Spouse Maintenance Ordered

I have a friend who filed for divorce in TX. He lives overseas and has a very good job. They were married for 16 years and she was working here too for 5 years with a good job but decided to go back to TX. He has two stepchildren with her and they are grown. They have no property together. She has a job in TX. The judge ordered him to pay her $1800 in spouse support until divorce is final and she is asking for alimony. How can the judge order support for a grown woman who is well capable of providing for herself. She is not disabled in any way and has no one to support except herself. There is no property, no retirement and no children of the marriage. He is still supporting one of her children because she claims the mother will not help her. He has text messages where she claimed she can come back overseas and work whenever she wants but she told the judge her work contract ended so that's why she doesn't work overseas anymore. Her text message also says how she doesn't intend to let go so easily. His lawyer says she will appeal but it's tough. The next court date hasn't been scheduled yet so he is stuck having to pay her until they come up with something else. She still hacks his emails and salary information to provide to her lawyer and he has no idea how she keeps getting access to his information. What if anything can he do?

If he has a lawyer he should be talking to him. If he isn't getting results perhaps he should find another lawyer. There probably isn't a whole lot he can do until he gets another court date. Keep all contact and evidence to present at court.

If he can prove she is hacking his email, he should call the police. Everything else is really up to the judge to decide based on all the facts and circumstances. Every state has their own laws on how they calculate spousal support/alimony.