Unfortunately, the state of Texas is not very kind to stay-at-home parents in divorce. Texas is a community property state, so anything made by the working spouse during the marriage is subject to being divided (usually 50/50). This is great if the couple has been good about saving during the marriage. If not, the stay-at-home-parent is really going to be in a bind.
Texas does not have alimony absent an agreement for contractual alimony between the parties. Spousal maintenance exists, but it is very hard to get. In order to receive spousal maintenance, a stay-at-home parent would have to prove that s/he lacks sufficient property to meet his/her minimum reasonable needs and s/he meets one of four statutory bases for spousal maintenance: (1) the spouses have been married for at least ten years and s/he is incapable of earning a sufficient income to meet his/her minimum reasonable needs; (2) his/her spouse was convicted of or received deferred adjudication for a criminal offense that constituted family violence against him/her or his/her child; (3) s/he is disabled and lacks the ability to earn sufficient income; or (4) s/he must care for a disabled child, which prevents him/her from earning a sufficient income.
As you can see, the criteria above are very specific and most stay-at-home parents do not meet any of them. Did you give up your career so your husband could take a new job? Not a reason for spousal maintenance. Did you give up your career because your wife made enough money to support the family and you decided together that you would stay home? Also not a reason. Did you giving up your career years ago to raise the children mean you can never get back into that position again? Not a reason.
A stay-at-home parent can expect to receive child support, assuming s/he is going to be the primary parent after the divorce. However, child support is rarely enough to support the family. The stay-at-home parent will almost certainly need to start working in order to have sufficient income to support him/herself and his/her children.
