If you are contemplating or facing a divorce, you almost certainly have questions and concerns about how your case will proceed and the factors that will have the most significant impact on the outcome. The divorce process can leave you feeling vulnerable and as if you have given up a level of control over certain areas of your life, which increases the related stress.
The good news is that, with skilled legal guidance backing you up and with a greater understanding of the primary factors that are likely to directly affect your divorce terms, you will be far better prepared to protect your parental and financial rights as you move forward. Turn to an experienced Round Rock divorce attorney for the help you are looking for.
If Your Spouse Is Having an Affair
Divorce is often driven by infidelity. While many couples are able to move beyond a spouse’s adultery and can even come out on the other side stronger than before, others are not able to do so. If your divorce is based on your spouse’s affair, there is a lot to consider.
Fault-Based vs. No-Fault Divorce
In Texas, no-fault divorces are the norm – by a long shot – and this includes divorces that are predicated on adultery. Texas is considered a no-fault state when it comes to the matter of divorce, and no-fault divorce cases are based on what is called insupportability, which basically means that the couple has irreconcilable differences or the marriage is irretrievably broken.
In a no-fault divorce, neither of you has to prove that the other engaged in wrongdoing in order to resolve the matter.
Most couples pursue no-fault divorce for reasons like the following:
They tend to be less acrimonious, which makes them less of an emotional rollercoaster and is generally easier on everyone, including the children.
They tend to be less expensive.
They tend to be resolved more quickly.
They tend to be resolved out of court, which allows the involved parties to maintain their decision-making authority and to better protect their privacy – court records are a matter of public information.
While there are many good reasons why most divorcing couples in Texas go the no-fault route, there are unique situations in which pursuing a divorce based on fault is worth the effort, and this may include your spouse’s infidelity. Your dedicated Round Rock divorce lawyer will help you make the right decisions for you – in light of the unique circumstances involved.
Proving Your Spouse’s Adultery
It is important to emphasize the fact that, in order to obtain a fault-based divorce, you will need to prove your spouse’s wrongdoing, which can be difficult to accomplish if you are claiming adultery.
If you pursue a divorce that is based on your soon-to-be ex’s adultery, you will need to demonstrate that they had a sexual relationship with someone other than you, and if they deny your claim, establishing definitive proof can be tricky and often comes down to evidence like the following:
Any communications between your spouse and their paramour that you are privy to
Eyewitness testimony
Phone bills that address the frequency, duration, and timing of calls between the two
Bank and credit card records, which could suggest spending indicative of an affair, such as meals out, gifts, holidays, and hotel rooms
The Court’s Position
You should know that the fact of your spouse’s adultery can directly affect certain divorce terms, even in a no-fault divorce, and there are several factors that Texas courts take into careful consideration.
Spending
Having an affair can be expensive, and if your spouse really splashed out on their extramarital relationship by lavishly spending marital funds on their new partner, it can directly affect the division of your marital assets – in your favor.
If you can prove that your spouse depleted your marital assets in support of their affair, the court can reconstitute the marital estate. This translates to taking assets from the wrongdoer’s property division in order to – in essence – pay back the marital estate.
Shared Minor Children
Not every spouse who has an affair allows the extramarital relationship to affect their parenting, but some do. If your spouse put their affair above their responsibilities as a parent, it could affect their child custody terms.
For example, if your spouse exposed your shared children to their new romantic partner without consulting you or after you actively objected to them doing so, the court could take a dim view of their parenting style.
This could potentially lead to restrictions on their parenting time schedule. Finally, if your spouse’s paramour has an unsavory or questionable background or character, the court can scrutinize it even more.
Dishonesty
If you are able to prove that your spouse is having an adulterous affair to the court’s satisfaction but they continue to deny the fact, their dishonesty can factor into the court’s ruling to your benefit – even in a no-fault divorce.
The court requires honesty from both parties to divorce, and when one of them is caught in a lie, it can wield its considerable discretion, which can directly affect your alimony and property division terms.
If You Share Children
If you and your divorcing spouse share children, you will need to address child custody arrangements and child support.
When it comes to children and divorce, the court’s concern is always their best interests, and it is guided by the belief that children are best served when each of their parents play a primary role in their lives – assuming that there is no serious reason for ruling otherwise. Further, each parent is responsible for continuing to support their children financially.
