Suppose you are like most people facing divorce, then you are experiencing a complex set of emotions. Sadness, anger, confusion, anxiety, and even fear can enter your mind and fill you with a great deal of worry in the weeks and days that lead up to a divorce. You have probably never gone through a divorce before. The folks in your life who have gotten divorced may have filled you with the wrong idea about how a divorce goes. One size does not fit all when it comes to getting a divorce.
What I would recommend to you is to take into consideration the advice of people that have not only experienced one divorce- but those that have experienced thousands. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan serve southeast Texans every day in the family courts of our area. Doing so has allowed us a unique perspective into how divorces work and how to maximize the opportunity for yourself and your family. Divorce is not enjoyable, but it can result in the possibility of a new beginning for you and your family. That is the message I want to share with you all today.
Divorce tends to start as being all about emotion. We’ve already discussed the range of emotions that you may be feeling at this very moment in time. Putting an end to a marriage is enough to put anyone on their backside as far as the emotional impact of the case. Do not underestimate the role that emotion plays in a divorce case. Even if you consider yourself to be emotionally “stable,” no degree of stability can prepare you for all the elements that a problematic divorce presents you with.
As your case progresses, most people find that it becomes less about emotion and more about family and finances. How can you use the facts and circumstances of your case to maximize the time you have with your children and the finances that are relevant in your life? When it comes to your money, a divorce can harm you a great deal moving forward. You could end up spending more than you need to on an attorney, and the facts of your case may lend themselves to putting you in an unfavorable financial position.
For that reason, you need to be prepared for your divorce. Heading into a divorce with the assumption that your attorney will handle everything for you and that all you need to do is sign the checks and show up to court is not a productive or intelligent way to go about the case. Ultimately, a divorce is your case- not your attorney’s. You are the person who will have to live with the consequences of a divorce that does not go in your favor. With that said, it is up to you to spend the time that you need preparing for your divorce.
Financial messes and messy divorces go hand in hand.
To start with, if you are going through a divorce and either has young children or are in your golden years (aged 55+), you are at the highest risk of suffering financially due to your divorce. For younger adults who have little kids at home, you likely do not have much in the way of retirement savings, little liquid cash in an emergency fund, and have the added stress of being responsible for caring for your children—adding in the costs of a divorce and the uncertainty that one presents can harm your peace of mind and pocketbook.
If you are in your golden years, then you run into the issue of either closing in on retirement and not being in a great position to rebuild wealth that is lost in a divorce, or you may have been a stay at home spouse/parent for many years who is now having to re-enter the workforce. Neither is a particularly enviable position to be in. Yes, if you have not been in the force for many years and have been married to your spouse for an extended period, you may be eligible for spousal maintenance. However, it is still a precarious position to be in that of having to rely on an ex-spouse for income.
Many topics related to finances that you need to familiarize yourself with before beginning your case. Foremost among them are attorney’s fees, community property, spousal maintenance, debt, and retirement savings. These are the main features of a divorce that can impact your finances- either negatively or positively. Child support is another financial topic that is very important, which will relate to your divorce if you and your spouse have children under the age of 18.
There are no guarantees that I can give you regarding your divorce case. There is no specific piece of advice that I can give you which will ensure your success in the divorce that you are facing. However, it is my experience that these issues are ones that you should focus on before beginning your divorce if you want to make it out of your divorce in one piece from a financial perspective. Negotiations with your spouse on economic issues go much better if you can come into those negotiations with some degree of knowledge on the subject matter.
Attorney’s fees- do you have to pay an arm and a leg to find quality representation?
You do not have to hire an attorney to represent you in your divorce. The court will not refuse to hear your case if you are not meant. Your divorce will just as much merit as anyone else’s who an attorney has. However, the nuts and bolts of a divorce can get complex. Even if the complexity of your case is minimal, there is a time commitment that you need to give to your issue if you want to get it done and over within a reasonable amount of time.
Family law attorneys charge by the hour. This means that your attorney will assign himself an hourly rate to bill your case for work performed. He will also transfer any other attorney in his office, paralegals, legal assistants, and office staff with an hourly rate by which they will also bill your case for work performed. The more complex your issue is, the more frequently you contact your attorney by phone or email, the number of court appearances, and the degree to which problems arise during your case will all impact how much representation costs you.
Your representation by an attorney will likely begin with you paying what is known as a retainer. A retainer will do exactly what you think it would- it retains the attorney’s services for you during the course of your divorce. Think of a retainer as a down payment for your lawyer- almost like how you would pay a down payment on a motor vehicle or home that you are purchasing. Like those situations, most people going through a divorce will pay their attorney a monthly payment amount to ensure that their case has money available for the attorneys and their staff to complete the necessary steps of the divorce.
Texas is a community property state.
The significance for you of Texas being a community property state is as follows: any property that comes into your possession (or your spouses) during your marriage is presumed to be owned jointly by you and your spouse. It doesn’t matter who was physically presented when the property was purchased. It doesn’t matter whose income (yours or his) was used to make the purchase. It doesn’t matter whose name appears on the title of the property. It is presumed that if it came into being during your marriage that it is community-owned. That means that it can be divided up in the divorce if necessary.
Separate property is the other side of the coin from community property. Separate property is any property that you or your spouse owned before your marriage. It also consists of property that was acquired during your marriage by gift or inheritance. So, if your Aunt Gertrude makes it clear that she is gifting you a computer for use with your business (and makes it clear that the gift is for you alone), that would make the computer your separate property. If challenged on that account by your spouse, you would need to present evidence to rebut the community property presumption. A birthday card from your dear Aunt which states that the computer is for you alone and not your spouse would be an example of that sort of evidence.
What about issues like child support and spousal maintenance?
Depending upon the length of your marriage and whether or not you all have children together, the issues of spousal maintenance and child support may be relevant to your divorce. To answer which parent is in line to be paid child support, you must first answer the question of which parent your children are going to live with primarily. This is usually one of the most emotional questions for parents to respond to in a divorce. You both want to have possession of your kids as much as possible. Typically, however, even when both parents are well situated to take on this responsibility, only one of you can be named the managing conservator of your kids.
In Texas, the child’s best interests will be the standard that a court would apply to your case to determine where your children should live primarily. The child’s best interests mean that the judge can consider a wide range of evidence, such as what environment would foster their educational and emotional growth the best. Whose home environment is more stable, safe, and capable of producing contributing members of society. Ultimately, however, the state of Texas allows judges to arrive at this decision essentially any way the judge sees fit.
Spousal maintenance refers to when one ex-spouse pays the other a sum of money every month. That is an arrangement that is set up when the ex-spouse who receives the income cannot meet their minimal, basic needs on their own. The court would consider the job prospects, history, and earning ability of the spouse asking for maintenance.
The judge would also look to the terms of the divorce to determine whether or not sufficient separate property or divided community property could allow them to subsist without having to award spousal maintenance. The fact of the matter is that courts in Texas are not eager to award spousal maintenance.
Dividing up property is not always straightforward.
Dividing up community property is not always straightforward. Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may find that you have to utilize a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) to divide up a retirement account. This is a document signed by the judge that instructions the folks running your or your spouse’s retirement plan on how to divide up any portion of the retirement account that has been awarded to the other spouse. This document is not overly complex, but it does take planning to make sure this process runs smoothly.
We will talk in more detail in tomorrow’s blog post about some of the other detailed property division portions.
Questions about divorce and finances? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
If you have any questions about the material shared with you today, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our licensed family law attorneys offer free-of-charge consultations six days a week. These consultations will allow you to ask questions and receive direct feedback from our lawyers about your specific circumstances.
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.
