How to modify child support or spousal maintenance in Texas

Sources last checked 3 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice. The Cusp is not a law firm.

Texas divorce kit How child support is calculated Alimony in Texas Legal aid in Texas

The short version

In Texas, child support and spousal maintenance are changed by two different routes. Child support is changed by filing a suit for modification under Chapter 156 of the Family Code. For that, the self-help site Texas Law Help publishes the Petition to Modify the Parent-Child Relationship, form FM-Mod1-100 (Rev. 09-2025). Spousal maintenance is changed by a motion filed in the court that rendered the maintenance order, under section 8.057 of the Family Code. We did not find an official form for that motion (see “What we could not confirm” below). If the Texas Attorney General’s Child Support Division already has a case for you, you can instead ask it to review the order.

What the motion can ask for

Child support: a court may change a support order if the circumstances of the child or a person affected by the order have “materially and substantially changed”, or if three years have passed and the amount is far from the guidelines (details below).
Spousal maintenance: the court may change the order after a hearing on a proper showing of a “material and substantial change in circumstances”. It may not raise maintenance above the amount or remaining duration of the original order. Maintenance ends by operation of law on a spouse’s death or the recipient’s remarriage, and the court must end it if the recipient cohabits with a romantic partner (details below).
Agreed changes: the Texas Law Help guide says that if the respondent files an answer and agrees to sign your Order Modifying the Parent-Child Relationship (form FM-Mod1-200), you can finish the case by agreement.

What else you file

The list below is from the Texas Law Help guide to modifying a custody, visitation or support order. It is written for child-related modifications, not for maintenance.

Petition to Modify the Parent-Child Relationship (FM-Mod1-100), to start the case.
Order Modifying the Parent-Child Relationship (FM-Mod1-200), the order you ask the judge to sign. If child support changes, the guide says to attach a Child Support Order (FM-Chil-308); if medical and dental support changes, a Medical and Dental Support Order (FM-CHIL-312).
Income Withholding Order for Support (FM-IW-200), if child support will be ordered, changed or stopped.
Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs (CB-CFFW-100), only if you cannot pay the filing fee.
Information on Suit Affecting the Family Relationship (VS-165), filed after the judge signs the order.
If you finish by default: a Certificate of Last Known Mailing Address (PR-DJ-110) and a Military Status Declaration (PR-DJ-112), or a Military Status Affidavit (PR-DJ-111), which is the version the guide names for Harris County.

What the statutes say

Wording below is a plain-language summary of the Texas Family Code as we read it on 3 November 2026, with short quotations.

Child support, section 156.401(a)(1): the circumstances of the child or a person affected by the order must have “materially and substantially changed” since the order was rendered, or since a mediated or collaborative law settlement agreement the order is based on was signed, if earlier.
Child support, section 156.401(a)(2), the three-year route: the court may modify if “it has been three years since the order was rendered or last modified” and the monthly amount “differs by either 20 percent or $100” from the amount the guidelines would give.
Agreed orders that depart from the guidelines, section 156.401(a-1): the court may modify only if circumstances have materially and substantially changed since the order; the statute does not give the three-year route for them.
Incarceration, section 156.401(c-1) and (d): jail or prison time “for a period exceeding 180 days” counts as a material and substantial change. Release counts too, if the support obligation was abated, reduced or suspended during incarceration.
How far back a change reaches, section 156.401(b): a child support amount can be modified “only as to obligations accruing after the earlier of” the date of service of citation or an appearance in the suit to modify. The subsection lists exceptions in other sections.
Who can file, section 156.002(a): “A party affected by an order may file a suit for modification” in the court with continuing, exclusive jurisdiction.
Spousal maintenance, section 8.057(a) and (c): a party affected by the order may file a “motion in the court that originally rendered the order”. After a hearing, the court may modify it on a proper showing of a “material and substantial change in circumstances” that occurred after the date of the order. It “shall apply the modification” only to payments accruing after the motion was filed, and it “may not increase maintenance to an amount or duration that exceeds” the original order.
Spousal maintenance, section 8.056: the duty to pay future maintenance ends on the death of either party or the obligee’s remarriage. After a hearing the court must end it if the obligee lives with a partner in a “dating or romantic relationship in a permanent place of abode” on a continuing basis. Maintenance that had already accrued stays owed.

Notice, service and hearing

Where to file (child support): Texas Law Help says to file “in the county where the current order was made”. The guide says you can e-file through E-File Texas or file in person with the district clerk.
Who is a respondent: anyone listed as a party in the current order, plus the Attorney General’s Child Support Division if it is a party to the current order.
Notice: section 156.003 says a party whose rights may be affected is “entitled to receive notice by service of citation”, and section 156.004 applies the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure for filing an original lawsuit.
Service: the guide says it is your responsibility to arrange service by a constable, sheriff or private process server, and “You cannot serve the initial court papers yourself”. The petition form has a box for a respondent you believe will sign a Waiver of Service or Answer. If you cannot find a respondent, the guide says service is by publication and a lawyer must be hired as attorney ad litem.
Answer time: the guide says the respondent has “at least 20 days plus the next Monday at 10 a.m.” to answer. For a maintenance motion, section 8.057(b) sets the answer “on or before 10 a.m. of the first Monday after 20 days” after service, and says notice is given by service of citation.
Default: the guide says the Return of Service must be on file “for at least 10 days” before you can finish by default, and an answer filed before you finish still counts.
If contested: the guide says you must give the respondent “at least 45 days’ notice of the final hearing”. It recommends a lawyer.
After the judge signs: file the signed order with the clerk. The guide says the case “is not final until you do so”.
Through the Attorney General instead: if you have an open child support case, the Child Support Division accepts a Request for Review, online or by mail. Its page says to submit only one request, that it will “reach out to both parties within 30 days”, and that for most parents a new order may take “at least 6 months”. It also says the parties “are free to disagree with the decision and pursue their own modification”. The Division handles child support, and the pages we read do not mention spousal maintenance.

Before you file

Court staff cannot give legal advice. See legal aid in Texas for free or low-cost help, or the Texas divorce kit for the wider process.
This page does not state a filing fee. The Texas Law Help guide says to call the clerk’s office in the county where the current order was made to learn the fee, and that if you cannot pay you can file a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs.
Child support amounts follow the state guidelines. See how child support is calculated in Texas and alimony in Texas.
The petition form is dated Rev. 09-2025. Check that you have the current version before you file.

What we could not confirm

A form for modifying spousal maintenance. We found no official form for a motion to modify maintenance, from Texas Law Help or from the Texas courts. The petition above is written for custody, visitation and child support. We did not confirm whether it can be used for maintenance, so ask the district clerk.
Filing fees and service fees. No official source we read states an amount. The guide says they vary by county.
Which court hears the motion. Section 156.002 refers to the court with continuing, exclusive jurisdiction, and section 8.057 to the court that originally rendered the order. We did not read the rules that decide this for your case, for example after a move.
Other child support rules. We did not read Chapter 154 (the guidelines), the exceptions listed in section 156.401(b), or the rules on modifying possession and conservatorship.
Attorney General process details. We did not read the Attorney General’s eligibility text, which sits in collapsed sections of its Support Modification Process page, or the steps of its online form.
Court-specific local rules. The guide mentions county standing orders and local rules. We did not check any county.

Spot something out of date? See our corrections or email hello@thecusp.app.