If you’re facing a divorce, the stress involved can be immense, but generally, both spouses feel it in equal measure, which helps to level the playing field. However, if you are divorcing a lawyer, it may seem like your spouse has an unfair advantage.
If you find yourself in this situation, just remember that divorce terms are resolved according to the laws and the specific circumstances involved. As such, having skilled legal counsel in your corner will help to ensure that your rights are well protected throughout the divorce process – regardless of your divorcing spouse’s career path.
Reach out to an experienced Round Rock divorce attorney for the help you need today.
Your Spouse’s Unique Perspective
If your spouse is an attorney – especially if he or she is a divorce attorney – he or she has a unique perspective that can be used to your spouse’s advantage. Your spouse knows how to build a case that aligns well with what the court is looking for, but your own dedicated Round Rock divorce attorney will bring a similarly well-versed perspective to your side of things.
In other words, if you’re divorcing a lawyer, it’s important to bring your A game, but when you work closely with a skilled divorce lawyer from the start, that isn’t a problem.
Lawyers Are Required to Uphold the Law
The fact that your divorcing spouse is a lawyer means that he or she is required – as an officer of the court – to uphold the law. Your spouse not only knows the laws that apply to your divorce but must also abide by them. He or she cannot engage in dirty dealings regarding finances or anything else.
Your soon-to-be ex understands the importance of being on the right side of the law for your divorce, and your divorce attorney will implement the checks and balances necessary to ensure compliance.
Negotiating between Yourselves
If your divorcing spouse is a lawyer, he or she knows only too well that going to court is a gamble. The court has considerable discretion regarding most divorce terms, and it’s difficult to know exactly how a presiding judge will rule.
Further, your spouse appreciates that going to court takes away decision-making authority for each divorce term that requires the court’s intervention. Most people prefer to make primary decisions about their own and their children’s futures, which means that most people prefer to negotiate mutually acceptable terms whenever possible rather than head to court.
Finally, negotiating your divorce terms outside of court affords you considerably more privacy. Your divorcing spouse understands this fact and appreciates its significance. Most people prefer to keep private matters, such as divorce, private, and this can translate to more authentic attempts to engage in effective negotiations.
The fact that your spouse is a lawyer can work to your advantage in this department. It’s very likely that he or she would prefer to resolve the terms of your divorce outside of court and, as a result, may be more open to effective and efficient negotiations, which is generally in everyone’s best interests.
The Division of Your Marital Property
In Texas, the assets that you and your spouse came to own during your marriage are considered marital. Marital assets must be split between you in a “just and right” division in the event of divorce. While just and right can translate to an equal division of assets, it can sometimes leave one spouse with a larger share of marital assets.
Separate Assets
Anything you acquire during your marriage – other than gifts or inheritances made in only one spouse’s name – is marital property, but anything either of you brings into the marriage with you and keeps separate throughout is separate property.
The requirements for identifying an asset as strictly separate are complex, and the matter is considered on a case-by-case basis. The spouse who claims an asset is separate is responsible for proving its separate nature, and there are a wide range of factors that can weaken the dividing line between separate and marital property.
While your spouse likely understands the ins and outs of separate assets very well, he or she won’t have any special advantage in proving that a property belongs to him or her alone or that an asset isn’t yours alone. This determination comes down to the evidence at hand, and your trusted Round Rock divorce attorney is well prepared to help resolve the matter fairly.
Applicable Factors
Texas courts turn to the following factors when making decisions about property division:
The marriage’s length
Each spouse’s separate estate and the overall marital estate
Any age discrepancy between the spouses
Each spouse’s mental and physical health
Each spouse’s work history, education, earning potential, and business opportunities
Whether either spouse supported the other’s career
The financial obligations each spouse is responsible for
Whether fault or domestic violence played a role in the breakdown of the marriage – even if the divorce is no fault
Whether either spouse engaged in financial wrongdoing
Each spouse’s contributions to the household, including homemaking and caring for the children
The tax implications of the proposed property division
Your Child Custody Arrangements
In Texas, child custody is addressed in terms of both legal and physical custody.
Legal Custody
Legal custody determines decision-making authority for primary parenting concerns like the following matters:
Where your children attend school
The healthcare your children receive
The extracurriculars and travel in which your children participate
Your children’s religious upbringing
You and your ex can continue making these important decisions together. However, one of you may receive tie-breaking authority, which means casting the deciding vote in any instance when your genuine mutual efforts fail to reach a consensus. You can also divide these decisions between you according to category, or one of you may be granted sole legal custody.
