Advantages to Filing for Divorce Based on a Specific Cause in Texas

In Texas, you have the choice of filing for divorce based on specific causes or without citing a reason at all. As a family law attorney, I often assist clients who opt for divorce based on specific causes, ranging from serious issues to seemingly trivial matters. Whether it’s infidelity, abuse, or irreconcilable differences, each case is unique, and the decision to file for divorce based on a specific cause requires careful consideration of the circumstances involved.

In the realm of family law, a divorce lacking a specific reason asserted by either party is termed a “no-fault” divorce. In this scenario, neither you nor your spouse informs the court that the divorce hinges on specific grounds such as adultery or spousal abuse. Irreconcilable differences or conflict/discord of personalities is the type of language you will see in your final orders. You all couldn’t get along well enough to maintain the marriage, and there was no hope of reconciling.

In some cases, it’s beneficial to specify a cause for the marriage breakdown in your divorce filing. This strategic move can provide advantages crucial to your case’s success. However, it’s essential to be judicious in what you include in your Original Petition for Divorce.

For instance, if you’re seeking an unequal distribution of the community estate, it’s advantageous for the judge to know about marital conflicts leading to abuse. Demonstrating spousal abuse could prompt the judge to award you more than 50% of the marital property.

Take caution when alleging specific causes for the breakup of your marriage

Again, it would help if you did not jump head-first into alleging fault grounds for your Divorce without first considering the impact on your life and your case. The family laws in Texas allow the judge in your case to remove any indecent or inflammatory language about your spouse from your Original Petition for Divorce. I have received many Petitions that go into graphic and sometimes gory detail about all sorts of evil acts that our clients have committed that led to the filing of the Divorce. Judges often strike through such material, preventing it from becoming part of the case record, as these allegations are frequently unfounded and untrue.

The way to allege fault grounds in your Petition for Divorce is to specify the fault ground and state that your spouse engaged in those types of actions. Leave it at that and move on. You do not need to detail the time, place, and number of occurrences of an adulterous affair that your spouse has been engaging in. That may be relevant to your case, and ultimately the details may come out in court, but they do not need to come out in the Petition.

Providing notice to your spouse that you have filed for Divorce

Filing for divorce is one step, but serving your spouse is another crucial and separate process. Although filing the petition may seem like the start of your divorce journey, it holds no legal weight until your spouse receives notice of the lawsuit. If you fail to serve your spouse, the petition may languish in court files and eventually get dismissed due to your inaction.

There are two methods to legally serve your spouse with the Original Petition for Divorce. The first option is to have your spouse sign a Waiver of Service, confirming receipt and knowledge of the filed petition. However, your spouse still needs to file an Answer, a legal response to the petition. The Waiver of Service eliminates the need for formal service by a process server or constable.

The second manner in which a person can be served in your Divorce is the most common. You would either hire a private process server or a constable to pick the documents up from the courthouse and serve them to your spouse. The process server or constable would then fill out an affidavit of service that states the time, date, and location of the service has occurred. You then file that affidavit with the other documents in your case. Your Petition for Divorce includes a citation attached to it, informing your spouse of the requirement to file an Answer within a specified period. If any pending court dates are communicated to your spouse, it is done through a document called a Notice of Hearing.

More on the Wavier of Service

Your spouse agrees to sign a Waiver of Service is the easiest option available of all the ways to provide notice of your divorce Petition to them. For a waiver to be considered valid, it must be signed after your Petition has been filed. You cannot have your spouse sign a waiver in anticipation of the Petition being filed. This is because, without a file-stamped version of the Petition, your spouse cannot know what rights they are waiving.

Service by publication or by posting

A third method of providing legal notice to your spouse of your divorce suit being filed is to serve them by publishing your Petition in a newspaper or periodical. You can only do so after a court order is granted by the judge that allows you to serve your spouse in this manner. To get to the point where a judge will enable you to serve your spouse this way, you will need to show that you have tried everything possible to locate and serve your spouse personally.

The publication will occur in a newspaper or magazine available in the city or town where your spouse is thought to have resided. The district clerk would see to it that the citation is posted for a certain period. You would pay the costs of having them legally served by this method.

Another method that can be utilized in certain circumstances to serve your spouse with notice of your Divorce is to do so via posting your citation on the courthouse steps or a bulletin board or another public area in and around the courthouse. If the court permits you to serve your spouse this way, you must contact the clerk and have them post your citation. Once it has been posted for a long enough period, the clerk will notify your court that service has occurred.

The next step: having an Answer filed

Let’s flip the script now. Suppose that your spouse filed for Divorce and served you with notice of the lawsuit by one of the above methods. You currently must respond to that Original Petition for Divorce with a pleading of your own. That pleading is known as an Answer.

The citation that we just finished discussing in the sections before this one requires that you file an Answer by 10:00 a.m. on the Monday following twenty days after the date you were served with a copy of the Petition and the citation. Keep in mind that while the law requires that you file an Answer by this time, you can file an Answer any time before entering a final order in your case, and it will be considered valid.

