Skip to content 
Nobody sets out to lose a family law case. However, certain actions can lead to a loss. In today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we will focus on avoiding missteps in a Texas family law case. When we think about family law cases images of winning arguments and favorable evidence come to mind. While these factors are critical to the family law case, they are not everything. Rather, family law cases can be easily lost when mistakes are made.
By reading today’s blog post, we hope that you will be able to learn helpful pieces of information that can be applied to your case. However, the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan understand that every person’s case is different. We would never presume that any information provided in a blog post is equally applicable to all families. For that reason, we recommend that you reach out to the Law Office of Bryan Fagan to speak with one of our experienced family law attorneys.
Avoiding mistakes in a family law case is like avoiding potholes on the road. It helps to have someone in the passenger seat looking for potholes while you maneuver traffic. The same can be said about your family law case. A family law case is more straightforward when you have the advice of an attorney to fall back on. A free-of-charge consultation with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan can be your first step towards developing a strategy geared towards success in your case.
Overconfidence
An issue that can impact all of us is overconfidence. Overconfidence is thinking that you have a situation under control when you do not. Or it could be believing a certain outcome is inevitable despite challenges waiting in the wings. In short, being able to manage the challenges of a family law case means not becoming overconfident. How do we avoid being overconfident in this kind of setting? What are some techniques that we can use to determine whether we are displaying overconfidence?
For starters, overconfidence is not necessarily something that you can assume does not affect you. Many of us have an idea in our minds that because we are of a certain age we are past the point of being overconfident. Life tends to hand you defeats when overconfidence rears its ugly head. Those are situations where we can look back on them and wish that we hadn’t acted that way. However, once the unfortunate occurrence has happened it is always too late.
For that reason, it is a good idea to guard against overconfidence in your family law case. To my knowledge, this is not advice that I have seen or heard another attorney speak about. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan have your best interests at heart. We understand that family law cases are made up of several human elements. Since we all have faults and shortcomings it is best to acknowledge those shortcomings here in a friendly and comfortable atmosphere. That way, you will be aware of the possible effects of overconfidence once you begin your case.
Don’t assume that the law is on your side
Put yourself in the following situation. Imagine that you are a mother have two small children. You and your husband have been married for around 7 years. Recently you and your husband have been experiencing some difficulties in your marriage. Yes, the normal stresses of marriage involving children, money, and family life have all begun to creep into the relationship. However, the spark that was formerly a part of the marriage is no longer there. In short, the thrill seems to be gone.
With these circumstances in mind, you have begun the process of filing for divorce. Your assumption, based on the experiences of friends, is that Texas family law favors mothers. Each of your friends who has gone through a divorce has not only received primary custody of the children but also favorable terms in property division. Additionally, your friends have also confided in you that they have received post-divorce spousal support. This all sounds incredibly enticing to you. No wonder you were eager to begin the divorce process.
However, were you to approach an attorney from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan with this information we would calmly sit you down and ask you to take a step back from what you believe to be true about divorce. While the experiences of your friends are possible it is not a given that your divorce will proceed along the same lines. An attorney from our office would help you understand that the law itself is quite different than the way you imagine it to be.
Taking a realistic look at Texas family law
Many people, mothers and fathers alike, assume that family law in Texas favors mothers. The law goes to great lengths to not favor either mothers or fathers in child custody determinations. Rather, mothers more often end up with more favorable custody terms they primarily care for children. As a result, if your husband has been the primary caretaker of your children then he is more likely to be named as primary conservator in the divorce. This would throw a wrench into your plan of winding up with primary conservatorship for no other reason than you are the mother.
Next, marital property division does not favor mothers, either. Courts divide marital property in a way that is based on equity. As in, a court would look at all the available financial circumstances before determining how to divide property. So, if you are the primary wage earner while your husband is a stay-at-home father then he may be the one walking away from the divorce with more property. This is to say nothing about community and separate property.
Finally, spousal support after a divorce can be a tricky subject. For one, Texas does not have alimony laws which are more in other states. While Texas does have laws on spousal maintenance is more difficult to qualify for this support than you might think. For instance, one of the most important factors relates to being married to your spouse for more than 10 years. Since you and your spouse have only been married for seven years your eligibility for special maintenance is in question. Do not presume that the law will automatically favor you in a divorce. As you can tell, that would not necessarily be the case in this hypothetical situation.
Missing deadlines
There are a handful of deadlines that are important in a family law case. Right off the bat, there are jurisdictional issues that are critical for you to be aware of. For instance, in a divorce case, you or your spouse must have lived in Texas for at least the past six months and be a resident of the county where you plan to file for at least 90 days before the divorce. Either you or your spouse can help to meet this jurisdictional requirement. If not, then jurisdiction would not be proper in the court where you plan to file.
