Family law cases are any legal matters regarding your marriage and your relationship with your children. Child custody, visitation, possession, and child support issues are subsets of basic family law cases regarding your children. Divorce is the family law case most frequently associated with your marriage. Additional examples of family law cases are adoptions, Child Proactive Services (CPS) and domestic violence cases.
You must have lived in Texas at least for the preceding 6 months prior to filing your child custody case and in Harris County for at least the preceding 90 days. You can prove residency and domicile in Harris County with property tax statements, utility bills or lease agreements. A different statute in the Texas Family Code allows active-duty military members and other civil servants to assert that they are residents of Texas for divorce purposes even if they have not lived in Texas for an extended period.
You would file for divorce from your spouse in one of the eighteen family courts at the Harris County District Courthouse located at 201 Caroline St. However, you must file for divorce online with through the Harris County District Clerk. Your case, once filed correctly, will be randomly assigned to one of these family courts and then be assigned a cause number. All future filings to the court will be under this cause number to organize your case more effectively for you and your spouse.
The IV-D Child Support Courts of Harris County hear cases every day regarding child support issues. The Office of the Attorney General of Texas handles and administers all official payments of child support in Texas. This courthouse is located at 1115 Congress in downtown Houston. There are four child support courts that can hear your case. To be prepared for this experience it is a great idea to seek out an experienced family law attorney prior to heading to the courthouse.
The Juvenile Court Justices of Harris County have their courtrooms located at 1200 Congress St. Houston, TX 77002. There are three courts to which your case could be assigned. The Juvenile Courts decide issues involving adolescents who have not attained the age of majority (18). These types of cases include criminal misconduct, juvenile delinquency, and issues of neglect. The 313th District Court hears cases on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The 314th District Court hears cases on Monday and Wednesday. Finally, the 315th District Court hears cases on Tuesday and Thursday.
