§ 8.054 Duration of Maintenance Order
Sec. 8.054. DURATION OF MAINTENANCE ORDER.
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a court:
(1) may not order maintenance that remains in effect for more than three years after the date of the order; and
(2) shall limit the duration of a maintenance order to the shortest reasonable period that allows the spouse seeking maintenance to meet the spouse's minimum reasonable needs by obtaining appropriate employment or developing an appropriate skill, unless the ability of the spouse to provide for the spouse's minimum reasonable needs through employment is substantially or totally diminished because of:
(A) physical or mental disability;
(B) duties as the custodian of an infant or young child; or
(C) another compelling impediment to gainful employment.
(b) If a spouse seeking maintenance is unable to support himself or herself through appropriate employment because the spouse has an incapacitating physical or mental disability or because the spouse is the custodian of a child of the marriage of any age who has a physical or mental disability, the court may order maintenance for as long as the disability continues. The court may order periodic review of its order, on the request of either party or on its own motion, to determine whether the disability continues to render the spouse unable to support himself or herself through appropriate employment. The continuation of spousal maintenance under these circumstances is subject to a motion to modify as provided by Section 8.057.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 7, Sec. 1, eff. April 17, 1997. Renumbered from Sec. 8.005 and amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 807, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by:
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 914, Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2005.
