Commonly Overlooked Financial Issues During Divorce

Several of the TCJA’s individual provisions were scheduled to sunset after 2025, which is why many people expected alimony rules to revert. The alimony provision, however, was written as a permanent change and was never part of that sunset. For 2026 and beyond, the post-2018 treatment stands.

Agreements executed on or before December 31, 2018 are grandfathered under the old rules — alimony remains deductible to the payer and taxable to the recipient. Be careful, though: modifying that older order can switch it to the new treatment if the modification expressly says the new rules apply.

Court-ordered maintenance is capped at the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20% of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income, under Texas Family Code § 8.055. Courts do not automatically award the maximum — the amount is tied to the recipient’s minimum reasonable needs, and eligibility itself is limited.

Court-ordered spousal maintenance is limited by statute — strict eligibility, a dollar cap, and duration limits. Contractual alimony is a voluntary agreement written into the decree, with no caps or eligibility rules, often used to balance the property division. Both receive the same federal tax treatment for post-2018 agreements.

Yes. Because the payer no longer gets a deduction and the recipient no longer pays tax, the after-tax value of every support dollar has shifted. Numbers based on pre-2019 assumptions are no longer accurate — which is why modeling support and property on an after-tax basis before you agree to anything is so important.

Attorneys provide legal advice and draft agreements. A divorce financial planner or CDFA helps analyze the long-term financial impact of settlement options, including taxes, retirement accounts, spousal maintenance, and future cash flow.