The reason why filing an Answer is so crucial in a lawsuit is that you will be legally entitled to receive every single document filed in your case after the Answer is filed. This means that you will be notified of any court date that comes up so that nothing will occur without having an opportunity to voice your position on that subject. If you do not file an Answer, your spouse can move forward with their version of the final orders in your case. After sixty days of the citation being served upon you, your spouse can then go to the judge and have those orders ratified by the judge.

What is a counterpetition, and should you file one?

You may also choose to file and serve upon your spouse a counterpetition for Divorce. This document looks a whole lot like the Original Petition for Divorce. It will allow you to state your grounds for the Divorce and detail what you are requesting the court does in the Divorce as far as relief is concerned.

Now you play the waiting game.

Once all of the steps mentioned above have been completed, you and your spouse will have to wait at least 60 days to meet your case. The state of Texas wants you and your spouse to be sure that you wish to this Divorce, so they mandate a sixty-day waiting period as the minimum waiting period from the time the Petition is served.

During this period, you and your spouse will negotiate on the property and child-related aspects of your case. The ability for you and your spouse to negotiate and settle your case without resorting to intervention by the judge is generally a good thing for everyone involved. Think about it like this: you and your spouse know each other, your children, and your situation better than anyone. Who is better suited, therefore, to make decisions about your future? Indeed not a judge. Use this time to negotiate both temporary and final orders in your case.

Temporary Orders in a Texas divorce

Temporary Orders in a divorce will set the ground rules for your case by establishing what you and your spouse can and cannot do, determining a visitation schedule for your child, and a plan for which of you are responsible for your bills. One of you will be asked to leave the family home, and the details about this move will be included in your temporary orders.

Even though they are known as temporary orders, these decisions can impact the final orders in your case substantially. Since we are out of time today, I will pick back up with this topic tomorrow.

Conclusion

The flexibility of Texas divorce laws allows individuals to pursue divorce either with or without specifying a cause. While some opt for divorce based on significant issues such as infidelity or abuse, others may choose to end their marriage over seemingly trivial matters. Regardless of the reason, each case presents its own complexities and considerations. As a family law attorney, I’ve witnessed the diverse range of factors that influence individuals’ decisions when filing for divorce. Ultimately, the choice to file based on a specific cause requires thoughtful evaluation of the situation at hand, weighing both the emotional and practical implications involved.

Questions about family law cases in Texas? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan

Thank you for joining us today as we discussed a critical topic in Texas family law. If you have any questions about the material that we covered or need clarification on something that you read, please consider contacting the Law Office of Bryan Fagan today. Our licensed family law attorneys offer free-of-charge consultations six days a week here in our office. These consultations are an excellent opportunity to ask questions and receive feedback about your specific circumstances.

Our attorneys and staff take a great deal of pride in being able to help families in our community achieve desirable outcomes in family law cases across southeast Texas. We work tirelessly on behalf of these families and invite you to see what your law practice is all about. Thank you for joining us today, and we hope you will return tomorrow as we continue to share information about family law in Texas.

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Other Articles you may be interested in:

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3. Conviction of a Felony as Grounds for a Texas Divorce
4. I Want a Texas Divorce, but My Husband Doesn’t: What can I do?
5. Am I Married? – Marital Status in Texas
6. Can I sue my spouse’s mistress in Texas?
7. 6 Tips – On How to prepare for a Texas Divorce
8. Roadmap of Basic Divorce Procedure in Texas
9. 6 Mistakes that can Destroy Your Texas Divorce Case
10. Does it Matter who Files First in a Texas Divorce?

Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC | Spring Divorce Attorneys

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 Spring, TX Divorce Attorneys right away to protect your rights.

Our divorce attorneys in Spring, 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 Spring, Texas, Cypress, Spring, Klein, Humble, Kingwood, Tomball, The Woodlands, 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.

Bryan Joseph Fagan( Attorney )

Bryan Fagan, a native of Atascocita, Texas, is a dedicated family law attorney inspired by John Grisham’s “The Pelican Brief.” He is the first lawyer in his family, which includes two adopted brothers. Bryan’s commitment to family is personal and professional; he cared for his grandmother with Alzheimer’s while completing his degree and attended the South Texas College of Law at night.

Married with three children, Bryan’s personal experiences enrich his understanding of family dynamics, which is central to his legal practice. He specializes in family law, offering innovative and efficient legal services. A certified member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, Bryan is part of an elite group of legal professionals committed to ongoing education and high-level expertise.

His legal practice covers divorce, custody disputes, property disputes, adoption, paternity, and mediation. Bryan is also experienced in drafting marital property agreements. He leads a team dedicated to complex family law cases and protecting families from false CPS allegations.

Based in Houston, Bryan is active in the Houston Family Law Sector of the Houston Bar Association and various family law groups in Texas. His deep understanding of family values and his professional dedication make him a compassionate advocate for families navigating Texas family law.