Civil law cases in the following areas:
Having an experienced attorney on your side can make all the difference. At our firm in Arlington, Texas we believe in finding solutions, not perpetuating problems. We will help you and your family cope with the uncertainty that is the civil law system in Texas.
Divorce is confusing and messy. Before even looking at the money, property, children and house issues, it is important to understand how someone goes about even qualifying to get a divorce.
Need to know how to get divorced?
If you are facing a divorce in Arlington, Texas there are few important things everyone should know. In order to get divorced in Texas, two residency requirements must be met by either one of the parties. The first requires that one of the spouses have been a resident of Texas for a continuous six-month period. The second requires that one of the spouses be a resident of the county where the divorce is filed for at least 90 days.
If the residency requirement is met, one spouse may file an Original Petition for Divorce with the court. The Original Petition for Divorce will include information regarding the grounds for divorce, if there are any children of the marriage, division of community or separate property, request for a protective order, and a request for a name change.
The spouse filing the Original Petition for Divorce (Petitioner) must give notice to the other spouse (Respondent). Examples of giving notice include personally serving the Respondent, the Respondent signing a Waiver of Citation, or service by mail. It is important to note that there are time deadlines with notice of service.
Once the Respondent receives his or her service, he or she may either not contest or contest the divorce. An uncontested divorce is when both spouses agree with to the terms of the divorce. They are also substantially less costly. A contested divorced is when there is no agreement between the spouses and a judge will decide the issues. These range in cost but can be very expensive.
Is Texas a community property state?
Yes; Texas is a community property state. All property earned or acquired by either spouse during the marriage is equally owned by the spouses. During the divorce, the community property will be equally divided between the two spouses. Examples of community property include real estate, pension plans, debts, money earned at work, or money put in a joint checking account. In order for property not to be equally divided between the two spouses, a spouse must show that the property is separate property. Separate property is property or debts acquired only by one spouse or by gift or inheritance. However, if the spouses make an agreement on how their property is to be divided, the court will approve the agreement and not divide the assets according to community and separate property.
Do I need a reason to get a divorce in Dallas County or Tarrant County?
Texas allows for “no-fault” divorces. A “no-fault” divorce means that the spouse is notrequired to prove that the other spouse did anything wrong. If one party is at fault for the divorce, the Petitioner may state the reason in the Original Petition for Divorce and the court may that the reason into consideration in dividing the assets and debts. The statutory grounds for fault divorce include adultery, cruel treatment, abandonment, and long-term incarceration, confinement to a mental hospital or living apart for at least three years. “No-fault” divorce also makes it to where a spouse cannot be held in a marriage if the other spouse does not or refuses to participate in the divorce process.
How long does it take to finalize a divorce?
Texas has a 60 day “cooling off” period. A divorced cannot be finalized until the 61st day after the Original Petition of Divorce is filed. Once both spouses have entered into a Marital Settlement Agreement, the Petitioner will draft and file the Final Decree for the judge to sign and finalize the divorce. The Final Decree may include the division of assets and debts, if either spouse receives support, or establishes child custody, child support and visitation rights. If there is a Marital Settlement Agreement, the divorce will be finalized as soon as the judge pronounces it so in open court and signs the decree. If there is not a Marital Settlement Agreement, the process may take anywhere from six months to one year or longer.
What is spousal maintenance in Texas?
Spousal maintenance may be granted by court order once a divorce is finalized. Once a divorce is finalized a spouse may be entitled to spousal maintenance if (1) the paying spouse has been convicted of or received deferred adjudication for an act of family violence defined by Texas law during the marriage or while the divorce was pending; or (2)the marriage lasted 10 years or longer and the spouse seeking maintenance is unable to earn sufficient income provided for her minimum reasonable needs. If the spouse seeking maintenance meets one of the two requirements, the maximum payment she or he shall receive is $5,000 a month or 20% of the spouse’s average gross income. However, the court has discretion on awarding spousal support even if she or he qualifies. The court also has discretion on the amount that will be awarded. If the court does award spousal maintenance, the payments are limited in duration depending on the length of the marriage.
