, to pay for one’s “minimum reasonable needs”
• Not qualified enough or unable to earn enough to pay for one’s “minimum reasonable need”.

The narrow scope of Texas law makes the awarding of alimony very difficult to achieve. However, when a court does entitle a spouse to receive maintenance, it is only for the time when he or she cannot get a job, which will pay enough to meet the basic needs. In any case, the maximum period of maintenance in Texas is three years. However, if the court sees that a spouse cannot go to work on account of caring for a disabled child, it may order that maintenance be paid to that spouse on an on-going basis.

The other major condition for entitlement of alimony in Texas, is for the paying spouse to have been convicted of a criminal charge involving family violence. However, here too, the conviction should have taken place within two years of the date of filing for divorce and not after the divorce had been granted.

To know if you can qualify for alimony payment on the grounds of the length of your marriage, you need to understand clearly what is meant by the term, “length of marriage” in the US legal system. While the details may again vary from one state to another, generally, courts in America consider the beginning of a marriage, from the day the couple entered into a civil union or exchanged vows before a state functionary. The length of the marriage determining alimony payments generally does not include the time the couple may have lived with each other before they were legally married. Also, it usually excludes the time lag between the separation of the couple and the date they are granted the divorce decree from the court.

Finally, one must keep in mind that the length of the marriage is not the only determining factor for entitlement to alimony. The amount and tenure of maintenance depends on various other factors besides laws governing divorce and divorce settlements, which may again vary from one state to another.