Texas divorce laws
Child
Support
 Texas
divorce laws guide courts in determining
child support. In situations
in which the payer nets $6000 per month
or less, following guidelines will be applied:
1 child 20%, 2
children 25%, 3 children 30%,
4 children 35%, 5 children
40%, 6 children
not less than 40%. Texas family
law suggests computing child support on a parent's net income, a fairer
method that on gross amount. Only 21 states calculate using the net income
amount.
The Texas court may order either or both parents to support a child in the manner specified by the order:
- until the child is 18 years of age or until graduation from high school, whichever occurs later;
- until the child is emancipated through marriage or by court order.
- until the death of the child;
- if the child is disabled for an indefinite period.
- the child's adoption
- the child's 18th birthday or graduation from high school, whichever occurs later;
- removal of the child's disabilities of minority by court order, marriage, or other operation of law; or
- the child's death;
The court may order that child support be paid by any of the following:
- periodic payments;
- a lump-sum payment;
- an annuity purchase;
- the setting aside of property to be administered for the support of the child as specified in the order; or
- any combination of periodic payments, lump-sum payments, annuity purchases, or setting aside of property.
The court will order medical
support for the child and will calculate
net resources for the purpose of determining
child support liability. Resources can include: 1.) 100
percent of all wage and salary income and
other compensation for personal services
(including commissions, overtime pay, tips,
and bonuses); 2.) interest,
dividends, and royalty income; 3.) self-employment income; 4.) net
rental income, and 5.) all other income actually being
received, including severance pay, retirement
benefits, pensions, trust income, annuities,
capital gains, social security
benefits, unemployment benefits, disability
and workers' compensation benefits, interest
income from notes regardless of the source,
gifts and prizes, spousal maintenance, and
alimony.
| Divorce Myth: It doesn't matter which one files for divorce first. Reality: In some states, there is certain leverage gained by filing for the divorce. Being the Plaintiff rather than the defendant can confer certain advantages. |
Residency 
According to Texas divorce statutes, one spouse
must have resided in this state for at least
six months immediately preceding the filing.
On the condition that the residency requirement
has been met by one spouse, either the resident
or non-resident may file in Texas.
Child
Custody
 Texas
divorce statutes presume that awarding
joint
custody
is in the best interest
of the child. The decree
of the court defines
the rights and obligations
of each parent. Living
arrangements are often
designated to the person
that has been the primary
caretaker of the child.
The court will do all
it can to promote an
agreement between the
parties, and encourage
them to enter into a written agreement in
the interest of the
children. The court will
review the agreement,
and if it is not in
the child's best interest,
the court may request
a revised agreement,
or consider an order
for the conservator
ship
and possession of the
child. If a child is
12 years or older, the
court may consider his
or her wishes.
Grounds
for Divorce
A petition for divorce in Texas can contain one of two specified grounds.
No-fault based grounds:
the marriage has become unsupportable because of discord or conflict
of personalities that destroys the legitimate
ends of the marital relationship and prevents
any reasonable expectation of reconciliation.
Fault based grounds include: 1.) Mental
Cruelty; 2.) Adultery; 3.) Imprisonment
or Conviction of a felony; 4.) Abandonment; 5.) Living
Separate and Apart and 6.) Insanity
and confinement to a state mental hospital.
| Divorce Myth: It is usually men who initiate divorce proceedings. Reality: Two-thirds
of all divorces are initiated by women. One recent study
found that many of the reasons for this have to do with
the nature of our divorce laws. For example, in most
states women have a good chance of receiving custody
of their children. Because women more strongly want to
keep their children with them, in states where there
is a presumption of shared custody with the husband the
percentage of women who initiate divorces is much lower. |
Annulment
Texas divorce laws make successful annulment petitions less
likely than annulment attempts in other states. Your marriage must be such
that it is void or voidable. Void marriages are marriages that never could
have been, and voidable marriages are marriages that never should have
been. There are only two 'grounds' that texas courts will allow upon petition
for void marriages. You can request an annulment if you and your spouse
are too close as relatives. This is known as consanguinity, where one marries
a father or mother, a child, a brother or sister, an aunt or an uncle,
a nephew or a niece. The second ground for annulment is if your spouse
was married to someone else when he/she married you. If you discover that
your spouse was married at your marriage, and you do nothing, and that
married gets declared void (or an annulment), you lose the right to an
annulment of your marriage.
