The Woodlands Divorce Attorney » Property

A $69,594.06 Divorce Decree Mistake

Rich Shea — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:00:58 +0000

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.

Divorce and Out of State Spouses

Rich Shea — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:27:13 +0000

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.

Why You Won’t Get 50% of the Community Property

Rich Shea — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:30:40 +0000

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 the legal standard used to divide property in a Woodlands Divorce; not “equal”, “50/50” or anything like that. The magic words the judge will use to justify whatever decision he or she makes concerning property division is “just and right.” So, what does it mean?

Nobody really knows what “just and right” means. It is a moving target. The legislature put those words into the statute but never bothered to define them. Over the years countless judges have made rulings on what they interpret to be “just and right” in the case before them and that is what your Woodlands Divorce Attorney will rely on to present your case.

Be Prepared

Don’t risk losing a large portion of your property by not being prepared for your Woodlands Divorce. Attorney Richard L. Shea of The Shea Law Firm can represent you and help protect you from losing everything. Call (832) 592-7913 today.

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 Deadline for Enforcing Tangible Property Division

Rich Shea — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:58:00 +0000

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 the second anniversary of the date the decree was signed or becomes final after appeal, whichever date is later, or the suit is barred.

That is it, if your lawsuit falls within this section and you file it too late you may lose your case even if your ex-spouse is in clear violation of the decree. This specific statue of limitations for enforcing divorce decrees only applies to dividing tangible personal property. There are other rules that apply to lawsuits not concerning tangible personal property. Speak with a Woodlands Divorce Lawyer today if you need help resolving an property division issue with your divorce decree.

About the Author

Montgomery County Standing Orders, Part 4

Rich Shea — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:30:10 +0000

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 “Preservation of Property and Use of Funds During Divorce Case.” This court order only applies to divorce cases. Specifically, both parties to the marriage are ordered to refrain from:

Destroying, removing, concealing, encumbering, transferring, or otherwise harming or reducing the value of the property of one or both of the parties.
Misrepresenting or refusing to disclose to the other party or to the court, on proper request, the existence, amount or location of any property of one or both of the parties.
Damaging or destroying he tangible property of one or both of the parties, including any document that represents or embodies anything of value.
Tampering with the tangible property of one or both of the parties, including any document that represents or embodies anything of value, and causing pecuniary loss to the other party.
Selling, transferring, assigning, mortgaging, encumbering, or in any other manner alienating any of the property of either party, whether personal property or real property, and whether separate or community, except as specifically authorized by a court order.
Incurring any indebtedness, other than legal expense, in connection with the divorce suit, except as specifically authorized by a court order.
Making withdrawals from any checking or savings account in any financial institution for any purpose, except as specifically authorized by a court order.
Spending any sum of cash in either party’s possession or subject to either party’s control for any purpose, except as specifically authorized by a court order.
Withdrawing or borrowing in any manner for any purpose from any retirement, profit-sharing, pension, death, or other employee benefit plan or employee savings plan or from any individual retirement account or Keogh account, except as specifically authorized by a court order.
Entering any safe-deposit box in the name of or subject to the control of either party, whether individually or jointly with others.
Signing or endorsing the other party’s name on any negotiable instrument, check, or draft, such as tax refund, insurance payments, and dividends, or attempting to negotiate any negotiable instrument payable to the other party without the personal signature of the other party.
Taking any action to terminate or limit credit or charge cards in the name of the other party.
Entering, operating, or exercising control over the motor vehicle in the possession of the other party.
Discontinuing or reducing the withholding for federal income taxes on wages or salary while the Montgomery County divorce is pending.
Terminating or in any manner affecting the service of water, electricity, gas, telephone, cable television, or other contractual services, such as security, pest control, landscaping, or yard maintenance a the other party’s residence or in any manner attempting to withdraw any deposits for service in connection with such services.
Excluding the other party from the use and enjoyment of the other party’s residence.

Your Conroe Divorce Lawyer can help you if your spouse is engaging in conduct that violates the court order. We will continue reviewing the automatic orders in the next post.

The Woodlands Divorce Resource is here to help you with your divorce, child custody, or other family law issue in Montgomery County. Many of our visitor come from the areas of Conroe, Oak Ridge North, Cut and Shoot, and other communities in the Montgomery County area. If you need legal assistance with your family law issue speak with a Conroe Divorce Attorney today.