What Are the Laws in Texas for Divorce

If the children are not involved in the divorce, you absolutely do not need to continue living in Texas. However, if you receive primary property from the children, the court may restrict the state and counties where you can live. If children are involved, it is also important to determine whether you will be able to exercise regular possession and access to your children. You may be eligible to keep your health benefits through a former spouse`s group plan under federal law. With changes to health insurance laws, it`s very important to talk to your lawyer and even check coverage with a person`s human resources department. COBRA benefits (under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) are available to the former spouse of an employee who works for an employer with 20 or more employees. Not necessarily. If you and your spouse can agree on everything, including possession and access to children, child support, and division of property, all you have to do is go to court to hold a final hearing on proof of divorce, and even then, your spouse can only do it with your signature. However, if the parties do not agree, a final hearing or proceeding is likely. If you and your spouse are able to resolve many of the issues in your case, you will significantly reduce the time you have to spend in court. Even if you have an uncontested divorce where you and your spouse agree on all the issues, at least one of you must go to court at the last hearing.

However, some courts say that if everyone has signed the divorce decree, the judges do not need a final hearing. However, once the parties are divorced, their lives are separated, they are no longer married, and these obligations disappear. Of course, the parties may be required to meet certain conditions of a divorce decree, such as paying alimony or signing matrimonial property. Below are references to areas of the Texas Family Code that govern divorce and annulment. Divorce in Texas can be contested or uncontested. A contested divorce is one where you and your spouse can`t agree on at least one point of the divorce. Since you can`t agree, you have to go to court and let the judge decide how to resolve these issues. One way to protect a business is to include it in a prenuptial agreement. In a marriage contract, the parties can determine how their property will be divided in the event of divorce. In this situation, a party may be able to protect their business from a split or sale in the event of divorce.

Many people are eager to change their name once their divorce proceedings have begun. The application for a change of name can be included in the divorce decree, which is filed at the very end of the divorce proceedings. The divorce decree can then be filed with a local social security office to obtain a name change. It is actually cheaper to change your name at the time of divorce. While these procedures may be confusing and strange to you, there are six typical stages that average divorce cases can go through: «Joint property» is all property acquired by one or both spouses during the marriage, with the exception of a gift or inheritance. This includes virtually everything that was purchased during the wedding. It is important to remember that a marriage still legally exists even after the parties have separated (whether before or after filing for divorce), so any property acquired after separation is always common property. This applies even if the property is not physically received until after the final divorce decree. If you file for your own divorce, you won`t have legal fees, but you can expect to pay $200 to $300 in filing fees. If you use a document preparation service, there are additional costs. You may also have to pay for the forms to be legally delivered to your spouse.

Adultery can affect both no-fault and no-fault divorces. If one party files for divorce because the other party committed adultery, the accusing party must provide proof of the other party`s adultery. Circumstantial evidence, such as text messages and phone records, may be enough to justify a divorce for adultery. This research guide is designed to help you find legal information about divorce and annulment in Texas. This site is intended for those who represent themselves in court. As mentioned above, any property accumulated during the marriage is considered a common property, and this includes all retirement savings. This means that even if only one spouse contributed salary to a 401(k) or IRA during the marriage, all funds deposited into the account — and all profits from those investments — can be split between both spouses. However, retirement provision is not automatically shared 50/50. The exact division is decided either in mediation between the two parties or by a judge during the divorce process. Texas belongs to the minority of states that divide the assets (including property) and debts of a marriage based on the «community of property» standard, which essentially means that marital property/debts are divided equally between the spouses.