The quickest divorce cases are those with relatively simple and few issues. When there are children from the marriage or there is a substantial amount of property to be evaluated and divided your case may likely take more time. Cooperation and a willingness to compromise are key to a faster resolution of your divorce.
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Click Here To Call Now. Contact Us. Follow Us. Google Rating. Angela MyLife 07 Jun We worked with Chris and other staff. Chris from the start really worked with us as we were unsure what to do next and what was the best option for us. Chris spent a great deal of time with me on the phone, over email as well as meeting with my husband and I in his office.
It can be scary to have the unknowns as we did and he really helped. When dealing with things you just don't know about you have to find someone you can trust to lean on and let them handle it; you can't be an expert on everything. The staff were so helpful and there was never a question on what we needed to get them or needed to do during the process. They even helped figure out the 'what next' and 'where to go from here' that comes up. I would recommend them to anyone finding themselves facing financial struggle and trying to decide what to do.
They give a free consultation over the phone or in the office; worth the call to find out your options. Emma Radcliff 02 Jul I recommend Warren and Migliaccio to anyone who like myself, had no idea of what to do next. They were open and honest to me about my bankruptcy. They took time and explained the whole process to me beforehand. I was treated I'm sure, as their more prominent clients even though I'm a single senior with a limited income.
They helped me maintain my dignity and I'm sure my sanity too. Richard Parker 27 Jun I worked with Chris Migliaccio to resolve a debt matter. He is a professional and knowledgeable attorney that was easy to work with. He has excellent negotiation skills.
I highly recommend him. Jodi Wiethorn 15 Oct I would strongly recommend anyone needing a family law attorney use this office. The staff is so friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. Gary Warren and Ryan Bauerle were the ones that helped me with a very rough child custody case and they were absolutely amazing. Some judges will put heavier importance on some factors due to their own personal opinions and experience.
Your lawyer should know or be able to find out what your particular judge tends to place emphasis on and how he or she tends to rule on property division. This will help you and your lawyer strategize your case.
Most married couples accumulate debt during their marriage. Car loans, mortgages, student loans, credit card bills, and other types of debts are among those that will need to be divided during divorce. The parties may become jointly liable for a debt if one spouse acted as the agent for the other when acquiring the debt, or if the debt was for a basic living expense.
The courts will carefully examine the nature of each debt the parties have accumulated in deciding who is responsible for what.
To determine who gets the house in a Texas divorce, one must first examine the nature of the house itself—was it acquired during the marriage, or before? Was the house given to one spouse as a gift, or was it inherited during the marriage? If the house was acquired before the marriage, was inherited, or was gifted, the house may stay with that individual.
If the house was acquired during the marriage, it is community property—both spouses own the house, regardless of how it was titled or who paid the mortgage each month. Dogs, cats, and other pets quickly become part of the family. In a divorce, who gets the dog? Who gets the cat? Though these furry friends may be considered children in a marriage, legally, they are viewed as personal property.
Therefore, rules of property division govern who gets the pets in a divorce. Texas is a community property state, which means that all property acquired after the parties were married—until their divorce is final—is the joint property of both spouses.
If the pets are not separate property, the courts will look at who primarily took care of the pets taking them to vet appointments, feeding them, and so on and who is better equipped to take care of the pet. In some cases, the parties may actually work out a custody agreement for the pet, where both parties get to spend time with the pet—much like a child custody agreement! A business is viewed by Texas family courts as an asset. Assets must be divided during a divorce.
There are several different outcomes for the family business in a Texas divorce. In some cases, each spouse may continue to own the business after the divorce. In other situations, a judge may order the parties to sell the business and split its profits. In this scenario, the spouse that is being bought out may receive assets equivalent to the value of his or her share of the business.
Many business owners worry about the future of their companies once a divorce has been initiated. However, it is better to plan ahead to ensure a business is fully protected in the event of a divorce. One way to protect a business is to include it in a prenuptial agreement. In a prenuptial agreement, the parties may lay out how their assets will be divided in case they divorce.
In this situation, one party may be able to protect his or her business from being divided or sold in a divorce. If the parties did not execute a prenuptial agreement, a postnuptial agreement with similar terms may be created after the parties have gotten married. If multiple partners or shareholders are involved in a company, it is possible to protect their share of the business by having their spouses sign a document that states they have no interest in the business in the event of a divorce.
However, Texas does have spousal support, which are funds paid by one spouse for the support of the other spouse. Texas was the only state in the nation in which a court had no authority to order alimony to be paid after the final divorce. It is best to talk with your attorney about the availability of spousal support in your case, as each case differs greatly. Also, the parties may, by agreement i. The tax law on alimony has changed in the tax year so be sure to talk to your attorney and tax professional.
