Divorce is not an easy road to walk down. This is not a comfortable stroll around the block after dinner. Rather, a divorce can be a winding, twisting path the end point of which is unknown. Sure, you have a feeling that your divorce will end but when? Furthermore, how will you get there? No matter the stakes in your divorce you must decide what to do. Where do you go from here? The Law Office of Bryan Fagan is here to help.
In today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we will cover the essentials of every critical step in the process. To make it easier for you to work through we are going to break today’s blog post down into short increments. Bite-sized morsels of divorce knowledge that you can get through in one easy sitting. Ready to go? Sit back and learn about divorce from our experienced team of family law attorneys.
Do you want a divorce? Now is the time to decide
The time to figure out if you want to go through with this divorce is now before your case is filed. Yes, you can “pause” a divorce to try and reconcile or attend counseling. However, a family court judge will not let your case sit on their docket indefinitely. The judge will ask that you either proceed in the case or it will be dismissed. A dismissed divorce means all the time and money spent filing the case goes out the window.
Communicate your concerns to your spouse. Put down your phones and turn off the television. Wait until the kids are in bed. Get your spouse’s undivided attention. Then, start to ask the difficult questions that you have been setting aside. If he or she is agreeable to work on the marriage. That’s great. If not, then it is time to move forward towards a divorce.
Where should you file your case?
This “where” question goes beyond the immediate question of where the physical location of the courthouse is. Rather, we want to know what county is the appropriate location for your divorce. In some instances, we need to know if Texas is even the appropriate state to file for divorce in. Depending upon how long you have lived in Texas this is a pertinent question to ask.
For starters, you or your spouse need to have been residents of Texas for at least the prior six months to file for divorce here. Residency is determined by where you have lived for the most part. Where do you receive your mail? Are you registered to vote in Texas? Answering these types of questions will determine if you can file for divorce here.
Next, you need to determine if you have resided in a particular county for at least the past ninety days. If so, then you can file for divorce in that county. The same rule applies to your spouse. You can also file for divorce in a county where your spouse has resided for the past ninety days.
Jurisdiction is a court’s ability to issue rulings and hear legal arguments. Without property jurisdiction, a court has no authority to do much of anything in connection with your divorce. Since jurisdiction can be a tricky subject depending upon your circumstances it is best to contact an experienced family law attorney for help.
Do you need to hire an attorney for your divorce?
In the strictest sense of this question, it is not necessary to hire an attorney for divorce in Texas. The Texas Family Code contains no requirement that you hire a lawyer to represent you. However, there are many good reasons why you should consider hiring a lawyer for your divorce. Starting with the stakes of your case. No matter what you have going on in your life you owe it to yourself to have someone knowledgeable help you. Would you try to fill your cavities? No, you would hire a dentist. So why try and get a divorce without an attorney?
Divorce cases take time to complete. They are also costly. The fact of the matter is that while people think they are saving money by not hiring an attorney, oftentimes they are costing themselves more money by not doing so. We have already seen how a divorce that sits idle for too long will be dismissed. Think about the time that went into preparing the case. Some costs, like filing fees, are due whether you have an attorney or not.
Our point here is that hiring an attorney is a short-term investment into your long-term future. Do not allow your future to be dictated to you. Take the bull by the horns and hire a strong advocate to work alongside you in the divorce. It is a decision that many Texans make every day. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan is here to help guide you through this process. A free of charge consultation with one of our attorneys is free of charge.
Hiring a family law attorney is important
When you make up your mind to get divorced and to hire an attorney make sure that attorney is experienced. There is nothing wrong with a young lawyer trying to get their start in the legal world. Every attorney was once a young attorney. However, that does not mean that you need to hire that young attorney to represent you. Age is not the issue here. The level of experience is. Certain attributes cannot be taught to a lawyer. Rather, that lawyer must have experienced the difficulties and been able to come out the other side.
An experienced family law attorney is who you need to hire in your case. Family law, like all areas of the law, has some interesting and complicated issues that need to be addressed in every case. The less experienced your attorney is the less likely he is to know about those finer points of the law. These are qualities that will hurt you in the divorce. Not every attorney practices family law. Some attorneys will gladly accept your case. However, that does not mean you should hire that lawyer.
Working with an experienced family law attorney with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan is a decision you will not regret. Our past clients have thanked our attorneys for their level of professionalism and candor during the divorce process. We advocate for our clients first and foremost. Your fight becomes our fight. We use our experience to your advantage.
What is the process like in filing for divorce?
An Original Petition for Divorce needs to be filed in a court with jurisdiction to begin the divorce. An Original Petition is a document that introduces a court to you and your family. Information about your minor children is included in the Petition. Requests for relief (what you want in the divorce) need to be listed. Division of your community estate, the establishment of child custody orders- all of this is included in a petition.
Once your petition is drafted you should file it in the appropriate court. We have already spent some time discussing which court is the appropriate venue for your divorce. If you are unsure of where to file that is a great indicator that you need an attorney’s help. Spending money to file a case in the wrong county not only costs you filing fees but also time. These are resources that are in short supply in this case. Don’t make an unnecessary error.
Decide also whether you will be asking for temporary orders in the divorce. Temporary orders are a phase of a divorce occurring at the beginning of the case. It stretches until the very end when final orders are negotiated and entered. You can think of temporary orders as the marching orders for you and your spouse within the divorce case. Asking for a temporary order hearing at the same time as your petition is filed is common.
What to do after your petition is filed?