Physical Custody
Physical custody refers to your parenting time schedule, which determines how your children divide their time with you and their other parent. Parenting time is always based on the children’s best interests, and all of the following factors help guide court determinations:
The children’s physical, psychological, emotional, and educational needs, including any special needs
Each child’s developmental stage
Each parent’s ability and commitment to effectively addressing each child’s needs and developmental stage
The preferences of those children who are considered mature
How well the status quo – or the children’s current living situation – is serving the children in terms of home, school, and community
The degree to which each spouse is invested in effective co-parenting
The degree to which each spouse is invested in supporting a strong, loving relationship between each child and the other parent
The distance that the parents live from one another
Each parent’s scheduling flexibility
The fact that your spouse is a lawyer is unlikely to influence the parenting time schedule for you negatively. You may even find that your spouse’s career could backfire. For example, if your spouse burns the candle at both ends in order to keep up with a large caseload, which isn’t particularly uncommon, it may be difficult for him or her to seek the lion’s share of parenting time.
Child Support
Child support is generally a cut-and-dried legal matter. The child support calculation is based on straightforward guidelines that simply plug in the applicable numbers, except when extenuating circumstances apply. Child support is intended to balance the financial responsibility of supporting children between both parents, and the court generally has little discretion in the matter.
While many parents are under the impression that sharing child custody evenly in a 50/50 parenting time schedule negates the child support obligation, this is not the case. If your spouse is a lawyer, he or she understands how child support works and knows better than to shirk responsibility in this arena.
If your spouse is an attorney who earns considerably more than you, he or she will likely have the child support obligation, even if you split your time with the kids evenly down the middle. Discuss your case with a Round Rock divorce attorney to learn more about how child support will likely go in your divorce.
Alimony
Alimony (or spousal maintenance) is only ordered in those cases that leave one spouse without the resources to provide for any reasonable needs relative to the standard of living achieved during marriage. Alimony is typically set only for the duration and amount needed to obtain additional education, job skills, or training to become more financially independent.
Alimony is the exception rather than the rule, and the spouse who seeks this form of maintenance must prove a need and the other spouse’s ability to pay.
The factors affecting alimony determinations include each spouse’s overall education and earning potential. If your divorcing spouse is a lawyer, it means that he or she has a graduate degree and, in most instances, considerable earning power. In other words – unless you earn significantly more than your ex – your ex is extremely unlikely to qualify for alimony.
Further, if you put your own career on hold to support your spouse while your ex was earning a law degree and building a legal career, it can bolster your case for alimony. Texas courts also consider each spouse’s contributions to the household and the other’s career when determining alimony orders.
Potential Concerns
The fact that your spouse is an attorney does not necessarily mean that he or she is on the up and up. The stress of divorce can drive people to act irrationally and completely out of character. While your divorcing spouse may not make things especially difficult during your divorce, it’s important to be prepared for anything that comes your way.
If there are signs that your divorcing spouse is attempting to cheat the system in an effort to bolster his or her own financial or parental rights, your practiced Round Rock divorce attorney will leave no stone unturned in a focused effort to protect your rights.
FAQ about Divorcing a Lawyer
My Spouse Is a Lawyer. Will That Have Any Bearing on Our Divorce?
Anyone who is facing a divorce should have skilled legal representation. If your spouse is a lawyer, the need for legal counsel is compounded.
Does My Spouse Have a Financial Advantage?
The fact that your spouse is a lawyer does not afford him or her any special financial advantage, and your trusted Round Rock divorce attorney will help to ensure that your ex doesn’t attempt to finagle one through underhanded dealings.
What Can I Do to Keep My Legal Costs Low?
Your respected divorce attorney will help you strategize a path forward that protects your rights and minimizes the amount of legal maneuvering required. A better strategy than simply attempting to keep your legal expenses low is skillfully protecting your financial rights, which will pay off in the long run. An accomplished Round Rock divorce lawyer can help you with this goal.
What Are the Chances that I Will Be Awarded Alimony?
The matter of alimony in Texas is determined based on the unique circumstances of each case. If divorce leaves your ex with considerable financial resources while you lack the means to provide for your own reasonable needs, alimony may be considered appropriate. It’s important to note that alimony generally isn’t awarded for marriages that last fewer than ten years.
It’s Time to Consult with an Experienced Round Rock Divorce Attorney
Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard is a knowledgeable Round Rock, Texas, divorce attorney who appreciates your concerns regarding your spouse’s legal background and is well prepared to unleash the full force of his considerable experience and legal skill in protection of your rights and in pursuit of divorce terms that work for you.
The outcome of your case is important, so please don’t wait to reach out and contact us online or call us at (254) 781-4222 to schedule your FREE consultation and learn more about what we can do to help today.