Texas is strict when it comes to awarding spousal support. In a divorce in which one party is seeking spousal support, the requesting party must show:. Of course, the parties may also agree to a spousal support arrangement, regardless of whether any of the above factors are present. Once the court has determined that an award for spousal support is appropriate, the following factors will be used to calculate a spousal support amount:.
Each of these factors will be carefully considered before determining how much spousal support one party has to pay to the other.
Texas allows for temporary spousal support to be awarded during divorce proceedings. If one spouse does not make as much money as the other, a judge may award temporary spousal support on a temporary basis. Doing so may protect assets from creditors during the divorce proceedings, if one party cannot afford the payments on those assets such as the marital home. In Texas, spousal support is set to certain terms—it does not last forever. The length of the marriage largely determines the duration of spousal support.
The rules are as follows:. The courts will generally make the duration of spousal support as short as possible, unless the spouse receiving spousal support cannot earn a sufficient income for basic needs because of a disability, caring for a child of the marriage, or another reason that prevents the spouse from becoming self-supporting.
COBRA benefits provided by the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of are available to the former spouse of an employee that works for an employer with 20 or more employees. The law states that employers must offer continuation coverage for the first three years after a divorce.
An application must be filed within 60 days from the finalization of the divorce to receive COBRA benefits. After spousal support has been ordered, there may be a number of reasons to modify it. The party requesting the modification must show a significant change in circumstances since the amount was ordered. Examples include:. It should be noted that spousal support payments may stop automatically if the spouse receiving payments remarries.
If the spouse receiving payments begins living with a romantic partner, payments may also be terminated, but evidence of the relationship must be presented in court before this happens. Finally, if either spouse dies, spousal support terminates. Child custody is one of the most hotly contested issues in a divorce.
There are a few different child custody arrangements in Texas. Child custody is referred to as conservatorship in Texas. With a sole managing conservatorship, the children live with one parent, and the visitation rights of the other parent may be the same as joint custody arrangement. The visitation arrangement will change depending upon the facts of each case. A sole managing conservatorship is generally awarded if the parents cannot get along or if there has been a pattern of violence.
To modify an existing child custody order in Texas, one must file a modification case. The fastest way to obtain a modified child custody order is to reach an agreement on the matter and submit that agreement to the court. However, if the parties cannot agree on the terms of a new custody arrangement, the court must decide them on behalf of the parties.
There are several factors that courts consider when determining which parent should have custody of the children. Unless there was family violence, the judge can't finalize a divorce at the hearing until 60 days after the petition for divorce was filed.
Keep that in mind when "setting," or scheduling, your hearing. How you will set the hearing will vary from county to county. Please check with your court for exact details. Check with your court for updated procedures. At the prove-up, "you appear before the judge and give evidence and testimony as to the terms of your divorce. Since the temporary orders must be followed until they are replaced by final orders, if the parties are able to agree on the final terms of their case prior to trial, the temporary orders will immediately terminate upon signing the final order.
First, it is important to note that you will face the same obstacles in this phase as in Phase Three: Mediation for Temporary Orders above when it comes to choosing a mediator and a date and time that works with all parties' schedules. However, a key difference is that in this phase the parties are currently operating under temporary orders and at this point, the trial is typically set for some date in the future. As required by most Courts in Texas, the parties will be expected to attend mediation with each other.
Since a vast majority of all cases settle in Texas prior to going to trial, it is understandable that the Court would like to encourage parties to attempt to resolve the issues in their case themselves. Most of the time, they can. In mediation for final orders, there is a notable uniqueness: at this point, the parties have usually been operating under their existing temporary orders for a couple of months at least.
If both parties have complied with those orders, there should be little drama left even if issues still remain to be litigated. The goal for mediation for final orders is to typically seek to do either of the following: 1. Keep all terms of the existing temporary orders and convert them into final orders; 2. Keep some of the terms of the existing temporary orders and change other terms for final orders; or 3. Change most or all of the existing temporary orders for final orders this is the most uncommon.
So now we have made it to the final phase of a family law case in Texas: final trial. We could ramble all day about this phase, but we won't. Final trial is a phase of which our firm has a passion for.
Final trial is a hearing set in your case that is held on a date certain and the Court makes final decisions regarding all of the remaining issues in the case. The trial itself will typically last for one to two days. After the Court hears the evidence and makes a ruling, one of the parties' attorneys will draft the final order pursuant to the Court's rulings along with any property transfer documents.
After the Final Order has been drafted, agreed to, and signed by all parties, the Order will be submitted to the Court for approval. As long as the Final Order is aligned with the ruling of the Court, the Judge will sign it. After the Final Order is signed by the Court, you are officially done with your case i. Each divorce case is unique and depending on how both parties respond to the several steps of divorce will ultimately determine how long your case will last.
If you are about to go through a complex divorce , it is in your best interest to hire an experienced family law attorney to advocate for you. Topic s Covered: Divorce. How long does it take to get divorced in Texas? It depends.
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