Family law issues can be some of the most challenging and important issues you will ever face.

What is family law?
Family law encompasses a broad range of family-related matters and domestic relations, including marriage, divorce, annulment, spousal support, alimony, division of property, child custody, child support, child abuse, adoption, termination of parental rights, pre-marital agreements and post-marital agreements.

Some of the services that we offer relating to family law include:

• Child custody and support issues
• CPS investigations
• Divorce
• Modification agreements
• Parentage

Having an experienced attorney on your side can make all the difference. At Our Law 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 family law system in Texas. Call the Arlington-based attorneys at our firm.

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Child custody in Texas
Texas law presumes that the parents of the child be “joint managing conservators.” As joint managing conservators, both parents will be able to jointly make decisions regarding the child including education and medical decisions. The court may also grant sole custody or “sole managing conservator” to one parent. To determine whether there will be a sole conservator or joint conservators the court will look at what is the best interest of the child. If a parent does not agree with the court’s decision, he or she will need to file a custody case. A court can consider the preference of whom the child wishes to live with at age 12.

Child support in Texas
Child support may be paid by the noncustodial parent to the custodial parent until the child reaches the age of 18 or the court otherwise determines. In Texas, a parent is a child’s birth mother, a man presumed to be the child’s biological father, signed an Acknowledgement of Paternity or an adoptive mother or father. The court has discretion over how much child support the noncustodial parent must pay. However, there are guidelines that may be used to estimate how much child support must be paid each month. The amount paid is a percentage of the noncustodial parent’s average monthly gross income.

Parents may also make agreements for child support payments and the court will sign the agreement into order if it finds that the agreement is in the best interest of the child. An agreement or court determined amount may only be changed by the court if the party moving for the change can show that the circumstances of the child or parents have substantially changed since the order was made. If three years has passed since the order, the person moving for the change must show that the amount would differ by 20% or $100 from the original amount.
Even if the noncustodial parent is denied access to their child, he or she must still pay child support. If the noncustodial parent fails to pay child support the court may garnish their wages, intercept their federal income tax refunds, suspend or revoke his or hers driver’s licenses, passport or other licenses or may even hold him or her in contempt of court.

Child Visitation Rights In Texas
If the divorce decree does not otherwise provide information regarding child visitation, the Texas Family Code provides a standard possession order (visitation rights) for the noncustodial parent. Absent otherwise specified terms, if the noncustodial parent resides less than 100 miles away from the primary resident of the child, the noncustodial parent will have visitation rights on the first, third, and fifth weekend of each month. If the primary resident of the child is more than 100 miles away from the noncustodial parent, the noncustodial parent will have visitation rights on either the first, third, or fifth weekend or any one weekend during the month if he or she provides adequate notice. The Texas Family Code also provides a standard possession order for the holidays including Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mother and Father’s Day, the child’s birthday and also summer and spring break.

(a) The public policy of this state is to:

(1) assure that children will have frequent and continuing contact with parents who have shown the ability to act in the best interest of the child;

(2) provide a safe, stable, and nonviolent environment for the child; and

(3) encourage parents to share in the rights and duties of raising their child after the parents have separated or dissolved their marriage.

(b) A court may not render an order that conditions the right of a conservator to possession of or access to a child on the payment of child support.

The best interest of the child shall always be the primary consideration of the court in determining the issues of conservatorship and possession of and access to the child.

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What Is Child Protective Services (CPS) & What Are CPS Investigations?
The CPS program investigates allegations of child abuse and neglect by parents or other family or household members.

If needed, CPS may refer parents to services for help. These services may help them solve their problems and learn how to care for and discipline their children in ways that do not harm them or put them at risk of abuse or neglect. These services may include counseling, day care, homemaker services, evaluation, treatment, and parenting classes.

CPS caseworkers have identification cards. Ask to see your caseworker’s DFPS identification card if you want to know if they really work for CPS.

Why is CPS visiting my family?
State law requires anybody who believes that a child has been abused or neglected to make a report to the Child Protective Services (CPS) program of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) or to a law enforcement agency. The law requires CPS to investigate these reports to protect children.

Do I need a lawyer? How do I get one?
You have the right to consult with a lawyer at any point in the investigation at your own expense. If CPS files a lawsuit regarding your children, you may ask the court for a lawyer to represent you. The court may or may not be able to provide you with a lawyer based on court rules and your financial situation. In some communities, Legal Aid may be available, or you can contact the local bar association or call Lawyer Referral Service at the State Bar of Texas (1-800-252-9690). CPS employees are prohibited by law from giving legal advice.

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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.

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