One popular resolution to this issue is to have your Woodlands Divorce Lawyer create an enforceable agreement whereby you and your ex agree to rotate the tax dependency exemption after a divorce where one parent claims the child(ren) in odd numbered years and the other parent claims the child(ren) in even numbered years.

Please contact a Woodlands Divorce Lawyer today to create an enforceable agreement to best maximize your dependency tax exemption after divorce.

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.

The Bill is SB 820. The way the bill is written as it was introduced it seeks to add the following to the Texas Family Code:

(a) In rendering the order, the court shall consider evidence of all relevant factors, including:
(1) the caregiving provided to the child before and during the current suit;
(2) the effect on the child that may result from separation from either party;
(3) the availability of the parties as caregivers and the willingness of the parties to personally care for the child;
(4) the physical, medical, behavioral, and developmental needs of the child;
(5) the physical, medical, emotional, economic, and social conditions of the parties;
(6) the impact and influence of individuals, other than the parties, who will be present during periods of possession;
(7) the presence of siblings during periods of possession;
(8) the child’s need to develop healthy attachments to both parents;
(9) the child’s need for continuity of routine;
(10) the location and proximity of the residences of the parties;
(11) the need for a temporary possession schedule that incrementally shifts to the schedule provided in the prospective order under Subsection (d) based on: (A) the age of the child; or (B) minimal or inconsistent contact with the child by a party;
(12) the ability of the parties to share in the responsibilities, rights, and duties of parenting; and
(13) any other evidence of the best interest of the child.

(b) Notwithstanding the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, in rendering an order under Subsection (a), the court shall make findings in support of the order if:
(1) a party files a written request with the court not later than the 10th day after the date of the hearing; or
(2) a party makes an oral request in court during the hearing on the order.

(c) The court shall make and enter the findings required by Subsection (b) not later than the 15th day after the date the party makes the request.

It is too soon to tell if this will be the new law of the land in Woodlands Divorce cases or if it will make it through the legislative process in a modified form. Call us at (832) 592-7913 if you need to speak with a Woodlands Divorce Lawyer about your divorce case in The Woodlands or anywhere in Montgomery County. For additional free information on divorce in The Woodlands, download my free guide The Woodlands Divorce Guide

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.

What Will the Judge Do?

The legal responsibility of the judge in setting visitation for a child younger than 3 is to render an “appropriate order” under the circumstances that is in the best interest of the child. The judge has a lot of discretion to determine exactly what he or she thinks is appropriate, but there are some specific criteria the judge may also consider:

1. the age, developmental status, circumstances, needs, and best interest of the child;
2. the circumstances of the managing conservator and of the parent named as a possessory conservator; and
3. any other relevant factor.

After the 3rd Birthday

The statutes also provide that when the judge issues an order for visitation with a child younger than 3 that the judge must also render a prospective order to take effect on the child’s 3rd birthday. The prospective order is presumptively the Standard Possession Order.

Is Every Other Weekend Enough For You?

The core of the Standard Possession Order is visitation every other weekend. Many parents active in their children’s lives find this new restriction unacceptable, and rightfully so. However, in almost every case left up to the judge it is the visitation schedule the judge will fall back on as “legally appropriate” even if it is clearly unworkable in real life due to work schedules or other factors. If you want a custom visitation schedule consider Collaborative Divorce and the unique opportunities an un-litigated divorce offers to you and your children.

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.

Background

On November 6, 2007, Mother filed a petition to modify the child custody arrangement. Mother’s petition to modify followed Father’s earlier petition for enforcement and access after Mother denied him access to their child. The judge ruled for Father on his petition for enforcement and access.

In her later petition, Mother alleged that K.T.W.’s circumstances had materially and substantially changed since the entry of the previous order. She requested that Father’s “terms and conditions for access to and possession of the child be modified… to reflect visitation in regard to the over 100 mile visitation,” and that, since Father resided in Houston, he should “be responsible for pickup and return for visitation of the child.” Mother further pleaded that Father’s “change of address had caused [her] to incur increased costs.” Father answered and denied that there had been any “change of circumstances which would be grounds for any modification of the present Orders regarding access and possession.”

Discussion

At the trial court level Mother won her case and the judge modified custody to restrict Father’s access to his child. The Father appealed the ruling.

On appeal, Father claimed the trial court abused its discretion in signing the modification order because the record is devoid of evidence that the modification order was in the best interest of the child.

Pursuant to the modification order, the trial court reduced K.T.W.’s visitation with Father to only one weekend per month. To support the change, the trial court found the limitation was in K.T.W.’s best interest because of the “distance and travel time” from Mother’s residence to Father’s residence. The record of the hearing, however, shows that Father had lived in Houston continuously since 2002, when K.T.W. was born. Moreover, while Mother noted that she had moved to Allen from McKinney, Texas prior to the hearing, she agreed the move actually reduced the distance between her and Father. Mother also testified regarding alleged hardships in weekend travel and scheduling K.T.W.’s Taekwondo classes, but her testimony showed the Taekwondo lessons had been successfully rearranged to accommodate the visitation schedule. There is no other evidence regarding any extracurricular, sports, or school-related scheduling conflicts or difficulties. Mother acknowledged that the only change in K.T.W.’s circumstances since the entry of the previous order was that he had grown older. As for the “sporadic and unpredictable behavior” noted in the trial court’s findings, the evidence showed that Father had been late to pre-arranged pick-ups on two occasions, and that on each occasion he attempted, without success, to contact Mother to update her on the status of his arrival.

“The Texas Legislature has specifically stated that it is the public policy of the state to ‘encourage frequent contact between a child and each parent for periods of possession that optimize the development of a close and continuing relationship between each parent and child.’” “To achieve this end, the legislature established a presumption that a standard possession order provides the reasonable minimum possession of a child for a parent named as a joint managing conservator, as in the case here, and such order is in the best interest of the child.” Given this policy and the absence of any evidence to support a finding that it was in the best interest of K.T.W. to limit his weekend contact with Father to only one weekend per month, the Court of Appeals concluded the trial court abused its discretion in modifying the possession and visitation provisions of the previous order.

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 call (832) 592-7913 to speak with a divorce lawyer in The Woodlands, TX today and protect your rights.