Next, if you are responding to a child custody or divorce petition then you need to make sure that you are meeting any deadlines for filing an answer. An answer in your divorce Must be filed within approximately 20 days of having been served with a petition. Failing to meet this deadline can result in you having a default judgment issued against you. This means that your opposing party could theoretically move forward with the case without you. A decision can be rendered by a court without your input. In most cases, it is better to participate in a family law case even if you have a different viewpoint than your opposing party.
Working with an experienced family law attorney is one of the best ways to avoid missing deadlines. Our office has tested methods of tracking and meeting deadlines in any family law case. Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan today to learn more about our office and how we can help you manage your case efficiently.
Ignoring the advice of your attorney
Speaking of having an attorney by your side, ignoring the advice of counsel Is one way to turn a winning family law case into a losing one. One of the main reasons you should consider hiring an attorney just to gain the advice and perspective of that lawyer. Simply put, an attorney has much more experience when it comes to Texas family law than you do. As a result, you can lean on that experience to make better decisions for yourself in a family law case.
Identifying the type of attorney that you want to hire for your case is important. Consider that different attorneys have different personality types. How one attorney represents you in court or mediation will depend upon their personality traits. One of the advantages of hiring the Law Office of Bryan Fagan is that we have a team of attorneys. That means if you have a particular type of attorney in mind you can talk to our office about working with one lawyer or the other. This can help you to accomplish goals and generally feel more comfortable in your case.
The attorney-client relationship is like any other. You need to be able to feel comfortable and trust the other person to be content. Selecting the wrong attorney for your case can certainly turn a winning family law case into a losing case. Avoiding problems like this means selecting the correct attorney for you and then following their advice. However, you should still expect the attorney to explain their advice and justify it.
Not taking advantage of mediation
Mediation is one of the most unsung yet critical parts of a family law case. Many people assume that family law is always determined by a judge. However, that could not be further from the truth. In many cases, it is the two parties themselves who end up settling the case before going to court becomes necessary. This allows you and your opposing party to work together to create solutions that are based on the needs of your case.
Mediation involves hiring a third-party mediator to help you and your opposing party try and settle your case. The mediator hosts a mediation session either for temporary orders or final orders. Placing each of you in separate rooms, the mediator then acts as a go-between for settlement offers and other purposes of communication. Along the way, the mediator will consider your arguments and help you to fine-tune your settlement offers. If a settlement can be reached, then a mediated settlement agreement will contain whatever terms were agreed to.
Preparing for mediation involves having well-thought-out arguments. On top of that, it also requires you to have laid the groundwork with some degree of negotiation before mediation. It is very difficult to successfully argue a point in mediation without first having to discuss the matter with your opposing party. It is a mistake to come to mediation and assume that you will be able to settle without first having performed any degree of negotiation on your own.
Not having goals in the first place
Goal setting is a critical component of a Texas family law case. Unfortunately, many parties enter a case without having performed any degree of goal setting. This is a major mistake. The only way you can be sure that the case works out for the best is to have goals for yourself and your family. So much happens in a typical family law case that you cannot always be sure not the results will match the reality of your life. As a result, setting goals for yourself will force you to focus on what matters most in the case.
Once you have begun to formulate goals for the case it is also important to have a plan for accomplishing those goals. From the perspective of an attorney who has served families for many years, the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan can tell you that having goals that focus on the best interests of your children comes first and foremost. If you do not have children involved in your case, then begin by looking into the future.
If you can, think about the life you want to build after the family law case is over. Thinking about the case in these terms allows for greater functionality. Simply making it through the case is not good enough. Rather, you want the case to reflect your values and goals for your family. The more well thought out of plan you have the more likely you are to accomplish your goals. When the stakes are high in a family law case doing whatever, you can to accomplish these goals matters a great deal.
Conclusion: avoiding mistakes leads to successful outcomes
Again, family law cases are not frequently won by dramatic courtroom moments. Rather, it is much more common for a family law case to be won by the party that makes fewer mistakes. Greater preparation decreases the likelihood that you will make a mistake that has the potential to significantly harm your case. Avoiding all mistakes in a family law case probably is not realistic. However, creating a game plan significantly reduces the likelihood of a mistake on a significant level.
As discussed in today’s blog post, working with an experienced family law attorney positions you for success in a family law setting. Imagine trying to climb a mountain without a guide. Would you know which path to take up the mountain? What about the kind of clothes you need to wear? You can refer to what you find on the Internet to a certain extent but having experience in family law cases matters. You need advice based on years of experience and knowledge of the facts of your case.
Thank you for choosing to spend part of your day today with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our experienced family law attorneys know what it takes to serve you and your family well. We take seriously the opportunity to work with our clients in and out of the courtroom. No matter what the family law circumstance you are presented with our attorneys can help. Simply reach out to us today to schedule a free-of-charge consultation with no strings attached.
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.
