If you see the commercials for legalzoom and other document sellers you might think legal documents are simple or all the same. They may want you to think that, but remember: if there is a mistake in your Woodlands Divorce documents then you will be the one suffering the consequences and not them. Some of these mistakes are quickly discovered and can be fixed, while others remain undiscovered for years and then surface to create unintended results when it is too late to fix them.

One ex-wife recently found herself in court again ten years after her divorce was finalized. The reason: her divorce decree was flawed and a piece of property worth $69,594.06 that she thought was hers was paid out to her ex-husband’s second wife. Let’s take a look at the details.

Husband and ex-wife divorced after forty years of marriage. The divorce decree awarded husband and ex-wife each one-half of the yearly payments from husband’s pension savings plan. Following the divorce, husband met and married second wife. After husband‘s death ten years later, the balance remaining in the pension savings plan was paid to second wife as the designated beneficiary of the account.

Ex-wife filed suit against second wife claiming that, pursuant to the divorce decree, one-half of the plan’s balance was hers. The Court noted that although the decree distributed the pension plan’s yearly payments, it did not provide for the plan‘s balance. Thus, the effect of the defective decree’s language left the balance as undivided community property. As a result, ex-wife became a cotenant of her one-half share of the undivided balance, and sued second wife to obtain her half of the property.

A Costly Mistake

In this case the ex-wife successfully recovered the one-half of the retirement account that she believed was hers. She had to incur additional legal fees and the uncertainty of going to court to do it, however. In addition, the second wife made a critical mistake and accidentally waived a legal argument that may very well have resulted in the court deciding the case in her favor. Keep this in mind if you find yourself having to choose between the $299 legalzoom divorce and an experienced Woodlands Divorce attorney. Contact us today at (832) 592-7913 if you need experienced legal help with your Montgomery County divorce case.

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

Not everyone gets divorced right away. All too often the husband and wife go their separate ways and never bother to end the legal marriage relationship. It is usually never a good idea to maintain a legal relationship that could result in liability to you, but it also can create special problems when the husband and wife end up in different states and then one decides to pursue a divorce. Can you get a divorce in Texas when your spouse lives in another state?

Yes, and no. If your spouse cooperates you can get divorced and property divided in Texas. However, if your spouse does not cooperate you may be in for a difficult time.

Recently the Houston Court of Appeals confirmed that if the out of state spouse has no contacts at all with Texas then the Texas divorce court does not have authority to divide property and debt. A Texas court does have authority to grant the spouse that lives in Texas a divorce to determine their legal status, but does not always have the authority to divide property and debt. Contact a Woodlands Divorce Lawyer today if you need to get divorced from a spouse that does not live in Texas.

Many people believe property is divided in half as a result of divorce. It certainly sounds reasonable on many levels. Equal division of property is the standard in some other states, but not in Texas. You can end up with a lot more, or a lot less, than 50% of the community property so you better understand the legal standard the judge is going to use.

It may not mean much to you right now, but if you have significant property to divide in your Woodlands Divorce case then the words “just and right” may end up haunting you if you are not prepared. “Just and Right” is 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…

The District Courts and County Courts of Montgomery County have automatic orders that go into effect for every divorce suit and every suit affecting the parent-child relationship filed in Montgomery County. These automatic orders are court orders and if either party violates one or more of the automatic orders they risk being found in contempt of court.

The fourth automatic order of the Montgomery County Courts is Read more…