Now that you know where and what to file to begin the divorce you need to identify what comes next. Your spouse has a right to be notified of the divorce being filed. This does not mean you texting your spouse that you filed for divorce. Although, you can do this as a “head’s up.” Rather, your spouse has a right to be personally served with notice of the divorce having been filed. Here is how you can do that.
Hire a private process server or constable to go down to the courthouse to pick up the petition and other documents. A citation will need to be taken along with the other legal documents. A citation spells out the time, date, and location where your spouse is to be served. When the process server or law enforcement officer hands over the documents your spouse has been served.
It is at this point that your spouse would file an Answer. An Answer is a short document that amounts to a general denial in most cases. Your spouse is the respondent in the divorce and you are the petitioner. Your spouse may also choose to file a counterpetition in addition to their Answer. Where does your case go from here? To mediation, most likely.
Temporary orders mediation
As we discussed earlier in today’s blog post, temporary orders are a phase of your divorce. It provides you and your spouse guidelines on how to conduct yourselves during the divorce. Whether it be visitation with the kids or paying household bills, temporary orders establish responsibilities during the divorce. This is an especially important phase of a case when it comes to minor children. Helping the kids adjust to their new lives is difficult but necessary.
You and your spouse have the option to negotiate on temporary orders between yourselves. There is no requirement that either of you go through your attorneys to do this. Rather, it is ideal for you and your spouse to share information and ideas in negotiation. After all, nobody knows your lives better than you and your spouse do. For that reason, being able to have a civil conversation with your spouse matters. Do not assume that this part of your life is behind you just because you filed for divorce.
However, formal settlement negotiations in a divorce occur in mediation. Mediation involves you and your spouse hiring a third-party mediator. The mediator acts as a liaison between you and your spouse. Communicating settlement offers, playing devil’s advocate, and generally pushing negotiations forward is what a mediator does. The better prepared you are for mediation the better off you and your spouse will be.
Working together during the divorce with your spouse
It can seem strange to think that you and your spouse need to work alongside each other during the divorce. After all, aren’t you and your spouse trying to divorce one another? That means separating yourselves from one another in many different ways. While it is true that a divorce is an end of a marriage that does not mean that your relationship can come to an end.
Rather, a divorce marks the beginning of a new relationship that you must develop with your spouse. If you and your spouse have minor children together this means being co-parents. Co-parenting means sharing the rights and responsibilities of parenting as a team. Putting aside your differences in hopes of raising your children to the best of your abilities. Caring about their best interests more than you do about your interests. Sometimes this takes effort for a family to achieve.
Even if you do not have children, for the sake of your sanity, working with your spouse during the divorce takes communication. Being able to communicate with your spouse during the divorce is essential to success. People who allow their attorneys to do all the negotiating are doing themselves a disservice. Nobody knows your situation better than you and your spouse. Do not take away your autonomy to arrive at a settlement because you cannot communicate with your spouse effectively.
Final orders mediation and negotiation
Ultimately, everything in a divorce leads up to final orders in the case. The final orders of your divorce are the rules of engagement for you and your spouse to abide by after the divorce comes to an end. For many people, these final orders are critically important. They may contain the specifics of how you and your spouse divide your marital property and attend to debt after the divorce. For parents, the final orders contain specifics on child custody and child support after the divorce.
Most families attend mediation to negotiate final orders. Final orders mediation looks very similar to temporary orders. The orders achieved in temporary orders will likely be utilized again in final orders. Division of your community property occurs in final orders mediation. For that reason, being prepared to make arguments and present your case is important for final order mediation.
One of the advantages of having an experienced family law attorney in your case is that the attorney will help you draft final orders. If your final orders are drafted poorly then they are not worth the paper that they are printed on. Rather, you need final orders that are well-drafted and enforceable. An enforceable final order is one that you can go back to court on if your spouse violates the final orders in some way. Poorly drafted or ambiguous final orders are not enforceable. This puts you and your spouse at a tremendous disadvantage.
Final thoughts on the steps of a divorce in Texas
We hope that you have found the material in today’s blog post to be helpful. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan know that you have a lot on your mind as you consider a divorce. Having questions is not a bad thing. However, being able to find trustworthy answers to those questions is a challenge.
This is where the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan can help you and your family. We offer free-of-charge consultations six days a week where your questions can be answered. We take seriously the responsibility of helping our community and serving our clients. When it comes to divorce, you will not find a group of attorneys with more experience than the Law Office of Bryan Fagan.
Our attorneys post unique and informative content about the world of Texas family law every day here on our blog. If you have any questions about what you have read, please contact our office today. The difference between a successful and unsuccessful divorce can be determined in large part by the quality of representation you receive.
Questions about the material contained in today’s blog post? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan offer free of charge consultations six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video. These consultations are a great way for you to learn more about the world of Texas family law. Before signing a document or negotiating on a subject you do not know well, contact our office. We look forward to the opportunity of serving you during an important part of your life. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan is on your side.
Evan Hochschild was raised in Houston, TX and graduated from Cypress Creek High School. He went on to graduate from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX with an undergraduate degree in Political Science. While in college, Evan was a four-year letterman on the Cross Country team.
Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and uncle before him, Evan attended law school after he completed in his undergraduate studies. He graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law and has practiced in a variety of areas in the law- including family law.
Mr. Hochschild is guided by principles which place the interests of clients first. Additionally, Evan seeks to provide information and support for his clients with the heart of a teacher.
Evan and his wife have four small children together. He enjoys afternoons out and about with his family, teaching Sunday school at his church and exercising. A veteran attorney of fourteen years, Mr. Hochschild excels in communicating complex ideas in family law simply and directly.