Child Custody
Texas breaks child custody down into physical and legal custody. Physical custody determines the parenting time schedules each of you will receive. Either you and your ex can divide parenting time between yourselves evenly or one of you can take on the primary custodial role while the other spends fewer overnights with the children.
When a parent becomes the primary custodian, they also have the authority to determine where the children will make their primary home – within the court’s geographic specifications.
Legal custody assigns decision-making authority, and – again – the prevailing belief is that children’s best interests are upheld when both parents participate. The kinds of primary parenting decisions addressed by legal custody include all the following:
The medical care the children receive
The children’s education
The children’s participation in travel and extracurricular activities
The children’s religious upbringing
Parents can make these decisions by consensus between themselves, but one parent may be assigned tie-breaking authority. Another option is dividing these decisions between the two parents according to topic.
Sole legal custody – in which one parent makes each of these important decisions on their own – is reserved for instances when there is a significant reason for cutting one parent out of the process.
Child Support
Child support is calculated according to a predetermined state process that is primarily based on the amount of parenting time each spouse receives and each parent’s income. Even when parents divide physical custody evenly, however, the parent who earns more can expect to make the child support payments.
If Yours Is a Same-Sex Marriage
If you are in a same-sex marriage, your constitutional right to marry was confirmed in 2015, and this extends to any legal disputes that arise in relation to your marriage, including divorce. This means that you have the same rights within your marriage as any other married person does and that you will face the same legal challenges in relation to divorce.
This said, however, you should know that there are legal nuances that can make same-sex divorce more complex. For example, the matter of child custody can be more difficult to navigate if one of you is the biological parent of your children. Further, if your marriage is a common-law union that was established before 2015, challenges related to marital assets can come into play.
If You or Your Spouse Is Seeking Alimony
If you have concerns related to alimony or spousal support, such as whether you will be awarded alimony or required to pay alimony, it is a good idea to have a solid understanding of the kinds of spousal support that are available in Texas.
Temporary Spousal Support
Temporary spousal support can be awarded in the build-up to divorce, such as if you and your spouse separate and need to address a range of financial obligations while your case is pending. This support is calculated based on the specific expenses that apply and each of your incomes. Temporary spousal support generally continues until the divorce is finalized.
Spousal Maintenance
Spousal maintenance refers to what you likely think of as alimony. It goes into effect once the divorce is finalized, and it is only awarded when the case leaves one spouse without the financial means to cover their own reasonable needs while the other can afford to help. Spousal maintenance in Texas has a predetermined cap in place, and its duration is generally limited.
Contractual Alimony
As with other divorce matters, you and your divorcing spouse can agree to alimony terms that work for both of you, and you will not need to involve the court in the process. This approach allows you the flexibility to hammer out terms that make sense in relation to the specific circumstances that apply to your unique situation.
Property Division
Property division is the one divorce term that virtually every divorcing couple must address. In Texas, property division must be fair, given the circumstances, rather than necessarily being equal. This means that factors like the following can affect how the assets that you and your spouse accumulated over the course of your marriage will be divided:
How long your marriage lasted
Each of your contributions to the marriage, including in relation to raising the children and taking care of the home
Each of your incomes and earning power
Any form of artificially spending down or dissipating marital funds in order to sway property division in one’s own favor during the divorce process
The overall size of your marital estate and the size of each of your separate estates
Whether either of you engaged in wrongdoing that contributed to the breakdown of your marriage – even in a no-fault divorce
Separate property means those assets that either of you brought into the marriage with you and kept separate from your marital property throughout. Any commingling of separate and marital property can smudge the line between them and can make it more difficult to separate the two from one another when it comes time to divide your marital assets.
Ultimately, Texas courts presume that all assets belong to both spouses equally. This means that if either of you claims a separate asset, that spouse will need to prove its separate nature.
This generally involves establishing a paper trail of ownership and can be quite complex. Factors such as high overall assets, business ownership, and the need for professional valuations can all further complicate the matter of property division.
Turn to an Experienced Round Rock Divorce Lawyer for the Help You Are Looking For
Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard is a skilled Round Rock divorce attorney who understands the unique complexities of your case. With extensive legal insight, resources, and experience, he is dedicated to helping you navigate the process and secure divorce terms that work for you—supporting your ability to move forward beyond this challenging transition.
Our focused legal team is here to help, so please do not delay contacting or calling us at 254-781-4222 to schedule a free consultation and learn more about what we can do for you today.