Enforcement Suits in Texas Family Law, Part Six

For the most part, thus far, in our discussion on enforcement lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits, lawsuits lawsuits lawsuits lawsuitslawsuits in Texas family law cases, we have gone over some of the finer points associated with issues related to parents and children.

Whether it is back child support, visitation order violations, or remedies available to parents who file enforcement actions, children have been the centerpiece of each of the last four parts of this series of blogs I’ve written.

Today we are going to shift gears and discuss remedies that are available to you if you file an enforcement action regarding the division of property in a divorce decree. For many persons, your divorce decree did not have all that much to say about the property since you may or may not have owned much along with your spouse during your marriage.

However, it could be that there was quite a bit of detail to your sections dealing with community property and the separate estates of both you and your spouse.

If you find yourself in a position where your spouse is not abiding by some provision outlined in your divorce decree related to property division, then this blog will hopefully have some information that is helpful to you.

Specifically, you may be wondering what a court can do for you if it has been a few years since you were even in court. Let’s get into some of those remedies that you may be able to take advantage of should you be successful in a potential enforcement case.

Delivering the property to you from your ex-spouse

This is a pretty straightforward remedy in my opinion. If in your divorce decree you were either awarded a physical piece of personal property or a specific amount of money, you can be granted that sum of money or piece of property in an enforcement proceeding.

From my experience, most spouses follow through with orders from a court and will transfer the property and money that they were ordered to within a reasonable amount of time after their divorce.

However, it could be that your spouse is the exception to this, and you have been waiting years to receive property or money that is rightfully yours.

A money judgment instead of property

In some instances, you may have been awarded a piece of personal or real property in a divorce decree where your spouse was required to transfer ownership to you. Suppose in the interim period that the amount of property was either destroyed, wholly lost, or in the case of real property condemned or bought by the government via eminent domain or a similar process.

If the property as stated in your divorce decree no longer exists, do you still have a remedy to have this issue addressed by the court?

Thankfully, yes, you do. A court can award a money judgment against your ex-spouse for failing to timely transfer the property to you as ordered in your divorce decree.

A lien may be put in your ex-spouse’s property; money may be garnished from their pay, or any other remedy available to a civil court in the furtherance of the collection of a debt may be utilized.

A court may clarify a prior order.

As it happens, sometimes your divorce decree may not be entirely clear what is being ordered to be done as far as the transfer of property.

The conditions regarding the property division of your community estate can be crucially important in many instances. If the language in your decree is not clear, both you and your spouse may be unable how to proceed. If this occurs, you may lose out on money, property, or both that rightfully should be yours due to the divorce.

If this situation happens to you, a contempt order may not be possible in an enforcement case because the language of the original order was not clear enough to be acted upon by your ex-spouse. This is a get-out jail-free card (literally) for your ex-spouse.

If this occurs, you may file an enforcement action and seek that the court issue additional orders are clarifying what had been previously ordered regarding property division.

These new orders would, in theory at least, be clear enough so that your spouse can follow through and abide by whatever was ordered in your divorce proceedings. Your spouse would then have a set period to comply with the order or risk being found in contempt of court.

Attorney’s fees and other court costs

This is a subject that I will often be asked questions about during consultations by potential clients of the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC.

If you are forced to file enforcement against your ex-spouse because they are not following the rules as outlined in your divorce decree, how is it fair that you should have to pay an attorney to do so? If not for violating the court’s orders, you would not have had to go through the trouble of hiring a lawyer.

I can let you know that a court can order your ex-spouse to pay a reasonable amount of attorney’s fees and court costs if you ask for it in your petition for enforcement. A judge will evaluate the situation and decide on a case-by-case basis whether this is an appropriate remedy or not.

While it is not guaranteed that your spouse will end up paying your attorney’s fees, it is always worth pleading for and asking the court for the ability to do so.

Interested in learning more about enforcement actions in Texas family law? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC

Thank you for the opportunity to share some information about enforcement proceedings in Texas family law. If you would like to learn more about this type of case or believe that you need an attorney to file enforcement, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC. A free-of-charge consultation with one of our licensed family law attorneys is available six days a week.

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Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC | Tomball, Texas Divorce Lawyers

The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, routinely handles matters that affect children and families. If you have questions regarding divorce, it's essential to speak with one of our Tomball , TX, Divorce Lawyers right away to protect your rights.

Our d ivorce lawyers in Tomball, TX, are skilled at listening to your goals during this trying process and developing a strategy to meet those goals. Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC by calling (281) 810-9760 or submit your contact information in our online form. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, handles Divorce cases in Tomball, Texas, Cypress, Klein, Humble, Kingwood, Tomball, The Woodlands, Houston, the FM 1960 area, or surrounding areas, including Harris County, Montgomery County, Liberty County, Chambers County, Galveston County, Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, and Waller County.

Enforcement Suits in Texas Family Law, Part Six