If you and your spouse are going through a divorce in Texas, you may have concerns about having to appear before the court. In fact, there is still a requirement in the Texas Family Code that requires at least spouse in a divorcing couple to come before the court and to provide very minimal testimony that is known as a “prove up.”
This appearance before a judge (or this prove up) is intended to confirm that the final terms of your divorce have been agreed upon by both of you. Ultimately, this prove up serves as your opportunity to request that the court grant the divorce based on the terms that you and your spouse have come to agree upon – as presented in your Final Decree of Divorce.
Taking Care of Divorce’s Most Difficult Tasks
The most difficult work of any divorce is hammering out the details related to child custody arrangements, including visitation schedules, and coming to an agreement between the two of you regarding the just and right division of your marital property. Once you and your divorcing spouse are able to come to terms that you can both agree to, you have achieved quite an accomplishment.
The fact is that the vast majority of Texas divorces are settled outside of court, and yours is likely to follow suit. While some divorces take much more time and negotiation than others, most couples find that they prefer to come to terms that they can each live with rather than allowing the court to make their important decisions for them.
Your Prove Up
If you and your spouse are able to agree upon the terms of your divorce, your only appearance before the court will likely be your prove up. While you will be sworn in to testify, your prove up for an agreed divorce will probably be very informal. Any questions the court presents you with will typically be very basic. It is very rare for the court not to accept the terms of a divorce when both parties are in agreement.
Questions You Can Expect to Be Asked
There are several types of basic questions that you can expect to be asked in your prove up:
Do you and your spouse have children together?
Is the parenting plan that you have agreed to in the best interests of your children?
What are the grounds for your divorce?
Is the agreed upon division of marital property just and right?
Are there any collateral matters that you need to address with the court?
Familiarizing yourself with the questions you will most likely be asked will help ensure that you are confident and well prepared when it comes time for your prove up.