Texas divorce

How to get a divorce in Texas

Thinking of getting a divorce in Texas? You should read the following material on Texas divorce.

Each state has its own laws regarding to marriage and divorce matters. Texas also has its specific rules on how to proceed in a situation of divorce. Read this material and you will have a clue. This article should answer all your basic questions on how does the divorce in Texas work. If not – you should seek for professional assistance.

The first rule for you if you want to file for a divorce in Texas is for either of you or your spouse to have lived in the state of Texas at least for six months. Part of the residency requirement is also both of you to have resided in the county where you file the petition for not less then ninety days. 

Texas divorce procedure also includes the settlement of all the property and child custody related issues. There is no such thing in the Texas laws as legal separation. While filing for divorce you can ask the court to deal with your property/custody issues. Living apart in Texas does not mean you have separated property with your spouse; you get that after you are officially divorced.

The whole procedure starts with the so called "Original petition". Either of the spouses serves it to the other one and waits for a reply. If there is no temporary restraining order or any other problems the receiver must give his reply within 20 days. If they both agree on the issues, which are commonly disputable as the division of the property, alimony, child custody and support and so on – the divorce has no trial stage.  You can ask for a temporary order to determine who of you should stay in the house, or gain a temporary custody over the children.

The second step is the so called "Discovery". During this stage of the Texas divorce both of you and your spouse exchange a lot of paperwork with claims and information, concerning the property, debts, and everything else related to the material division. It can be quite frustrating, but if you have any controversial matters with your future ex wife or husband, related to what you own, you should go through this stage.

There are two major next steps after that, which vary according to you. You either achieve a settlement or you go through a trial. If you both agree on all of the issues you sign a prepared by your lawyers "Agreed Decree of Divorce". All terms of the settlement are mentioned in it in accordance with the Texas divorce laws. You should try to negotiate, either directly or with mediation. The period should not be longer than sixty days.

The "online divorce" service is available and applicable in such cases in Texas. If you want to spare some time and money you should try out this procedure. It's a lot easier and less expensive.

As to property distribution you should know that Texas is a community property state. This means that any debts or incomes, acquired during the marriage are divided almost equally, of course with a few exceptions. If you own something prior to your marriage it is considered as your own property. If you inherit something from your own relative it also stays yours, if you also invest your properties mentioned above and gain income out of them - this income is considered as yours only.

As to support and alimony, you can get them after your divorce in Texas if you meet a few requirements. You should be either handicapped or unable due to other circumstances to support yourself on your own. As to child support, it usually starts from 20% from the income of the ex spouse and it grows with 5% on every next child.

Here is a short video on how does Texas divorce trial work and some details on child custody matters, you can find more similar videos on Texas divorce process on youtube.com :