87R734 MM-F
By: Thompson of Harris H.B. No. 865
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to spousal maintenance.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 8.052, Family Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 8.052. FACTORS IN DETERMINING ORIGINAL MAINTENANCE
ORDER. (a) A court that determines that a spouse is eligible to
receive maintenance under this chapter shall determine the nature,
amount, duration, and manner of periodic payments by considering
all relevant factors, including:
(1) each spouse's ability to provide for that spouse's
minimum reasonable needs independently, considering that spouse's
financial resources on dissolution of the marriage;
(2) the education and employment skills of the
spouses, the time necessary to acquire sufficient education or
training to enable the spouse seeking maintenance to earn
sufficient income, and the availability and feasibility of that
education or training;
(3) the duration of the marriage;
(4) the age, employment history, earning ability, and
physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance;
(5) the effect on each spouse's ability to provide for
that spouse's minimum reasonable needs while providing periodic
child support payments or maintenance, if applicable;
(6) acts by either spouse resulting in excessive or
abnormal expenditures or destruction, concealment, or fraudulent
disposition of community property, joint tenancy, or other property
held in common;
(7) the contribution by one spouse to the education,
training, or increased earning power of the other spouse;
(8) the property brought to the marriage by either
spouse;
(9) the contribution of a spouse as homemaker;
(10) marital misconduct, including adultery and cruel
treatment, by either spouse during the marriage; [and]
(11) any history or pattern of family violence, as
defined by Section 71.004; and
(12) the intentional unemployment or underemployment
of either spouse.
(b) If the actual income of either spouse is significantly
less than what the spouse could earn because of intentional
unemployment or underemployment, the court may determine the
spouse's gross income based on the earning potential of the spouse.
(c) In determining whether a spouse is intentionally
unemployed or underemployed, the court may consider evidence that
the spouse is a veteran, as defined by 38 U.S.C. Section 101(2), who
is seeking or has been awarded:
(1) United States Department of Veterans Affairs
disability benefits, as defined by 38 U.S.C. Section 101(16); or
(2) non-service-connected disability pension
benefits, as defined by 38 U.S.C. Section 101(17).
(d) When appropriate, in order to determine the gross income
available for maintenance, the court may assign a reasonable amount
of deemed income attributable to assets that do not currently
produce income. The court shall also consider whether certain
property that is not producing income can be liquidated without an
unreasonable financial sacrifice because of cyclical or other
market conditions. If there is no effective market for the
property, the carrying costs of such an investment, including
property taxes and note payments, shall be offset against the
income attributed to the property.
(e) The court may assign a reasonable amount of deemed
income to income-producing assets that a spouse has voluntarily
transferred or on which earnings have intentionally been reduced.
SECTION 2. Sections 8.057(a) and (c), Family Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The amount of maintenance specified in a court order or
the portion of a decree that provides for the maintenance [support]
of a former spouse may be modified [reduced] by the filing of a
motion in the court that originally rendered the order. A party
affected by the order or the portion of the decree to be modified
may file the motion.
(c) After a hearing, the court may modify an original or
modified order or portion of a decree providing for maintenance on a
proper showing of a material and substantial change in
circumstances that occurred after the date of the order or decree,
including circumstances reflected in the factors specified in
Section 8.052, relating to either party or to a child of the
marriage described by Section 8.051(2)(C)[, if applicable]. The
court:
(1) shall apply the modification only to payment
accruing after the filing of the motion to modify; and
(2) may not increase maintenance to an amount or
duration that exceeds the amount or remaining duration of the
original maintenance order.
SECTION 3. (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply
only to a suit for dissolution of marriage or a proceeding for
maintenance that was commenced on or after the effective date of
this Act. A suit for dissolution of marriage or a proceeding for
maintenance that was commenced before that date is governed by the
law in effect on the date on which the suit or proceeding was
commenced, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
(b) The enactment of this Act does not by itself constitute
a material and substantial change in circumstances sufficient under
Section 8.057, Family Code, to warrant modification of a spousal
maintenance order rendered before the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.