Rusk, TX Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

In Texas, a spouse may receive spousal maintenance (which is similar to alimony) under Chapter 8 of the Texas Family Code.  Spousal maintenance is intended to provide for a spouse's "minimum reasonable needs" if the spouse seeking maintenance will lack sufficient property on dissolution of the marriage.  Spousal maintenance is available if the marriage has lasted for 10 years or longer and the spouse seeking maintenance lacks the ability to earn sufficient income to provide for the spouse's minimum reasonable needs.  It is also available when the spouse, or a child of the marriage of whom the spouse has custody, requires substantial care and personal supervision due to a physical or mental disability, and if the spouse from whom maintenance is sought has been convicted of family violence.Your divorce lawyer should be able to discuss with you the parameters of a spousal maintenance order based on the facts and circumstances of your particular case.Alimony is available in New Jersey, although it is not ordered in all divorce cases.  The factors affecting an award of alimony in New Jersey are somewhat different than those governing an award of spousal maintenance in Texas.  It should be noted that New Jersey is also not a community property state, so a division of marital property in New Jersey might look very different from a division of marital property in Texas.  Unless your husband is a divorce lawyer himself or sought the advice of competent, experienced divorce lawyers in both New Jersey and Texas and paid them both to do a thorough analysis of your particular facts and circumstances, it would be very difficult to predict five years ahead which state would produce the most favorable overall result in future divorce procedings.

Texas is one of the few states that acknowledges common law marriage. You are actually entitled to a divorce and a division of any assets you two may have purchased together during the marriage (house, cars, retirement benefits, etc.) It is my hope that you have separated and that you are somewhere safe and away from him if he is abusive. Also, you did not mention if you have any children, but if you do, you would be entitled to certain rights and benefits as it pertains to them. You two may not have been formally married, but that doesn't stop you from pursuing a divorce and the rights associated with any community property you two may have. 

Texas courts will consider a request for spousal maintenance to be paid by a former spouse after divorce in certain circumstances. Spousal maintenance is like alimony but is court ordered.  The general rule is that only persons married ten years or more are eligible for spousal maintenance. If your daughter's child is a child of her husband and she maintains custody of the child, the father will be ordered to pay child support.   In some circumstances a court may make a temporary order for one spouse to pay the less monied spouse temporary spousal support while the divorce is going on.  It is fairly common for a husband to be ordered to support a stay at home mom while the divorce is pending.   There is an exception to the ten year marriage rule if there has been family violence that lead to the husband being convicted.  There is also an exception to the ten year rule for persons who cannot meet their minimum monthly needs because of an incapacitating physical or mental diability or because the spouse is caring for a child who has that degree of disability.