Texas Divorce Legal Questions

Signing your husband’s name on a check without his explicit authorization may constitute forgery, which is a criminal offense. Even if you believe the funds are marital property, the law requires that both spouses comply with legal processes for accessing and dividing shared assets. To protect yourself and your daughter, it’s critical to avoid any actions that could expose you to criminal charges. If you need immediate financial assistance for safety or legal support, consider seeking a temporary restraining order or protective order, which can include financial provisions. A family law attorney can help you request emergency funds through the court while pursuing a divorce. Additionally, organizations and shelters for domestic violence survivors may provide resources and support to help you and your daughter escape safely.... Read More

I'm sorry to hear about the difficult situation you're facing. Since you're in Texas, your legal rights to the home are protected under community property laws if the home was acquired during your relationship. Here's what you need to know: Ownership Rights:If your name is on the title, you are legally recognized as a co-owner. In Texas, community property rules apply, so any property acquired during the marriage is presumed to belong to both parties equally, regardless of whose name is on the title. Your ex cannot unilaterally remove your name or refinance without your consent. Community Property and Buyouts:Even if the home was solely in your ex's name, you might still have a claim if it was acquired during the marriage or if you contributed financially (e.g., toward the mortgage or improvements). Typically, your ex would need to either buy out your share of the home or agree to sell it and divide the proceeds equitably. Protective Orders:While the protective orders restrict your access to the property, they do not affect your ownership rights. It's crucial to continue complying with the orders to avoid legal complications, but these orders don’t strip you of your financial interest in the home. Legal Recourse:If your ex is pressuring you to give up your rights without compensation, you should not agree without consulting a qualified divorce attorney. Although I'm a Maryland divorce lawyer, I often advise clients in similar situations that ownership disputes in community property states like Texas require a fair resolution, such as a buyout or an equitable division. You deserve a fair share of the home’s value, and a Texas divorce attorney can help you assert your rights and negotiate or litigate as needed. Don’t let your ex’s demands pressure you into giving up what you’re entitled to.... Read More

You should hire an attorney who practices in the area of family law in or near the county where you live to file a divorce action.  Unless your case is unusually complicated, you should be able to find an attorney who is willing to accept your case for an initial retainer of $5,000-10,000 depending upon your particular facts and circumstances.  That attorney may be able to secure child support for you as well as reimbursement for attorney fees if you lack control of sufficient community funds to pay your attorney and have to borrow or charge the retainer on a credit card if your wife does have control of community funds.... Read More

If the divorce case is still pending (usually cases are dismissed for want of prosecution after 3-6 months if the Respondent has not been served), and you and your husband can reach an agreement on the division of your marital estate, you can probably get an attorney in or near the county where the case is pending to prepare a final decree and the ancillary documents and to prove up the divorce for $5,000 or less.  A simple divorce with no kids and limited assets shouldn't cost more than this in Texas unless you and your husband disagree on the division of your marital estate.... Read More

New York is the only US state to recognize a Mexican divorce decree and only under certain circumstances.Most Mexican courts no longer grant divorces to non-residents.  So unless you move to and established residency in Mexico, you may not be able to get divorced in Mexico.The safest and simplest thing to do is to get a simple divorce here in Texas if you reside here.... Read More

In Texas, a spouse may receive spousal maintenance (which is similar to alimony) under Chapter 8 of the Texas Family Code.  Spousal maintenance is intended to provide for a spouse's "minimum reasonable needs" if the spouse seeking maintenance will lack sufficient property on dissolution of the marriage.  Spousal maintenance is available if the marriage has lasted for 10 years or longer and the spouse seeking maintenance lacks the ability to earn sufficient income to provide for the spouse's minimum reasonable needs.  It is also available when the spouse, or a child of the marriage of whom the spouse has custody, requires substantial care and personal supervision due to a physical or mental disability, and if the spouse from whom maintenance is sought has been convicted of family violence.Your divorce lawyer should be able to discuss with you the parameters of a spousal maintenance order based on the facts and circumstances of your particular case.Alimony is available in New Jersey, although it is not ordered in all divorce cases.  The factors affecting an award of alimony in New Jersey are somewhat different than those governing an award of spousal maintenance in Texas.  It should be noted that New Jersey is also not a community property state, so a division of marital property in New Jersey might look very different from a division of marital property in Texas.  Unless your husband is a divorce lawyer himself or sought the advice of competent, experienced divorce lawyers in both New Jersey and Texas and paid them both to do a thorough analysis of your particular facts and circumstances, it would be very difficult to predict five years ahead which state would produce the most favorable overall result in future divorce procedings.... Read More

