In every Woodlands Divorce case your attorney will review the assets and debts that exist between you and your spouse. After the assets and debts are identified your Woodlands Divorce Attorney will then work with you to discover which assets may qualify as separate property and can benefit from the special protections available to separate property in a divorce. If you or your spouse received funds as part of a personal injury settlement, a portion of the settlement or award may have been categorized as punitive or exemplary damages. Are punitive damages community property or separate property? Read more…

Did that house you owned before marriage and then refinanced during marriage become community property? This is a very common question that comes up in a Woodlands Divorce, usually as the result of rushing through the refinance process without considering the impact certain documents can have on characterizing the house as separate property or community property. Separate property is always separate property, that much is true; however, if you change the title on separate property you may have accidentally given up the protection separate property has in a divorce.

As we’ve discussed before, separate property is property acquired before the marriage. It is important to identify separate property because in a divorce case the judge does not have the authority to award your ex-spouse your separate property, the judge can only divide community property. As long as the name on the title of separate property does not change it will remain separate property. Unfortunately in a refinance transaction the lenders usually end up having people name their spouse as co-owners of the property. During the refinance process your lender may have told you that it would be quicker or easier to have both spouses on everything. That may be true for them, but it could have put you in great jeopardy.

If you accidentally made your spouse a co-owner of the home during the marriage then you have opened yourself up to a hornet’s nest of community property litigation in your Woodlands Divorce case which could have been avoided with some careful planning ahead of time. Contact us today at (832) 592-7913 if you need to protect your rights to separate or community property.

Check out our free Woodlands Divorce Guide if you need more answers.

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 recovery that you obtain for personal injuries during your marriage is generally considered to be your separate property and not community property in a Woodlands divorce. There is one significant exception however. A personal injury award can be made up of several different components. There may be an award for pain and suffering as well as for lost wages. The portions of a personal injury award that belong to the community estate include damages for lost wages, medical expenses, and other expenses associated with injury to the community estate. Once an item is identified as community property it becomes subject to division between you and your ex-spouse in the divorce.

Who Must Prove What?

When a spouse receives a settlement from a lawsuit during marriage, some of which could be separate property and some of which could be community property, it is that spouse’s burden to demonstrate which portion of the settlement is his or her separate property. This is important to remember, the person claiming the personal injury award as community property does not have to prove a thing unless the other spouse is able to establish the award is separate property by clear and convincing evidence. Call (832) 592-7913 and speak with a Woodlands Divorce Lawyer about protecting your rights if you or your spouse settled a lawsuit during your marriage.

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.

More and more people make use of student loans to help pay for their education. As recently as 2009 almost 60% of Texas students graduated college with student loan debt. If you add on graduate school student loan debt can easily exceed $100,000. If your soon to be ex-spouse has student loans with a significant balance you may be very concerned about how the student loan debt can be allocated as part of a Woodlands Divorce. With the great amount of discretion given to judges, you are right to be concerned. Fortunately, a recent case sheds some light on how the courts are examining student loan debt and divorce.

Background

Albert and Sophia began living together in 1987. One year later, Sophia gave birth to their only child. To help cover living expenses, Sophia’s educational expenses, and the expenses of Albert’s asbestos consulting business, Sophia applied for and received student loans totaling over $90,000. In February 1994, Albert and Sophia married, and in 2002, Sophia filed a petition for divorce.

The Trial

In a surprise ruling, the trial court ordered Read more…

It is very common for a couple to make improvements to their home during the course of their marriage. But what happens when one spouse uses separate property they received as an inheritance to make home improvements? Through careful review of the evidence your Woodlands divorce lawyer can increase your chance of winning or defending a claim for reimbursement as part of your Montgomery County divorce.

Alfred Baker was married in 1984. In 1996 he received an inheritance of $300,000 and placed it in separate accounts, not marital bank accounts. As we’ve discussed earlier, an inheritance received during the course of a marriage is separate property and not community property. With these funds, Alfred spent $104,000 to pay off the mortgage and $50,000 on home improvements. Unfortunately Alfred’s marriage broke down and his wife filed for divorce in 2006.

In divorce court, Alfred’s wife agreed that he spent $104,000 on the mortgage. Her divorce attorney disputed the $50,000 reimbursement for home improvement and the judge was left to decide the issue.

The divorce court judge Read more…

In the last post I went through the requirements for identifying certain property as “separate property” in your divorce case for Montgomery County or Houston. Here we will review the rules for identifying community property.

Community property is everything acquired during the marriage that is not properly identified as separate property. The Conroe and Houston Divorce Courts must presume that all property acquired during the marriage is community property unless either spouse can prove to the court by clear and convincing evidence that certain items are protected as separate property.

When Does This Presumption End? Read more…

Texas is a Community Property state. The Montgomery County Divorce Court and the Houston Divorce Court treat separate property and community property differently when it comes to dividing property as part of a divorce proceeding. So what exactly is “separate property?”

Separate property is: Read more…

Division of property is often a significant issue for families going through divorce in The Woodlands or Montgomery County. Each spouse wants to keep or obtain the property they believe they are entitled to. Texas is a community property state; however, it is possible to protect your separate property from becoming community property and being partially awarded to your future ex-spouse.

Any property on hand in a marriage is presumed to be community property. In order to rebut this presumption of community property, your Montgomery County Divorce Attorney must trace the property on hand during the marriage back to property that was separate (i.e. before the marriage) and continue up to the end of the marriage. This means the entire period from when you first obtained the property up to the date the divorce petition was filed. If you are successful, you can keep your separate property from becoming community property. If you fail, the Court may award significantly more of your separate property to your ex-spouse than he or she is entitled to.

How do you stop this from happening? Read more…