Your divorce will come down to the terms that you and your spouse negotiate between yourselves or that the court hands down to you – if your case is resolved in court. Each of these terms will directly affect your parental or financial rights, which makes them of prime importance.
We’ve gathered together some of the most frequently asked questions in each category to provide you with a better understanding of your own case and of how best to navigate the journey forward. One universally advantageous step in the divorce process is working closely with an experienced Round Rock divorce attorney from the outset.
Child Support
Texas uses a set calculation procedure for determining child support in divorce cases, and while this takes a range of factors into consideration, the higher earner generally pays a specific percentage of their income – depending on the number of children covered – to the other parent. This typically holds true even when parenting time is shared evenly.
If we share parenting time evenly, does child support still play a role?
In Texas, child support is designed to support the best interests of the children, and each parent is responsible for continuing to support their children financially in relation to their ability to do so. This means that, even if parenting time is divided between you equally, the higher earner among you is likely to have a child support obligation.
Can I withhold visitation if my ex isn’t paying court-ordered child support?
This is a common question, and many people find the answer confusing. The bottom line is that Texas courts base both visitation – or parenting time – and child support on the children’s best interests.
In other words, withholding court-ordered visitation interferes with the children’s best interests, so it can’t be used in response to your ex’s failure to pay child support, which also interferes with your children’s best interests.
If your ex is not adhering to child support obligations, consult with your dedicated Round Rock divorce attorney.
Is a child support modification possible?
Texas courts recognize that children’s needs change and that their parents’ incomes can also change or fluctuate, and in response, they allow divorced parents to seek child support modifications.
Before the court will modify your child support order, however, you’ll need to demonstrate that one of the following is true:
That one of you is earning significantly more or less than they were when child support was ordered
That one or more of your children’s needs have changed substantially, such as in relation to a physical or mental health concern
The parenting time schedule has changed substantially, and the children are spending significantly more time with either parent than is specified in the parenting time schedule
What if my ex is earning less in order to decrease their child support obligation?
Texas courts take each parent’s financial responsibility to their children very seriously, and when the parent who pays child support is intentionally earning less – or is voluntarily unemployed – as a means of reducing their financial obligation, it can take action.
If the court determines that this is what’s happening in your case, it can order your ex to pay child support according to what they should be earning – rather than what they’re actually earning.
Child Custody Arrangements
Child custody arrangements in Texas are determined based on the children’s best interests, which generally means that each parent is awarded a generous parenting time schedule.
What is physical custody?
Physical custody refers to parenting time—or when your children are with you and when they are with their other parent. While each parent can generally expect a significant amount of parenting time, one parent may be identified as the primary custodial parent.
This involves having the children the majority of the time and having the authority to determine where they make their primary home—within the geographical limits set by the court.
What is legal custody?
Legal custody refers to parental responsibilities, and it determines how you and your ex will address the big picture decisions that guide your children’s upbringing, such as:
The schools or daycares they attend
The health care they receive
The religious education they receive
The extracurricular activities and travel they participate in
Parents often continue to make these decisions together, but one of you may have the right to break a tie if a consensus can’t be reached. Other options include each parent making decisions that fall into specific categories on their own or one parent taking on sole legal custody.
What are the best interest factors?
Texas courts take many considerations into account when making child custody determinations, including the following:
Each child’s age and developmental stage
Each child’s physical, educational, health, and emotional needs
Each child’s preference – when they are considered mature enough to participate
Each parent’s ability and willingness to effectively address each child’s needs
Each parent’s commitment to effective co-parenting
Each parent’s commitment to supporting the children’s ongoing and loving relationship with the other parent
The degree to which each parent has been involved in raising the children to date
Any red flags, such as addiction, family violence, or child abuse or neglect on the part of either parent
Each spouse’s age and overall mental and physical health
Anything else the court considers relevant to the case at hand
What can I do if my ex refuses to follow our parenting time orders?
If your ex isn’t complying with your parenting time orders – and if you’ve done everything you reasonably can to resolve the issue – it’s time to take the matter up with the court.
Running afoul of court orders can lead to serious consequences, and Texas courts take these matters very seriously. Your seasoned Round Rock divorce attorney is standing by to help.
I’m the primary custodial parent. Can I move with the kids?
In order to move outside of the parameters set by the court in your child custody case, you’ll need to either okay the matter with your ex – and make it official with the court – or petition the court for the right to move.