Most divorce courts in Texas have issued standing orders that prohibit a spouse from cancelling insurance policies during the pendency of the divorce case.  If the court in which your divorce is pending has done so, you may be able to file a motion for contempt or a motion to enforce the standing orders.  With a motion for contempt, your wife can be fined or jailed for violating the court order.  With a motion to enforce, you may be able to persuade the court to give you from your community property a sum of money equal to the value of your truck when it was stolen to allow you to replace the truck.  I would argue that should be awarded to you before any other division of your community property as part of a just and right division because, but for your wife cancelling the policy, there would have been insurance proceeds to help you replace the stolen truck.... Read More

Yes, you can file an emergency motion for continuance at any time, including three days before your trial begins.  You will need to describe in detail the emergency and support the factual allegations with an affidavit or declaration.The fault issues and domestic violence issues should be raised in your pleadings and do not need to be raised in the motion unless they are germane to the emergency requiring a continuance.  To be clear, only learning recently that you have grounds for a fault-based divorce based on past conduct you witnessed or experienced does not constitute an emergency.  Past domestic violence that you experienced or witnessed, similarly, does not constitute an emergency.An example of a good ground to support an emergency motion for continuance might be that you have recently been hospitalized and do not expect to be released from the hospital before your trial is scheduled to begin.  If you have been hospitalized because of a recent domestic violence incident, then that incident would be germane to the emergency.... Read More

An immigrant can adjust status to get a green card after marrying a US Citizen on ESTA but ONLY if the immigrant's intent CHANGES after entering the US to wit: from only wanting to visit upon entering the US to wanting to get married and remain permanently after a few months visiting. ... Read More

While there is no legal prohibition on confronting him about his affair, he may react poorly to such a confrontation and stop providing you with financial support of any kind.  While fault in the breakup of a marriage is one factor the court can consider in making a disproportionate division of your community assets, proof of an affair is unlikely to substantially affect the division.  In my experience, that may persuade a court to go from something like 50-50 to something like 55-45 in your favor.What is important is what community assets he has spent, and is spending, on the girlfriend.  Make sure you gather together as much information as you can, including bank statements and credit card statements, to show what he has been spending on her.  Another good place to get information is from any frequent flyer, rental car, hotel, etc. accounts he has.  In many cases, the court will require him to "reconsitute" the community estate for funds spent on a paramour.  So, if he spent $150,000 on her, the court could award you $150,000 of remaining community funds to offset the money he already spent.... Read More

If you own a home and have three children together, this is not a do-it-yourself project.  You need to hire an attorney experienced in divorce law in or near the county where you live.If you are awarded the home, there may be an owelty lien established if one of you has to buy-out the other's interest in the marital residence.  There almost certainly will need to be a special warranty deed of either of you keep the house.  If you have a mortgage, you will likely want a Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption to keep the current loan at the current interest rate.The more items you and your husband can agree to in advance, the less an attorney will cost.  If you can agree on most items now, you might be able to get an attorney to advise you on those things you haven't thought about and to complete all of the paperwork for $5,000 or so.  If there are major areas of disagreement, budget more for legal expenses than that.... Read More

Yes, a spouse can sign a power of attorney authorizing someone else to take care of any matters the spouse could personally do, as long as they mentally competent, regardless of whether they are incarcerated or not.  A spouse does not have "a right to everything" if the other spouse is incarcerated.  Spouses often own community property which is subject to their joint control.  A spouse signing a power of attorney does not negate the other spouse's rights with respect to joint management community property.  Spouses often also own property that is one spouse's separate property or is the sole management community property of one spouse.  A power of attorney signed by a spouse can give the attorney-in-fact named in the POA the authority to control the separate property and the sole management community property of the spouse that signed the POA.... Read More

During a divorce, there is a rebuttable presumption that all of your marital assets are community property, regardless of which spouse's name is listed on the title.  A party claiming to have a separate property interest in an item of property (for example, because they traded in another vehicle they owned before the marriage or used separate funds which were in a bank of account before the marriage) has the burden of proving their separate property interest by clear and convincing evidence, which often requires undisputed documentary evidence.  This usually isn't a factor in a marriage that has lasted "years."Upon divorce, your community property will be divided by the court in a manner that is "just and right" which does not necessarily mean 50-50.  The evidence you detail in your question will be considered in making a "just and right" division of your marital assets.  In most cases, barring unusual evidence, each spouse is awarded the motor vehicle they usually drive and is responsible for paying any debt owed that is secured by the vehicle.  If there is a significant disparity in value or equity, the court typically adjusts that using other assets.  Awarding a motor vehicle to one spouse while making the other spouse responsible for the debt is a recipe for post-divorce conflict and proceedings.  A competent and experienced attorney will strongly caution you against agreeing to such an arrangement.  A competent and experienced judge typically will not order it.  ... Read More

