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Family Law

Family law involves very personal matters. This area of the law includes divorces, custody issues, and child support, and private matters such as income, parenting abilities, and personal backgrounds are often brought up.

If a couple gets married, has children, and stays together for 50 or more years, that couple probably never has to deal with family law. However, when a marriage does not work, or when terms of the divorce are not obeyed, or when a couple wants to adopt a child to start or extend their family, these people have to file suit in court.

Obviously, if your life will be affected permanently by what a Court orders, you want to be sure that you obtain the best possible result for yourself, and perhaps for your children.

You must have an attorney to advocate your position, and know how to effectively argue your case, in order to get the best possible result.

Whether you and your spouse already have an agreement on the terms for your divorce, or you are battling a former spouse for not paying child support, I will take you through the process, step-by-step, to make the case as pain-free as possible.

I generally only take Denton county cases, but may take cases in other counties. If the case is in another county, there will be an additional fee for travel, determined on a case-by-case basis.

Annulment
The circumstances in which a person may annul a marriage arise very rarely. A person may petition the court to annul a marriage if:

1. He/she has a child under 18 who got married without parental consent; or
2. A person or the spouse, at the time of the marriage,
   a. was under the influence of alcohol or drugs;
   b. was impotent;
   c. was induced into marriage by the other party by the use of fraud, duress, or force;
   d. lacked the mental capacity to consent to the marriage or to understand the nature of the marriage ceremony because of a mental defect;
   e. did not disclose to the spouse that he/she had been divorced within 30 days prior to the ceremony; or
   (for 2.a-e, there is an additional requirement that the person asking for the annulment did not voluntarily cohabitate with the spouse after discovering the grounds for annulment)
3. The ceremony took place within the 72-hour period after obtaining the marriage license.

Unless all the requirements are met, then the person may not get an annulment. They must file a regular divorce suit.

Divorce
If a couple is ceremonially married, or married under common law, then they must get go through the process of obtaining a divorce to end the marriage. In order to file for divorce, the person (or the spouse) must be a resident of the state of Texas for the preceding six-month period, and the resident of the county in which the person files for the preceding three-month period. There is a statutorily-required 60-day waiting period (even if agreed) from the time the divorce petition is filed, until the decree is finalized.

The divorce decree will contain provisions regarding the following areas:

1. Property division;
2. Debt division;
3. Conservatorship (custody) of any minor children (if applicable);
4. Child support paid by the non-possessory parent (if applicable);
5. Health insurance provisions for the minor child (if applicable);
6. Visitation for the non-possessory parent (if applicable)
7. Restraining orders for the parties, against the other party (if applicable).

Texas is a community property state, meaning that all property acquired by the parties during the marriage is presumed to belong to both parties, and the property will presumably be divided equally.

Separate property (property one party gets to keep) is:

1. Property owned by one party prior to the marriage;
2. Property acquired by one party during the marriage by gift or inheritance;
3. Recovery for personal injuries sustained by one party, except for recovery of earning capacity during the marriage.

The Court may order Temporary Orders, which are the “rules” in effect while the case is pending, before a final order or Decree can be rendered for the court. For example, the Temporary Orders would be in effect during the 60-day waiting period on a divorce.

The Court will usually award primary custody of minor children (under 18) to one party. The Court will make this determination by applying the “best interest of the child” test. This determination is not based on sex of the parties. Courts will typically look at the facts and circumstances of the individual case, including the age of the child(ren), the role each parent has played in raising the child, the responsibility (or lack thereof) of either party, and other practical matters.

The Court will usually order the non-possessory parent to pay the possessory parent a monthly child support amount. The child support is presumed to be a percentage of the non-possessory parent’s take-home pay, minus costs for the child(ren)’s health insurance. In Texas, it is presumed that the non-possessory parent pay for insuring the child with health insurance.

In Texas, it is presumed to be in the best interest of the child that the non-possessory parent be given the standard visitation schedule. This is basically the 1st, 3rd, and 5th weekend, every Thursday evening, a month-long period in the summer, and alternating holidays.

Evidence may be presented to the court in order to alter the presumptions in the law. In other words, you can argue for the court to award more property to one party, because the other party caused the divorce, or to restrict visitation, because your spouse is a bad parent.

Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship
This suit is very similar to divorce, but it is for couples who have not married. There is no division of property, but all of the issues regarding children are addressed in this type of suit.
The Petitioner is requesting that the Court declare a parent-child relationship, to set the rules for custody, child support, and visitation (see above for details).

Petition to Modify
This suit is for requesting the Court to change its previous orders regarding your case because the circumstances have changed since the last order.

Some examples of modification suits are:

1. To change the child support amount;
2. To change primary custody;
3. To change the visitation schedule.

For each case, you must present the required evidence, in order to change the court’s orders. The court’s primary factor in its decision is “best interest of the child.”

Petition to Terminate Parental Rights
This suit is for fully terminating one or more parents’ rights to a child. Once parental rights are terminated, that parent will not have the ability to make any decisions regarding the child, and for all intents and purposes, the relationship is completely severed.

A parent may voluntarily give up his/her rights, or, they may be terminated by the Court because of something they have done (termination with grounds). Abandonment, certain felony convictions, and placing a child in danger, are examples of grounds to terminate.

Often, a termination suit must be combined with an adoption suit, if the child to be adopted has a court-ordered, or biological relationship with the natural parent. For example, a couple divorces or breaks up, the father takes off and abandons the child, but his name is still on the birth certificate. Years later, when the mother remarries, and the new husband wants to adopt the child, the couple must first terminate the natural father’s parental rights.

The court’s primary factor in its decision is “best interest of the child.” Often, a Court may not terminate a parent’s relationship (even if voluntary), because the child would then not have child support from the “bad” parent. The Court will want to make sure that the child is financially provided for.

Suit for Adoption
This suit is to establish a parent-child relationship between a child and non-biological parent. In order to establish that relationship, any existing relationship between the child and the natural parent must be terminated. In other words, a child cannot have two dads. Please see details in the “Petition to Terminate Parental Rights” section above.

Sometimes, the adoptive parent is the natural parent’s second spouse, after divorcing the other natural parent. Other times, the adoptive parents are the couple adopting a child to who neither are biologically related.

The state has a long list of requirements to adopt a child. You need the guidance of an experienced attorney to guide you through the process, and take every step to complete the process.

Enforcement by Contempt
This suit is filed when one or more parties to a previous lawsuit have not followed the court’s orders. The Petitioner files a lawsuit to ask the court to enforce its previous order, and possibly punish the other party for not complying with the order.

Some examples of Contempt action are:

1. For not paying child support;
2. For not complying with the visitation schedule;
3. For not complying with the terms of property division.

The Petitioner must present evidence to prove that the other party has failed to comply. Often, because it is the other party’s fault that the Petitioner has had to file the suit, the Court will award attorneys fees to be paid by the non-compliant party.

Protective Order
This suit is filed when one person needs protection from another person. There must be a family relationship, or dating relationship, between the people. In other words, it must be a spouse, former spouse, couple, or former couple. The Court may order that one party may not contact, come within 200 feet of, or threaten, the other person.

In order to get a protective order, you must present evidence in court to prove that:

1. Family violence (threats or physical hurting) has occurred in the past; and
2. family violence is likely to occur in the future.

Often, because it is the other party’s fault that the Petitioner has had to file the suit, the Court will award attorneys fees to be paid by the other party.

Please feel free to email me for further information.