A Financial professional serves as a neutral objective party on a collaborative divorce team and therefore does not take the side of either party. Our role is to guide you through the financial process as a financial facilitator. Because we are neutral this provides a safe environment for both parties which is critical since usually one party is more familiar with the finances and both need to feel comfortable to communicate.

The neutral financial professional during the collaborative process assists in basically 3 areas:

• Assist with gathering and organizing the financial information. This can be overwhelming, frustrating and very emotional during this time. Information includes an inventory of the marital assets and liabilities. In addition an income and expense statement projected for after the divorce for each party is an important tool for the divorce process.

• Assist in reviewing your options objectively. You both will have thoughts on how the assets should be divided which may look great on paper but how does that affect each of you today and in the future. This can prevent a party who thinks they may want the house to learn that after the divorce he or she cannot afford it. Also there are selling costs, penalties, taxes etc. to consider when dividing assets.

• Guide you to negotiate a solution. You may not get everything that you want but the solution should be one that you are both comfortable with which is a WIN WIN for both of you. You are not alone in this process since all parties are involved in any final decisions.

This process can save you money and more important it can save time since you have assistance to move forward at your own pace.

For more information contact Edna J. Thompsen, Certified Financial Planner, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and member of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas. She can be reached at 281-873-5850 or e.thompen@att.net

Mediated Settlement Agreements have a long history of being accepted by judges virtually without question in countless divorce cases throughout all of Texas. The reason is simple, a Mediated Settlement Agreement reflects the agreement of the parties to the divorce and it would take a compelling reason for a judge to interfere with that agreement. That compelling reason may have appeared in the radar of the judiciary in the form of the children who are impacted severely by divorce settlements. The children are not involved in the Mediation process and in many cases have almost no input into what parent they will spend their time with and how they will spend their time with that parent.

In Texas, every judge is legally obligated to only enter an order that it believes is in the best interests of the children. What is a judge supposed to do when confronted with a Mediated Settlement Agreement that it believes it not in the best interests of the children? We will find out soon enough, but to avoid this situation in your Woodlands Divorce always remember to reach a settlement agreement that is in the best interest of your children.

In a recent case the Attorney General filed a suit to modify the child support obligation of a Harris County father for the benefit of his two disabled children who were each no longer under the age of 18. The father’s child support attorney reviewed the law and challenged the authority of the Attorney General to file the child support modification lawsuit.

The Texas Family Code specifically outlines which individuals have the authority to file a lawsuit for child support for adult disabled children. These individuals are:

1. a parent of the child or another person having physical custody or guardianship of the child under a court order;  or
2. the child if the child: (a) is 18 years of age or older; (b) does not have a mental disability;  and (c) is determined by the court to be capable of managing the child’s financial affairs.

The statute does not mention the Attorney General and after careful consideration the court found that the Attorney General does not have inherent authority to file a lawsuit concerning child support for an adult disabled child. The outcome may have been different if an individual who did have proper authority assigned their rights to the Attorney General.

This case is an important reminder that the Attorney General makes mistakes and even they are not above the law. If you want something done right then consider an experienced child support lawyer. Contact us today at (832) 592-7913 if you need legal help with your Montgomery County child support case.

If you would like additional information, check out our free Woodlands Divorce Guide.

Let’s take a look at one recent example from the Houston Appellate Court. In this case, the Mother and father divorced in 1972. The divorce decree ordered father to pay $50 per month in child support. In 2009, the mother filed an application for a writ of withholding alleging father owed $78,164 in unpaid child support. She won at the trial level and the decision stood on appeal.

Dormancy Does Not Apply

In ordinary civil lawsuits you can only obtain a judicial order to execute a judgment within 10 years of the judgment. If you ask the court to execute a judgment 11 years later they do not have jurisdiction. This case highlights the fact that dormancy does not apply to child support judgments.

If your ex-spouse did not pay their child support and your child is now over 18 call us at (832) 592-7913 and speak with a Woodlands Divorce Attorney about collecting the overdue child support. It is never too late to get what you are owed, even 37 years after the original child support order.