Most agreed or default decrees are signed at the prove-up hearing when they are handed to the judge.  It usually only takes a few seconds.If the parties have a dispute about the contents of the Decree, either party can file a motion to enter and set it for hearing.  Any dispute will be resolved at that hearing.  That may require the Decree to be revised.  If not, the judge typically will sign it at the end of that hearing.... Read More

That is untrue.  Typically, when parties file for divorce, they either agree or the court enters temporary orders detailing which party gets exclusive temporary use and possession of real estate, motor vehicles, and potentially other property and which recurring bills each party is ordered to pay during the pendency of the case.  Such temporary orders may also include temporary support for a spouse or any children of the marriage, interim attorney fees if one party in in control of most of the community funds, and a parenting plan for custody & possession of any children.It is not automatic that each spouse must pay 1/2 of all bills.  ... Read More

In order to enforce a court order by contempt of court, the order typically must be signed and the party against whom the order is being enforced must have actual notice of its contents.In divorce cases, the written temporary order memorializing the associate judge's rulings at the temporary order hearing is typically prepared by the petitioner/movant's attorney and circulated to the respondent's attorney to be approved as to form or to make any objections within a couple of days after the temporary order hearing. If there are no objections to the form of the order, it is typically signed by the judge within a week of the hearing.  A temporary visitation order can also be enforced by means other than contempt of court, for example by giving make-up visitation time to the parent deprived of a scheduled visit.Sometimes, for strategic reasons, it is unwise to ask the court to strictly enforce a court order against the other party because the violation itself might be evidence of something you want to show the court about the other party that may enhance your case or weaken their case.  ... Read More

Typically, when a marital residence is subject to a mortgage loan but is awarded to one spouse in divorce proceedings, the dispossessed spouse signs a "Special Warranty Deed" conveying their interest in the residence to the spouse to whom the residence is awarded, and that spouse in turn signs a "Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption" of the mortgage debt.  You should contact the attorney who handled your divorce proceeding to ensure that the appropriate ancillary documents were properly executed and recorded in the Deed Records.... Read More

Your best course of action is to contact an attorney who practices in the area of divorce law in or near the county where you and your husband live.That attorney can explain to you that property inherited by one spouse is that spouse's sole and separate property and is not community property.  If your husband inherited assets from his family (or really from anyone else), those assets are his sole and separate property and you have no community rights to them.You may be entitled to spousal maintenance under the Texas Family Code if you are destitute and homeless.  There are specific statutory requirements that you must satisfy, and spousal maintenance is limited in amount and duration.  You will need proof of your efforts to secure gainful employment or of any disability that prevents you from securing gainful employment.... Read More

Yes, there can be repercussions for not abiding by a court order.  The divorce court that issued the order might hold your ex-spouse in contempt of court, might enter other orders to enforce its property division, or might need to clarify the decree so that its order is clear and unambiguous enough to enforce by contempt.  The attorney who assisted you in your divorce proceedings should be able to discuss your options for enforcement including the anticipated cost of further proceedings.... Read More

As a general rule, a lawyer cannot charge s $300 "transfer fee" for transferring your file to a new attorney.  He would only be able to bill you for the actual time he or his staff expended in gathering your file together, physically or electronically, and then delivering them to your new attorney.... Read More

If you and your husband purchased the new house during your marriage using community funds, then it is most likely community property subject to a just and right division as part of your divorce process.If there is a mortgage on the new house, in most circumstances, if the court awards the new house to one spouse, that spouse will also be obligated to pay the mortgage payments.  If both spouses are on the mortgage, the spouse to whom the house is awarded will sign a deed of trust to secure assumption to protect the other spouse in the event of a future failure to pay the mortgage.  If there is substantial equity in the new house, the spouse to whom the house is awarded may be ordered to pay a sum of money to the other spouse, which in most such circumstances will be protected by an owelty lien.Alternatively, the court may order the parties to sell the new house and then divide the net proceeds between you in a manner that is just and right.  ... Read More

There is no proper legal status called a "legal separation."  It is legal, meaning not unlawful, for spouses to separate at any time, with or without the ultimate goal of obtaining a divorce.  In practice, spouses usually separate at or before the time one files for a divorce.Your marital status as of the end of your tax year will determine what marital status to claim on your federal tax returns. Your accountant would best be able to explain to you whether it will be to your advantage to complete a divorce proceeding before the end of the year to take advantage of the "single" filing status or whether it would be to your advantage to wait to complete a divorce next year in order to file either a "joint" tax return or "married, filing separately."There is a mandatory sixty day waiting period in Texas from the time you file for divorce before a divorce can actually be granted.  In practice, because of the time it usually takes to negotiate and prepare a final decree of divorce and schedule time with the court for a prove-up, I'd give it six months.... Read More