What is the difference between spousal maintenance and alimony?
On the other hand, alimony is negotiated and agreed upon by the parties. One common reason for alimony payments is that the payments are in lieu of dividing assets. For example, a husband wants to keep the house worth $500,000 but has to pay the wife $250,000 in alimony to offset her loss in the house. Alimony may be tax deductible to the paying party and may be included as income by the receiving party. However, you should always ask your attorney or CPA regarding your situation to determine the tax consequences of alimony payments.
What does an annulment mean in Texas?
An annulment in Texas means that the marriage is declared void and the marriage was invalid at its conception. An annulment differs from a divorce because a divorce ends a valid marriage. Grounds for annulment include incest, bigamy, underage marriage, intoxication, impotence, fraud, duress, or force, mental incapacity, marriage too soon after divorce or marriage too soon after obtaining a marriage license. When the court declares the marriage void, it will be like the marriage never happened. However, the judge may treat the annulment similarly to a divorce when dividing up property, child custody, child support, and visitation, etc.
What is a premarital agreement?
A premarital agreement is an agreement between prospective spouses regarding the terms of the marriage and property. They are enforceable in Texas and become effective when the prospective spouses become married. After marriage, a premarital agreement is not enforceable if the party against whom enforcement is request shows that he or she did not sign the agreement voluntarily or the agreement was unconscionable. Premarital agreements are beneficial because it will help separate acquired property or debts incurred during the marriage in case of divorce. Common reasons for entering into a premarital agreement are if one spouse has a high gross income, one spouse owns a business or one spouse has children from a prior marriage.
Immigration law is a big area. By big area, we mean that there is a lot to know about immigration law. It is important that you talk with an attorney who understands all the law and confusing paperwork. Don’t leave your loved one’s American status to chance; hire our firm.
Please, we repeat, please if you are facing criminal issues and are an immigrant, contact our immigration attorney before agreeing to any plea deal. It could have serious impacts on your immigration status and possibly lead to deportation.
Our firm believes that clients deserve the truth and to be well-informed. Because of this, we have compiled most of the commonly asked questions that we hear about in Arlington, Mansfield, Grand Prairie, Fort Wort and Dallas. Please read.
Who is an immigrant?
An immigrant is a person who has citizenship in one country who moves to a foreign country with the intention of setting up a permanent residence there.
A non-immigrant is a person who is entering the United States or Texas for a specific purpose. They must have a permanent residence abroad that they have no intention in abandoning for most classes of admission. Most may be accompanied by their spouses and unmarried minor children.
A undocumented immigrant is a person who does not have the right to be in the United States or Texas. Undocumented immigrants are those who enter without inspection/illegally and have failed to receive permission to stay or have stayed after the expiration of their visa.
How can an immigrant living in Arlington become a permanent resident?
Individuals may not obtain non-immigrant status in order to pursue legal permanent status simultaneously unless they fit into the E, H-1, V, O, P or L non immigrant categories which allow for dual intent. Dual intent involves entering the United States with the intention of only staying for the time permitted while at the same time being allowed to pursue legal permanent resident status. We know, it is confusing; call us and we can help.
Immigrating to the United States is possible through family sponsored immigration or by employment based immigration.
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens are the spouses, parents and children that are unmarried and under 21 years of age. Immediate relatives are exempt from quota limits and may immediately apply for legal permanent status unlike other family members who must wait for a visa to be available. Close family members that are not immediate relatives of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents are divided into groups known as preferences. These preferences are given numerical quotas for each year. These quotas limit the number of immigrants that may be admitted into the United States and Texas.
The Immigration and Nationality Act provides 140,000 employment based immigrant visas yearly plus any remaining unused family based visas.Like family based visas employment based visas are also divided into preferences. Most employment based permanent residence petitions require that the employer sponsoring the individual submit a labor certification. The labor certification must show that there are not sufficient workers available and employment will not adversely affect working conditions for U.S. workers in order for the worker to be admissible.
What is A Refugee? I live in Arlington; can I get refugee status?