We both wanted out of the marriage, but we didn’t want our children to “pay” for our mistakes. … The “process” allowed my ex and I to remain focused on this goal, rather than being focused on “getting” the other person. … Once we started working together to craft a solution we both thought was fair, we had incentive to work together – giving and taking – to reach a truly fair outcome.  Through the collaborative divorce process we learned many creative ways to divide and preserve assets that we never would have thought possible.  For instance, keeping the only home that the boys had ever known was extremely important to me and my children, but less important to my ex.  Neither of us would have guessed that I could “buy” him out of his share of the equity in the house by giving him other assets that appeared on the balance sheet – achieving both of our goals (mine to keep the house, his to get rid of it). …Through our realtor and mortgage expert we learned how we could refinance our current house to a lower interest rate, and still allow my ex to purchase another house.  I sincerely believe that we would not have known about or explored ANY of these options (and many more) unless we had used the collaborative divorce process….I was burdened by both personal health issues and family health issues during our divorce.  The collaborative process allowed us to craft our solution on our own timeline – around my chaotic and unpredictable schedule.  This took a horrible burden off of my shoulders at a time that I *really* needed that flexibility and understanding from the divorce process. … Neither of us felt that anyone was out to “get” us.  I never felt that my ex’s lawyer was looking for ways to exploit me:  she focused on both of our stated goals, as did my lawyer.  “Everyone” was looking for a win-win outcome for every topic we had to address.  I can’t emphasize enough how much this meant to me during what was a terribly difficult transition in my life!

Remember, not every attorney is trained or appropriate to represent someone in a Collaborative Divorce. Contact The Shea Law Firm at (832) 592-7913 to speak with a Collaborative Divorce attorney in The Woodlands or locate a trained collaborative divorce attorney near you at http://www.collablawtexas.com/locate-a-collaborative-law-professional

Confused? Learn the differences between an uncontested divorce, a litigated divorce, and a collaborative divorce in my free Woodlands Divorce Guide

Collaborative Divorce is your alternative to the destruction that accompanies a traditional litigated divorce. When you choose a collaborative divorce you are taking the first and biggest step towards moving on with your life rather than spending 9-12 months (or more) in front of a judge rehashing the past and assigning blame. This is something that many people feel is worth talking about as you can see below:

Divorce is a painful event, but if there was a way to lessen the pain, collaborative divorce is the way to go. My wife and I had decided to end our 10-year marriage. We wanted to do it as amicably, fairly and easily as possible. Traditional divorce creates barriers between the parties and advocates antagonistic behavior. In the end of a traditional divorce, a judge decides based on the evidence presented. Collaborative divorce lessens the adversity and puts the power to finish the relationship back in your hands. The process is legal and logical. Lawyers help you work out any legal issues, but all of the separation of property is decided by you and your ex-spouse. It truly is a revolutionary way to approach what is arguably the worst event besides death. – Director of System Engineering at Large IT Firm

Call The Shea Law Firm at (832) 592-7913 if you need to get a divorce without the destruction that goes along with litigation.

Has your spouse already filed for divorce and you are not sure how to protect yourself?

Are you wondering:

• How much child support is involved in your divorce?
• Is spousal maintenance going to be awarded in your divorce?
• How often will you see your kids after the divorce?
• What is separate property and what is community property?
• What happens to retirement accounts in a divorce?

To help answer some of the most common questions I am proud to announce the release of my Woodlands Divorce Guide available for free download. You can get your copy by clicking on the link below.

The Woodlands Divorce Guide

If you have a question that is not answered in this version of The Guide, post your question in the comments below or contact us and we will consider it for inclusion in future editions.

Parents with children usually have the most to lose if they let their divorce slide down that out of control path. Property can be replaced, but restoring a child’s feelings of confidence and security with their parent can be a lot more difficult and sometimes impossible. How do you protect yourself and your children from The Downward Spiral?

