Family law is tasked with helping families resolve legal concerns, which makes it as important as it is complicated. When your family is involved, it is serious, and you need serious legal representation behind you. If this is the challenging position you find yourself in, it is time to consult with an experienced Woodway family lawyer as soon as possible.

Child Custody and Child Support 

In Texas, cases that involve children are always determined according to their best interests. 

Child Custody

The guiding principle when it comes to child custody is that children’s best interests are best served when they continue to have a close relationship with both parents. This means that both conservatorship and parenting time are generally shared.

Conservatorship

Conservatorship determines how parents will address primary decisions like the following:

• Their children’s health care
• Their children’s education
• Their children’s participation in extracurriculars and travel
• Their children’s religious education

Often, conservatorship is shared, which means making these decisions together.

Parenting Time

Parenting time sets the schedule by which the children go back and forth between the parents. Maximizing each parent’s time with the children is the goal, and only if there is a serious reason for limiting the amount of time a parent spends with their children will restrictions be imposed.

One parent may, however, take on the primary custodial role, and this is often as a result of circumstances that support this approach. In the primary custodial role, the parent is awarded more overnights with the children. 

Child Support

When parents are no longer together, they both retain responsibility for supporting their children financially, and child support is the mechanism used. Typically, the parent who is not in the primary custodial role has the child support obligation. When parenting time is split more evenly, however, the higher earner can expect to make the child support payments. 

Divorce Terms

Both child custody and child support are divorce terms when the case involves shared children, but they can also arise outside of divorce. The terms that relate strictly to divorce include the division of marital property and spousal maintenance.

The Division of Marital Property

Those assets acquired during a marriage are considered marital, and they must be divided fairly on divorce. Texas calls this a just and right division. While marital property can be split 50/50, unique circumstances can support a lopsided division. 

Separate property refers to property owned prior to marriage and kept separate throughout. There are a range of circumstances that can weaken the distinction between separate and marital property, and the spouse who claims separate property is required to prove its separate nature.

Spousal Maintenance

Spousal maintenance is the term for alimony in Texas. It is only awarded under highly specific circumstances that generally include the following:

• The marriage lasted at least 10 years.
• The spouse requesting maintenance lacks the resources to cover their own minimum reasonable needs. 
• The other spouse has the financial ability to make spousal maintenance payments.

Other than the division of marital property, each of the terms of divorce can be modified in response to a significant change in circumstances.

Paternity

When a child’s father is not married to their mother at the time of birth, paternity must be established. As long as the parents are in agreement on the matter, filing an acknowledgement of paternity with the state resolves the issue. When the parents do not agree, however, one can request the court’s intervention, which generally leads to DNA testing.

Adoption

Adoption offers a legal means of growing your family. While the path forward is challenging, the final outcome is well worth the effort. The adoption process involves a thorough home study. This is not designed to ensure that you are a perfect parent, but, instead, is intended to help establish that you can address your adoptive child’s needs and provide them with a loving home. 

Child Protective Services

Child Protective Services gets involved with families when there is a report of child abuse or neglect. It is not unusual for family law cases to be hotly contested, and sometimes, parties to these cases are inspired to make accusations that are less than credible in order to bolster their own legal positions. Child Protective Services is charged with deciphering when claims are legitimate and, when they are, what measures need to be taken. 

An Experienced Woodway Family Attorney Cares about You and Your Case

Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard is a distinguished family lawyer whose wealth of experience in family legal matters can make a significant difference in your case. Pritchard will ensure you receive the skilled legal guidance afforded to every client we serve. Your case is important to us, so please do not wait to learn more by completing our online form or calling us at 254-781-4222 to schedule a free consultation today.