It’s important to keep in mind that Texas courts are always guided by the best interests of the involved children, and this generally means having the opportunity to visit each on a regular basis. If you’re planning on moving a significant distance away, it can interfere with your children’s best interests.
To gain the court’s permission to move, the burden of proving that it’s in the best interests of your children in terms of opportunities, available resources, financial support, or some other primary concern falls to you. Move away cases tend to be legally complex, and having practiced legal representation in your corner is key.
The Division of Marital Property
In the State of Texas, any assets or properties that you and your spouse – together or separately – acquire during your marriage are considered part of your marital estate, which must be divided between you fairly upon divorce.
Is marital property divided evenly?
In Texas, marital property is often divided evenly in divorce, but the court has considerable discretion and takes varying factors into careful consideration when determining the just and right – or fair – division of assets, including:
The size of the marital estate
The duration of the marriage
Each spouse’s income and earning potential
Each spouse’s level of education
Each spouse’s separate estate
Each spouse’s contributions to the marriage, including in the form of caring for the home and children
Whether either spouse directly caused the breakup – even in a no-fault divorce
Any dissipation of marital property – or fraud on the community estate – such as in the form of spending down, hiding, giving away, or gifting marital assets
What is separate property?
Separate property refers to those assets that either spouse brought into the marriage with them and kept separate throughout. Separate assets belong solely to the original owner, but if they become entangled with marital assets, this can change.
Further, when a separate asset increases in value over the course of the marriage, the increase is likely to be treated as marital.
For example, if your spouse came into your marriage with a retirement account, the value at that time remains theirs alone, but the amount that the account increases in value throughout the years of your marriage will need to be divided between the two of you fairly – given the unique circumstances involved.
What if my spouse is hiding assets?
Some divorces involve very straightforward financials that are difficult to debate, but many others do not. Factors that tend to complicate property division in divorce include all the following:
Complicated financials, such as joint ownerships and diverse holdings
Business ownership
One spouse has far more involvement in the family’s financials than the other
The stress of divorce can cause otherwise reasonable people to employ practices they normally wouldn’t to protect what they see as theirs – even when this may not be the case under the law. The State of Texas does not appreciate these antics, and if you can prove your soon-to-be ex is engaging in them, it can directly affect the outcome of your property division.
How do I prove my spouse is hiding assets?
In order to prove that your spouse is hiding assets in your divorce, you’ll turn to your knowledgeable divorce attorney, who will ensure you take the steps necessary to do so. This generally means hiring a forensic accountant who will carefully dig into your marital finances in search of the discrepancies that are hard to completely hide when dirty dealings are going on.
Will my spouse’s affair affect our property division?
If your fault-based divorce is predicated on your spouse’s adultery, it can directly affect the division of your marital assets – in your favor.
To obtain a divorce that’s based on your spouse’s adultery, you’ll need to prove they had a sexual relationship with another person, and you can expect the process to be more expensive, more time-consuming, and more emotionally challenging. There are, however, instances when it’s worth the additional effort.
Even if you’re seeking a no-fault divorce, however – the matter of your spouse’s adultery can still play a role in your property division. For example, if you can prove that they poured marital funds into their extramarital relationship, it can affect the fair division of your marital assets.
Alimony
Alimony is called spousal maintenance in Texas, and it is only ordered in highly specific cases.
When does alimony play a role?
Alimony is reserved for those cases in which the recipient doesn’t have the financial means to cover their reasonable needs – in the context of the standard of living achieved during the marriage. The more lopsided the spouses’ earnings are, the more likely alimony becomes.
Who is most likely to receive alimony?
Alimony is most likely to be ordered when one spouse puts their own career on hold during the marriage in order to support the other’s ability to pursue a lucrative career that leaves them earning considerably more at the time of divorce. The degree to which this is true and the longer the marriage lasted, the more likely alimony is to be ordered.
If I remarry, will my alimony end?
Yes, if you remarry while receiving alimony, your ex-spouse’s obligation to pay automatically ends, and they aren’t required to consult the court on the matter. In fact, it’s your responsibility to let your ex know that you’re remarrying.
Reach Out to an Experienced Round Rock Divorce Attorney for the Help You’re Looking For
Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard – proudly serving Round Rock – has the experience, legal skill, and insight to build your strongest case and fiercely advocate for terms that protect your parental and financial rights. Learn more by contacting or calling us at 254-781-4222 and scheduling a free consultation today.
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