Your Divorce Will Be Unique to Your Situation

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If you’re facing a divorce, everyone you know will have stories to share, and the message running through all of them is likely to be that your parental and financial rights are on the line, that it’s going to get ugly, and that you should come out swinging.

The truth is, however, that your divorce will be unique to you and to your situation and that the best approach is to consult with an experienced Round Rock divorce attorney early in the process.

The Nuts and Bolts of Divorce

Every divorce is utterly unique to the circumstances and people involved, but in every divorce, the exact same terms need to be resolved – as applicable. These include:

How these are resolved will depend on several variables, including your situation, your approach to divorce, and how well you and your divorcing spouse are able to negotiate throughout the divorce process.

Child Custody Arrangements

Your child custody arrangements refer to legal custody – or parental decision-making – and parenting time, or physical custody.

When Texas courts make decisions that directly affect the lives of children, they base those decisions on the children’s best interests, and this typically means that both parents will continue sharing the parental responsibilities to one degree or another and that each parent will spend a considerable amount of time with the children moving forward.

Legal Custody

Legal custody addresses major decisions about the children’s upbringing, including:

  • Decisions about their education

  • Decisions about their healthcare

  • Decisions about their participation in extracurricular activities and travel

  • Decisions about their religious education

Parents can continue making these decisions together, but one parent may have the ability to break a tie if the two of them together can’t strike a workable compromise. Another option is dividing these decisions between the parents according to topic.

Physical Custody

Physical custody determines when the children are with one parent or the other. Texas courts favor maximizing the amount of time each parent spends with their children whenever possible.

One parent may, however, take on the prime custodial role, which means having the children for more overnights and having the authority to determine where the children make their primary residence – within the mileage requirements set by the court.

Child Support

The State of Texas has child support calculation guidelines in place, and in most cases, the matter of child support is fairly cut-and-dried. When the conditions are right, however, the court has the discretion to deviate from the basic calculation methodology.

Generally, the parent who earns more pays child support to the other parent – even when parenting time is split down the middle – and it is calculated as follows:

  • For 1 child, the parent pays 20 percent of their net income.

  • For 2 children, the parent pays 25 percent of their net income.

  • For 3 children, the parent pays 30 percent of their net income.

  • For 4 children, the parent pays 35 percent of their net income.

  • For 5 children, the parent pays 40 percent of their net income.

  • For 6 or more children, the parent pays at least 40 percent of their net income.

The Division of Marital Property

The assets that you and your spouse acquire while you are married are considered marital property, and there are very few exceptions. It doesn’t matter who puts their name on the property or who made the purchase – if you came to own it while you were married it belongs to both of you and will need to be divided between you fairly in the event of divorce.

Fairly here generally means evenly, but there are a range of circumstances that can also support an unequal division. Common examples include:

  • The spouse’s personal estates are much different in size.

  • The spouses have vastly different incomes.

  • One spouse engaged in wrongdoing that decreased the overall size of the marital estate – even in a no-fault divorce.

Alimony

If your divorce leaves either of you without the means to continue covering your own reasonable needs relative to the standard of living achieved during the marriage – and the other is capable of assisting – alimony may play a role in your divorce. This term is the exception rather than the rule, however.

If You and Your Divorcing Spouse Are on the Same Page

If you and your divorcing spouse are both in agreement about needing a divorce and are both willing to work together to put the matter behind you, you’re somewhat ahead of the game.

In situations like yours, it’s generally easier to keep the emotional turmoil in check and the drama dialed down, which can make the divorce process far less painful for everyone involved – including your children.

Your situation doesn’t, however, mean that your divorce is going to be a cakewalk or that you’re not going to hit an emotional wall or two. Divorce is a life-altering transition, and it comes with its own brand of emotional upheaval that can be very difficult to process and overcome.

Being in agreement on the need for a divorce can, however, take some of the pressure off, which can help you focus on moving steadily forward.

Further, just because you’re in agreement about needing a divorce doesn’t mean that you’re going to be in agreement about the terms of your divorce, which is a very different matter. Working closely with your knowledgeable divorce attorney from the start is the best approach.

If One of You Wants a Divorce and the Other Doesn’t

Texas is a no-fault divorce state, which means neither spouse needs to prove that the other engaged in wrongdoing in order to obtain a divorce. While Texas does offer a fault-based option, the vast majority of divorces in the state are no-fault, which means they are based on insupportability – or what you may think of as irreconcilable differences.

