6160 Warren Pkwy, Suite 100, Frisco, TX 75034
214-764-8033
Recent Blog Posts
6 Factors That Can Complicate a Collin County Divorce
There really is no such thing as a “simple” divorce. Even when both parties are getting along enough to work out a settlement in a civil manner, deciding who gets what can become complicated. In less civil divorces, things can become highly complex very quickly. There are a few signs that should indicate to you that your divorce may be more on the complex side. Or, you may know even before you file that your divorce is not going to be easy. If you are facing a complex divorce, it is important that you work closely with a well-qualified attorney. Complex divorces can require significant legal skills to successfully navigate.
What Are Some Signs That My Divorce Will be Complicated?
If your divorce entails any of the following, you should expect some complications:
-
Animosity - Amicable divorces tend to be easier, as both parties are likely to make reasonable concessions for the sake of keeping the peace. However, when there is significant animosity between the spouses, negotiating a settlement is not likely to be easy. Your spouse may refuse to compromise simply to spite you. Litigation is a strong possibility.
How Are Child Support Payments Calculated in Texas?
When you are the parent with primary custody of your child, you are likely entitled to receive child support payments from the noncustodial parent. Or, more accurately, your child is entitled to be financially supported by both parents no matter what. Calculating the amount of child support the noncustodial parent must pay can be a bit tricky, as there are a lot of variables in the equation. It will depend on the amount and type of income the payor receives and the number of children they have, among other factors. It can be difficult to predict the exact amount of child support you and your child will receive, but an attorney may be able to help you arrive at a good estimate.
Calculating Monthly Income
Perhaps the most important factor affecting the amount of child support payments is the payor’s monthly income. If the payor’s net income is under $9,200 per month, they could be ordered to pay between 20% if they have one child and over 40% if they have more than six children. For purposes of calculating child support, monthly income includes:
If I Have a Criminal Record, Will it Affect My Child Custody Case?
Child custody cases can be very emotionally charged. Both parents are often eager to prove that spending time with them is in the child’s best interests. If you have a criminal record, you may be feeling quite anxious about how it could affect your ability to get custody of your child, especially if the other parent has no criminal history. Courts in Texas always strive to do what is best for the child and to keep them in a safe and suitable environment. While this does mean that courts will consider a parent's criminal history, they are mainly concerned with whether the parent is presently safe for the child to spend time with. If you are facing a custody battle and have a criminal record, you will want to have an experienced family law attorney representing you. A criminal history is far from a hard bar to gaining custody, but it can impact your case.
What Factors Will the Court Consider When One Parent Has a Criminal Record?
When Can Spousal Support Be Modified After a Texas Divorce?
When a couple chooses to end their marriage and get a divorce, both spouses may experience financial difficulties. Each spouse will need to make changes to their lives as they shift from combining their incomes and expenses to managing separate households. Most of the time, spouses will need to scale back on their spending and determine how to cut down on expenses so that they will be able to meet their ongoing needs. However, there may be some situations where one spouse may not earn enough to fully support themselves and maintain their standard of living. For example, stay-at-home parents may not earn any income, and they may rely on their spouse’s income to cover the family’s financial needs. In these cases, spousal maintenance/alimony may be appropriate.
If a couple agrees that one spouse will pay spousal support to the other after their divorce, or if spousal maintenance is awarded by the judge in a couple’s divorce case, the determination of the amount that should be paid and the amount of time that payments will last will be based on the parties’ circumstances at the time of their divorce. However, it is likely that circumstances will change in the years following the end of a couple’s marriage. In some cases, an ex-spouse may believe that certain changes are significant enough to warrant a modification of spousal support. In these situations, it is important to understand how modification requests may be handled.
When CPS Gets Involved While Parents Divorce
Getting divorced when you have children is already stressful enough. You are trying to make sure that you get a fair deal out of the divorce while also trying to put your children’s needs first. It can be terrifying when you find out that someone–most likely your spouse–has gotten Children Protective Services involved and accused you of abusing or neglecting your children. You have probably heard horror stories of parents having their children torn away from them in the blink of an eye. Being the subject of a CPS investigation can be alarming and panic-inducing under any circumstances, but if you are in the middle of a child custody case, it can be particularly frightening–and potentially risky.
If this is happening to you, it is important that you immediately contact an attorney who has experience with abuse allegations during divorce.
What Should I Do if My Spouse Calls CPS During Our Divorce?
