Texas Divorce Legal Questions

If you cash out your 401K, it still will be considered a part of the marital estate and subject to division.  Furthermore, you will have to pay Federal Income Tax plus a 10% Federal Income Tax penalty. In some counties there are automatic injunctions prohibiting removing funds once a divorce action is filed.... Read More

My initial advice is to first at least consult with an experienced family law attorney to assist you. In Arizona there is a self service center at most county superior court facilities, and also forms and instructions are available online. Here is a link to the Maricopa County self service center family law page: http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/SuperiorCourt/Self-ServiceCenter/Forms/FamilyCourt/... Read More

Because your wife is an attorney, it is strongly recommended that you hire an attorney to protect your financial interests and access to your children. It sounds as though you two are still in negotiations about your divorce settlement, but it is unclear if you two have gone to mediation on these issues. Mediation is a metting where husbands and wives discuss their concerns and privately decide what assets they intend to divide and what arrangements they want to make for child support and visitation in a divorce. If you are unrepresented, you are at a grave disadvantage because your lawyer wife likely has an attorney and her own legal knowledge to tip the scales of fairness against you.  If you'd like to share custody of your children in lieu of child support, that is an option to discuss with your wife and her attorney, but I do not know if this is appropriate. That decisions depends on the age of your children and the distance the two of you live from one another. ... Read More

As a general rule, it is never a good idea to sign documents you don't fully understand. However, now that you have signed, you may want to revoke your signature by sending a written notice to your wife's attorney. Then, it is probably a good idea for you to hire a local attorney to protect your interests. ... Read More

It depends on when he bought the house. If he bought the home before you were married, the house is is separate property except for any money you paid into purchasing the home, making mortgage payments, or improvements to the property. If he bought the home after you were married, the house is your community property and you are a 50% owner of the home without regard to where the money to purchase the home came from. There are some exceptions to these general rules, but that's the basic idea. For more information about community property, please see here: https://stcl.edu/students/SBA%20Outline%20Bank/Marital%20Property%20-%20George.htm... Read More

Both spouses have a legal obligation to pay for necessities of the other spouse.  Therefore, if the money was spent for room, board, food, clothes, your husband is out of luck.  Your husband may have a reinbursement claim for his separate funds (money he had prior to marriage or got by gift or inheritence) used in a community asset or to pay a community debt.... Read More