In other words, if one of you wants a divorce and the other doesn’t, the divorce will still happen, but it’s likely to be even more challenging in terms of the emotional journey involved.

If you’re the spouse seeking a divorce, it can be very difficult to process your own emotions while facing the fact that you’re hurting the person you made a lifetime commitment to. And if you’re the spouse who doesn’t want a divorce, the betrayal you endure can be overwhelming.

Divorces in this category tend to be more difficult to finalize, which often translates to being more costly and time-consuming.

Getting the support you need – such as from a divorce support group, a counselor, or a trusted friend or family member – can help you process from an emotional perspective while your dedicated divorce attorney focuses on protecting your financial and parental rights throughout the legal process.

If Your Divorce Is Financially Complicated to Begin With

Some divorces are more complicated than others to begin with, and this is generally based on assets. High asset divorces tend to be more challenging, and business ownership can make them more so.

The higher your assets, the more there is to protect, and the more complicated your assets – such as if a business is involved – the more opportunities there are to manipulate the numbers, which makes proceeding with utmost caution paramount.

Valuations

If you own a business and are facing a divorce, there is a very good chance that you’ll need to have valuations performed. Assessing exactly what an asset like a business is worth is a complicated process to begin with, and obtaining a valuation that you are both willing to accept can be problematic.

Options include choosing a valuation specialist that you both agree to or hiring your own specialists and splitting any difference in the results, which is generally a costlier approach.

Crunching the Numbers

There is a lot more to a business than the amount it’s worth at the moment you divorce. For example, if you divorce when the market is at a low point, the valuation amount you’re working with could be artificially low.

If the business is poised to take off in the very near future, its current value could also come in lower than it should. A wide range of factors have to be taken into consideration when business ownership and divorce collide.

If Your Spouse Is More Involved in the Business than You Are

Owning a business makes the financial terms of divorce more complicated, but if your spouse is a lot more involved in it than you are, it can make matters that much more so.

To begin, your spouse will have more opportunities to hide assets, complicate the numbers in a manner that keeps you from receiving your fair share, keep values low by making massive payments ahead of time, and much more.

Further, if your spouse runs the business but doesn’t pay themself adequately, it can skew the division of your marital property, which is – in part – based on your household’s income. If your divorce involves a business, due diligence is required.

This is one instance when pumping the brakes and taking the time to do the math carefully is always advised. Obtaining the compensation to which you’re entitled is important to you and your children’s future, which makes not rushing into a financial settlement an excellent plan.

Consult with a trusted Round Rock divorce attorney to learn how to protect your financial rights.

If Your Divorce Is High Drama

In some divorces, one spouse becomes so overwrought that they can’t focus on the mechanics of the divorce itself and instead set out to make things as difficult for their partner as they possibly can.

These are some of the most painful divorces out there, and while there is a chance that your soon-to-be ex will come to their senses at some point, heading directly toward court may be the best option right out of the gate.

Once your spouse begins spinning out of control, no amount of reasonable negotiations is likely to bring them back to earth. And while resolving your divorce in court will probably be both more expensive and more time consuming, this is one situation when cutting your losses is almost certainly in your best interest.

Contested Divorce vs. Uncontested Divorce

A contested divorce is one that requires the court’s intervention in relation to at least one of the applicable divorce terms. An uncontested divorce, on the other hand, is one in which the divorcing spouses are able to negotiate terms they both agree to. How the spouses get there can vary considerably, including:

  • They can negotiate terms between themselves – with the trusted legal counsel of their respective divorce attorneys.

  • They can leave the negotiating to their respective divorce attorneys.

  • They can resolve the terms at mediation, which they attend with their respective divorce attorneys and which is guided by a professional mediator who acts as a neutral third party.

If the divorcing couple comes up against one or more terms that they’re unable to resolve through any of the above means, the case is likely to go to court, and at that point, the divorce becomes contested. The downside of going to court includes all the following:

  • It’s a formal legal process that tends to put both parties on edge.

  • It must be scheduled in accordance with the court’s docket, which means it’s very likely that your divorce will take considerably longer to be finalized.

  • It’s generally a more expensive process.

  • It puts decision-making authority in the hands of the court, which most divorcing couples want to avoid at all costs.

Turn to an Experienced Round Rock Divorce Attorney for the Help You Need Today

Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard is a well-respected Round Rock divorce attorney who dedicates his impressive practice to helping clients like you resolve their cases on an individualized basis and in accordance with their own best interests.

Learn more by contacting or calling us at 254-781-4222 and scheduling a free consultation today.

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