A refugee is someone who refuses to return to his home country as a result of persecution or a well founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Applying to be admitted to the U.S. as a refugee requires that the individual be outside the U.S. and that he not be in the country that he refuses to return to so most likely if you live here in Dallas, Mansfield, Arlington or Irving you may not be able to get that refugee status but you need an attorney to help you go over your specific situation.
In order for the persecution to qualify as a statutorily protected quality, the persecution must be on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in particular social group, or as a result of political opinion.
Who may apply for asylum?
A person who is already in the United States or living here locally in Fort Worth, Dallas, Mansfield and Arlington, who as a result of persecution or a well founded fear of persecution fears returning to their home country may apply for asylum from within the United States or at the time they seek admission at a port of entry.
Asylum is a discretionary form of relief that requires applicants to prove a well founded fear as the standard of proof. A well founded fear may be satisfied by much less than more likely than not that they will be prosecuted upon return to their home country. Those granted asylum receive permission to remain in the United States, gain legal permanent resident status after one year and have the right to sponsor family members to immigrate to the United States.
What is withholding of removal?
Withholding of removal is similar to requesting asylum. It is an option to avoid being deported from the United States if you fear that you will be persecuted upon your return to your home country. Withholding of removal is not a discretionary but a mandatory form of relief and it must be granted if you qualify for it. In order to qualify you must prove that it is more likely than not that you will be persecuted upon your return to your home country. Unlike asylum status withholding of removal status does not give you legal permanent resident status after one year and does not give you the right to sponsor family members to immigrate to the United States.
What Is Parentage?
This basically means who is the father of the child. Here are some of the most common questions that our office, our Firm, is asked:
What Are Parenting Presumptions?
This means that if a man and woman are married, the State of Texas believes that the husband is the father of the child. The couple does not have to be married so long as they were trying to get married in good faith.
Another presumption is that if the child is born within 300 days after a divorce, the ex-husband is still the presumed father.
Another presumption is if the man and woman are not married but after the child is born, they voluntarily get married.
The last presumption is if the man, who may or may not be the father, lives with the child for its first 2 years of life; in this case the mother and man do not have to be married. The man just has to live with the child for the child’s first 2 years of life.
Well, If I’m A Man Living In Arlington or Mansfield How Can I Prove That I Am Not The Father?
Simple. Take a paternity test. If you are married but know that your wife was stepping-out or being unfaithful get a paternity test to prove you are not the father. Otherwise, the courts here in Dallas, Arlington, Fort Worth and Mansfield are going to presume you are the father.
I’m A Man In Texas And I Just Found Out My Wife May Had Got Pregnant By Someone Else And My Son May Not Be My Child, What Do I Do?
In Texas, you normally have four years to attack the presumption that you are the father. But if is after 4 years and your wife was lying and you are just now finding out that this child may have been fathered by someone else, the court may now allow you to get a paternity to prove you are not in fact the father. The courts in Dallas and Tarrant County will sometime do this when the alleged father had a mistaken belief.
(a) A man is presumed to be the father of a child if:
(1) he is married to the mother of the child and the child is born during the marriage;
(2) he is married to the mother of the child and the child is born before the 301st day after the date the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce;
(3) he married the mother of the child before the birth of the child in apparent compliance with law, even if the attempted marriage is or could be declared invalid, and the child is born during the invalid marriage or before the 301st day after the date the marriage is terminated by death, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or divorce;
(4) he married the mother of the child after the birth of the child in apparent compliance with law, regardless of whether the marriage is or could be declared invalid, he voluntarily asserted his paternity of the child, and:
(A) the assertion is in a record filed with the bureau of vital statistics;
(B) he is voluntarily named as the child’s father on the child’s birth certificate; or
(C) he promised in a record to support the child as his own; or
(5) during the first two years of the child’s life, he continuously resided in the household in which the child resided and he represented to others that the child was his own.
(b) A presumption of paternity established under this section may be rebutted only by:
(1) an adjudication under Subchapter G; or
(2) the filing of a valid denial of paternity by a presumed father in conjunction with the filing by another person of a valid acknowledgment of paternity as provided by Section 160.305.
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