Spousal support — called maintenance in Texas and Arizona, alimony in Nevada, and spousal support in New Mexico — is one of the most misunderstood parts of a divorce. It is rarely automatic: most states require a court to first decide whether a spouse even qualifies, and only then look at how much and for how long. This tool explains how Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico each handle that question, citing the governing statute. Texas sets a hard statutory ceiling on the amount and duration; the other states use guideline calculators or a list of factors with no fixed formula, so this tool points you to the official resource rather than inventing a number. It does not predict whether support will be ordered or estimate what a court will do.
In most states, spousal support is not automatic — a court first decides whether the requesting spouse even qualifies. Texas has the strictest gateway: under the Family Code a court can order maintenance only if the spouse seeking it will lack enough property after the divorce to meet their minimum reasonable needs, and only if they also fit a specific ground, such as a marriage of ten years or longer combined with an inability to earn enough, an incapacitating disability, caring for a disabled child of the marriage, or a recent family-violence conviction by the other spouse. Arizona similarly requires a qualifying finding before any amount is set. Nevada and New Mexico give courts broader discretion but still weigh statutory factors. Because the threshold is defined by each state's statute, this tool shows the actual eligibility test rather than a yes-or-no guess.
Once a spouse qualifies, the amount and duration are handled very differently across states. Texas is unusual in setting hard statutory limits: a court cannot order maintenance of more than the lesser of $5,000 a month or twenty percent of the paying spouse's average monthly gross income, and the number of years it can last is capped by the length of the marriage — generally up to five years for marriages under twenty years, up to seven years for twenty-to-thirty-year marriages, and up to ten years for marriages of thirty years or more, with longer terms possible for a disability. Arizona uses statewide guidelines that calculate a suggested figure from both incomes and the marriage length. Nevada and New Mexico use no formula at all, leaving the amount and duration to a court weighing statutory factors. This tool surfaces Texas's statutory ceilings and links the official calculators or statutes for the other states.
The terminology trips people up: Texas and Arizona call it 'maintenance,' Nevada calls it 'alimony,' and New Mexico calls it 'spousal support,' but all refer to payments from one former spouse to the other. Spousal support is separate from both the division of marital property and from child support, and it is decided on its own track. It can often be modified later if circumstances change substantially, and it usually ends on remarriage or death unless the order says otherwise. For divorces finalized after 2018, federal tax law no longer lets the paying spouse deduct the payments or require the recipient to report them as income. Because every one of these rules is set by state statute and by an individual court order, this tool explains the framework and cites the law rather than estimating any individual outcome.
Disclaimer: NotALawyer.com provides general legal information, not legal advice, and is not a law firm. Using a tool does not create an attorney–client relationship. Laws change and vary by situation — verify anything important with the official source or a licensed attorney in your state.