If you entered into a marriage when you were under 14 years
of age, then you can get an annulment. This is a voidable marriage. The
suit can be brought by your parents, managing conservator, or even a friend
of the court. It must be brought within 90 days of the date that the petitioner
knew of the marriage or within 90 days of the 14th birthday of the party
to the marriage, whichever is later.
If you entered into a marriage when you were over 14 but under
18, and you did it without parental consent or a court order, then you
can get an annulment. This is also a voidable marriage. The suit can be
brought by your parents, by your managing conservator, or by a friend of
the court. An annulment under this section can't be brought if you've turned
18 since you got married.
Mediation
There are no mediation procedures mandated under
Texas divorce statutes.
Alimony
 Texas uses the term "maintenance" in
place of alimony. In most cases benefits
are limited to three years as it is designed
as a temporary rehabilitative measure. If
you are a spouse who agreed to care for your
children while your mate earned the income
outside the home, you'll find this provision
particularly annoying. in many cases this
greatly delays divorce recovery in Texas.
It is only awarded in two limited scenarios. A spouse who has been married for a minimum of 10 years and cannot support themselves may qualify for maintenance. Another situation would include family violence in which a spouse is convicted during the filing.
- The court will consider the following factors in determining alimony/maintenance: the financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance, including the community and separate property and liabilities apportioned to that spouse in the dissolution proceeding, and that spouse’s ability to meet the spouse’s needs independently;
- the education and job skills of the spouses;
- the length of the marriage;
- the age, employment history, earning ability, and health condition of the spouse seeking maintenance;
- the ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is requested to meet that spouse’s personal needs;
- the dissipation of any marital assets;
- the financial resources of the spouses;
- the contribution by one spouse to the education or earning capacity of the other;
- any pre-marital property;
- the contribution of a spouse as homemaker;
- any marital misconduct of the spouse seeking maintenance; and
- the efforts of the spouse seeking maintenance to pursue available employment counseling.
Waiting
Period
Texas divorce statutes set a minimum 60-day waiting
period after filing before a divorce
can be granted.
| Divorce Myth: Living together before marriage is a good way to reduce the chances of eventually divorcing. Reality: Many studies have found that those who live together before marriage have a considerably higher chance of eventually divorcing. The reasons for this are not well understood. In part, the type of people who are willing to cohabit may also be those who are more willing to divorce. There is some evidence that the act of cohabitation itself generates attitudes in people that are more conducive to divorce, for example the attitude that relationships are temporary and easily can be ended. |
Grandparents
Rights
Visitation may be granted if the grandparent’s child has been incarcerated in jail or prison during the three month period preceding the application, has been determined to be legally incompetent, or is dead; if the parents are divorced or have been living apart for the three months period preceding the filing of the application or if a suit for dissolution of the marriage is pending; if the child has been abused or neglected by a parent; the child has been adjudicated to be a child in need of supervision or a delinquent; the grandparent’s child has had their parental rights terminated; or if the child has resided with the grandparent for at least six months in the twenty-four month period preceding the filing of the application.
Divorce Settlement
 Texas
is a community property state. Settlement of your marital assets will be
done based on community property statutes. If the parties are not able
to reach a settlement on the division of marital assets, the court will
intervene. It is common for cases involving children to have an unequal
division of property. Separate property is not subject to division. Any
property possessed by either spouse during the marriage is presumed to
be community property unless it can be shown that the property is actually
separate property.
The court will consider the following factors
when fashioning a settlement and distributing assets:
- property that was acquired by the spouse while domiciled in another state and that would have been the spouse’s separate property if the spouse had been domiciled in this state at the time of acquisition; or
- property that was acquired by the spouse in exchange for real or personal property and that would have been the spouse’s separate property if the spouse had been domiciled in this state at the time of acquisition. The court shall confirm the following as the separate property of a spouse if partitioned or exchanged by written agreement of the spouses:
- income and earnings from the spouses’ property, wages, salaries, and other forms of compensation received on or after January 1 of the year in which the suit for dissolution of marriage was filed; or
- income and earnings from the spouses’ property, wages, salaries, and other forms of compensation received in another year during which the spouses were married for any part of the year.
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