What to Know About Divorcing an Abusive Partner
If you are in an abusive relationship, getting a divorce can be a powerful way to protect yourself and your children. Intimate partner violence tends to escalate over time, so the sooner you leave that type of marriage, the better. When there is violence at home, you may be afraid to take the important step of filing for divorce. You may fear that your spouse will retaliate, or that you will not have a way to support yourself. There are steps an attorney can take to help you stay safe during this process and to help reduce your stress during the time your divorce is in the courts. Make sure you work with a lawyer who has experience with divorces involving abuse.
4 Things to Be Aware of When You Divorce an Abusive Spouse
When your marriage has become unsafe due to abuse, you might be worried about how the divorce process will go. While you probably cannot expect much cooperation from your spouse, you can get divorced whether they like it or not. Some things you should know about divorce after abuse include:
Three Things to Know About Same-Sex Divorce in Collin County, TX
The Supreme Court ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges was a manifestation of a sea of change in American cultural attitudes towards the legality of homosexual marriage. In many ways the culmination of many years of deeply felt activism on both sides of the issue, this 2015 ruling made same-sex marriage legal in every state. But along with same-sex marriage came the same complications and difficulties of heterosexual marriage, including divorce. While gay and lesbian couples getting divorced in Texas can expect the same-sex divorce process to look mostly the same as their heterosexual peers, here are some important facts to know.
Cohabitation Agreements Are Trumped By Prenuptial Agreements
Same-sex spouses who got married in a state where same-sex marriage was legal before the Obergefell v. Hodges decision may have signed a prenup in their state of marriage and a cohabitation agreement in Texas. Now that same-sex marriage is legal everywhere, the prenuptial agreement a couple signed in another state will take legal precedence over a cohabitation agreement signed in Texas.
Do I Have to Establish Paternity for My Child in Texas?
Many unmarried women get pregnant accidentally or before finding out that the child’s father is not a man they want to raise a child with. They may then wonder if establishing paternity would be in their or the child’s best interests. After all, if the child’s father is abusive, unavailable, or a philanderer, many women may reason that there is simply no reason to inform him of the pregnancy.
While some women ultimately do decide to never establish parentage in Texas, there are good reasons for doing so even if you do not like your child’s father. Before you decide whether you want to establish paternity, here are some things to consider.
Will Not Establishing Paternity Hurt My Child?
An abundance of research suggests that children do best by almost every metric when they have fathers in their lives. Fatherless children are more likely to drop out of school, abuse drugs and alcohol, engage in criminal activity, have trouble regulating their emotions, and become pregnant as a teenager.
How Are Child Support Payments Determined in Collin County?
Divorce requires a family to restructure major aspects of their lives: their living arrangements, their relationships, their finances, and more. While the quality of the relationship between a parent and her child can and should be the most important concern following a divorce, financial arrangements are also very important. Understanding how child support is handled in Texas is essential for moving on with a steady and predictable budget after a divorce is finalized. If you are a divorcing parent in Collin County, TX, this information may be useful to you.
Important Factors in Child Support Payments
Texas courts use a special formula to estimate ideal monthly child support payments. Both parents’ income from all sources is taken into consideration. This includes salary, hourly, and overtime pay, as well as bonuses, tips, commissions, and other monetary benefits.
What Do I Need to Do if I Want to Move With My Child After a Divorce in Texas?
Every year, more children in the United States are the product of divorced or never-married parents. Over time, Texas law has been updated to reflect the realities of modern family life, becoming more flexible and allowing unmarried co-parents to make arrangements that work for their family. One common consequence of having unmarried parents is the likelihood that one parent will want to move away from the other and take their child with them. But when a parent wants to move and he or she shares custody of a child with another adult, Texas law has certain requirements to protect the best interests of the child.
What Are the Best Interests of a Child?
Whenever Texas courts make decisions about a child, including how time spent with each parent and important decision-making responsibilities are allocated, it makes these decisions with the child’s best interests in mind. Although several other factors are taken into consideration, the ultimate standard that must be met is whether an arrangement would be the best for a child, given the circumstances.
From our office in Frisco, our law firm serves clients in the communities of Plano, McKinney, Little Elm, The Colony, Prosper, Celina, Denton, Carrollton, Lewisville, Richardson, Parker, Allen, Flower Mound, Melissa, Sachse, Murphy, Coppell, Farmers Branch, Grapevine, Tarrant County, Dallas County, Denton County, Collin County, and the rest of North Texas.