Surround yourself with professionals that are focused on your future relationship with your children and helping you move on with life after divorce rather than the cliché divorce lawyer that wants to re-live every wrong thing your spouse may have done during the marriage while you pay him hundreds of dollars per hour to do so. In a litigated divorce you are working without a net and when your case is at the brink of turning into an ugly divorce your only adviser may be the one who stands to profit most from it turning ugly. In a Collaborative Divorce all of the professionals are committed to keep your case from heading down The Downward Spiral.

Part 2 of the Collaborative Divorce videos is below. In this discussion the couples mention how important the Collaborative Divorce team was to keeping their divorce from getting ugly. If they had chosen to work with a non-Collaborative divorce lawyer their case probably would have taken a very different road and they probably would not want to sit next to each other today. Which outcome do you want to see in your divorce case?

About The Author

The Woodlands Divorce Resource is here to help you with your divorce, child custody, or other family law issue in Montgomery County or Harris County. Many of our visitors come from the areas of The Woodlands, Conroe, Oak Ridge North, Cut and Shoot, and other communities in the Montgomery County area or Houston and North Harris County. If you need legal assistance with your family law issue speak with a Montgomery County divorce lawyer in The Woodlands, TX today and protect your rights. Contact The Shea Law Firm at (832) 592-7913.

About The Author

The Woodlands Divorce Resource is here to help you with your divorce, child custody, or other family law issue in Montgomery County or Harris County. Many of our visitors come from the areas of The Woodlands, Conroe, Oak Ridge North, Cut and Shoot, and other communities in the Montgomery County area or Houston and North Harris County. If you need legal assistance with your family law issue speak with a divorce lawyer in The Woodlands, TX today and protect your rights. Contact The Shea Law Firm at (832) 592-7913.

The Arguments on Appeal

The father in this was is A.J. A.J. argues that the trial court admitted inadmissible hearsay to prove his 2004–2007 earnings for the purpose of calculating child support. The Attorney General argues that Hardy can testify on the basis of hearsay sources because she qualifies as an expert per the Texas Rules of Evidence.

The Court’s Analysis

The trial court found where the parties have adequately complied with their discovery obligations, experts can generally testify regarding their opinions and give the reasons they hold their opinions without prior disclosure of facts or underlying data, unless the court orders otherwise. Trial courts are not automatically required to exclude the expert’s underlying facts or data, even if inadmissible, but instead must only do so when “the danger that they will be used for a purpose other than as explanation or support for the expert’s opinion outweighs their value as explanation or support or are unfairly prejudicial.”

In this case, the Attorney General’s calculation of A.J.’s child support obligation depended, in part, on his earned income for the 2004–2007 period. Although the Attorney General had obtained information on A.J.’s earned income through a subpoena, the underlying records that she apparently received were not properly proven up and thus, inadmissible hearsay. Thus, the court concluded that the Attorney General’s testimony about A.J.’s levels of income between 2004 and 2007 was inadmissible hearsay. Nevertheless, A.J. also testified about his income for the period 2004–2007. According to A.J., it was more likely than not that he had made more than $100,000 every year since 2004.

Hearsay Not Prejudicial

The court ruled that in light of A.J.’s testimony that his income exceeded $100,000 for each year at issue, the evidence supported the trial court’s use of the figure of $6,000 per month as A.J.’s net monthly income. On this record, other admissible testimony, consisting of A.J.’s testimony about his income, supports the figure the trial court used to calculate A.J.’s child support obligation. Therefore, the admission of the Attorney General’s testimony to explain the basis of her opinion was not unfairly prejudicial.

About the Author

The Woodlands Divorce Resource is here to help you with your divorce, child custody, or other family law issue in Montgomery County or Harris County. Many of our visitors come from the areas of The Woodlands, Conroe, Oak Ridge North, Cut and Shoot, and other communities in the Montgomery County area or Houston and North Harris County. If you need legal assistance with your family law issue speak with a divorce lawyer in The Woodlands, TX today and protect your rights. Contact The Shea Law Firm at (832) 592-7913.