Yesterday I was at the Montgomery County courthouse and decided to sit in on the pro se divorce and family docket of the 418th District Court. It was a wonderful reminder that even what you might consider to be a “simple” case may not be so simple when you are asking the judge to sign the order you have submitted. And if the judge does not want to sign a proposed order written from someone in another state that is not even an attorney and sold for $50 on the internet then you go home empty handed to try again.
The Numbers
Let’s start with numbers. Out of everyone there at the 418th hoping to get their case finalized yesterday, the judge determined that half of them were not ready to be finalized for either procedural or substantive issues. And this was within the first ten minutes. Of the remaining cases, about half of those were ready to proceed and were finalized and the balance were left to make an appointment with the staff attorney to attempt to correct the errors. If you are keeping score at home, that is about 25% of the cases on the pro se divorce and family docket yesterday were completed. The rest were left to fix their mistakes and come back in up to six months later when the next opening on the docket is. And during that extra time you remain married each of you are still accumulating community property and community debt.
Are You A Gambler?
If you were at a casino and somebody offered you a game of chance where you only had a 25% chance of winning and a 75% chance of losing, how would you feel? Probably not a good bet to make in my opinion. That is basically what unfolded yesterday; a lot of people made a bad bet. Are you going to make the same bet?
The Alternative
If you don’t like to gamble or wait for many months until an opening on the pro se docket exists you can get your Montgomery County uncontested divorce done quickly with an experienced Woodlands Divorce Lawyer. Call me at (832) 592-7913 to get started.
The Office of the Attorney General has broad powers to file a child support action. These powers include filing a new case, filing a suit for modification, or a suit for enforcement. However, as we’ve discussed before, there are special provisions when child support for adult disabled children is the issue.
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:
- a parent of the child or another person having physical custody or guardianship of the child under a court order; or
- 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.
It is not difficult to find people that have good things to say about their decision to get divorced without destruction through the Collaborative Divorce process. Not only can it save your relationship with your kids, the flexibility of collaborative divorce may allow you to resolve the disputed issues in a custom manner that is just not available when everyone punts the decision making process to a judge that knows next to nothing about you. On top of that, this stranger is going to make some very important decisions about your life based on hearing the absolute worst about you from your spouse in an ugly drawn out litigated divorce. Is that your ideal outcome? Take some time to read these experiences and give it some thought.
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
I have never had anyone endorse or say positive things about going through a litigated divorce, particularly if there are children involved. The destruction and turmoil can be very horrible on a personal level. At best, if you litigate your divorce you may end up with a little bit more property than the other side but you will have incurred some substantial personal turmoil to get it and you have to ask, is it worth it?
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.
Are you considering divorce and are not sure where to begin?
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.
A lawsuit carries serious consequences when the judge makes a ruling and renders judgment. This may surprise some people, but a divorce is also a lawsuit that is going to determine your rights to property and your children. If you do not follow the required procedures to protect your rights then you risk the judge not even considering your side of the story before he or she makes their final divorce judgment.
If your spouse had you formally served with the divorce petition, you absolutely must file an Answer if you want to protect your rights. If you do not, it is very likely the judge will enter a default judgment against you. This happened in a recent Appeals Court case where a husband failed to file his Answer within the required court deadline and was then the victim of a default judgment. He was hoping for reconciliation and did not respect the seriousness of the divorce lawsuit. After the divorce court entered the default judgment he decided to take things seriously and requested a new trial. The result – request denied and the default judgment stands.
Let this be a lesson for everyone out there. Divorce is confusing, difficult, and overwhelming. It is also a lawsuit in which you must act to protect yourself or you risk losing a lot. Contact a Woodlands Divorce Lawyer today at (832) 592-7913 if you have been served with a divorce petition and need to protect your rights. Hope is not a strategy.
It happens a lot in the divorce process. Feelings of mistrust, betrayal, anxiety and more that start out small and manageable end up growing. They continue to grow as your case goes on and eventually grow out of control. This is how your Woodlands Divorce case can end up transforming from everyone sitting at a table working to resolve ongoing problems to everyone in the metaphorical boxing ring trying to knock each other’s lights out. It happens more often than you might think. The Downward Spiral.
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 Read more…
You have to prove your case. At the end of the day no matter how many horrible accusations are traded between you and your ex it is your Woodlands Divorce Attorney’s job to prove your case with the evidence. If a certain piece of evidence is not legally admissible then it cannot be used to prove your case or used against you. Hearsay evidence is generally not allowed, even in a Woodlands divorce case and even if the evidence is offered by the Attorney General. In a recent child support case a trial court allowed hearsay evidence from the Attorney General’s office, but did not exclude it under a narrow exception to the hearsay rules. Let’s take a closer look at what happened.
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 Read more…
Deadlines are very important in the legal field. Simply missing a deadline can destroy your case even if you should win on all of the substantive issues. One of the most important deadlines I encounter as a Woodlands Divorce Attorney is the statute of limitations to enforce a division of property contained in a divorce decree.
It happens all too often that after a divorce is finalized by the parties reaching an agreement on paper or a judge issuing an order that one party drags their feet in dividing or turning over property. What can you do? Enforce your rights before you lose them.
The Family Code provides that a lawsuit to enforce the division of tangible personal property in existence at the time of the decree of divorce or annulment must be filed before Read more…
A contested divorce case has many stages which you may be aware of. There can be temporary orders, discovery, court hearings, depositions, court hearings, arguing, personal attacks, and more court hearings. If you are looking for a less destructive way to move on from your marriage then Collaborative Divorce may be right for you.
The Collaborative Divorce process in The Woodlands and Montgomery County has several stages, but you might notice they are quite different from the stages of a contested divorce. The stages of a Collaborative Divorce are: Read more…
