(a) The amount of maintenance specified in a court order or the portion of a decree that provides for the support of a former spouse may be 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.(b) Notice of a motion to modify maintenance and the response, if any, are governed by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure applicable to the filing of an original lawsuit. Notice must be given by service of citation, and a response must be in the form of an answer due on or before 10 a.m. of the first Monday after 20 days after the date of service. A court shall set a hearing on the motion in the manner provided by Rule 245, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.(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, 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 shall apply the modification only to payment accruing after the filing of the motion to modify.(d) A loss of employment or circumstances that render a former spouse unable to provide for the spouse’s minimum reasonable needs by reason of incapacitating physical or mental disability that occur after the divorce or annulment are not grounds for the institution of spousal maintenance for the benefit of the former spouse.
Tex. Fam. Code ยง 8.057
Amended By Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 486, Sec. 6, eff. September 1, 2011.Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 7, Sec. 1, eff. April 17, 1997. Renumbered from Sec. 8.008 by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 807, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
