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Recent Blog Posts
How is Child Custody Determined in Texas?
Parents want what is best for their children. Whether you are an unmarried parent or a parent planning to divorce, you probably have several questions about child custody in Texas. Who your child will live with and how significant decisions about the child’s upbringing will be made are essential concerns during a Texas divorce. Read on to learn about child custody laws and what to do if you need help with child custody concerns.
Legal Custody and Physical Custody
Each state handles child custody slightly differently. In Texas, “legal custody” refers to parents’ decision-making authority. Parents with legal custody have the right to decide where their children will go to school, what type of healthcare the children receive, whether the children go to church or participate in other religious practices, and more.
Physical custody refers to where the child lives and which parent cares for the child on any given day. The Texas Family Code calls custody “conservatorship,” but the term child custody is still used informally in this blog for clarity purposes.
3 Things To Know About Spousal Maintenance Awards in Texas
Whether you are just thinking about divorce, or you have already filed the divorce paperwork with the court, you may understandably have questions about the divorce’s impact on your finances. Spousal maintenance can help offset the negative financial consequences of divorce. However, alimony or spousal maintenance is only available in certain circumstances. If you are interested in pursuing spousal maintenance during your divorce or you think your spouse will ask for spousal maintenance, contact a skilled divorce lawyer for help.
You May Be Able to Negotiate an Alimony Agreement
Spouses may be able to negotiate an agreement about the terms of spousal maintenance payments during the divorce process. Often, one spouse will receive certain assets in exchange for paying spousal maintenance to the other. For example, you may be able to negotiate a spousal maintenance arrangement that trades maintenance payments for business interests, stocks, or other assets.
What to do If Your Ex is Accusing You of Family Violence
Family violence or domestic violence is a very legitimate problem in Texas. Unfortunately, some people abuse the legal system by making false accusations of family violence. Whether you are going through a divorce, child custody dispute, or other family law matter, being accused of family violence can have a major impact on your case. The best thing to do when you find out you have been accused of child abuse, domestic assault, or another form of family violence is to contact a skilled family law attorney for personalized legal guidance.
Do Not Speak to or Visit the Person Accusing You of Family Violence
Being accused of something as heinous as child abuse or domestic violence is understandably shocking. If a current or former romantic partner, family member, or housemate has accused you of harming them or their children, you may be eager to defend yourself. You may want to confront the accuser and set the record straight. However, confronting the accuser is one of the worst things you can do in a situation like this.
How Can Fathers Establish Paternity in Texas?
In Texas, when a child is born to unmarried parents, a father’s right to be involved in the child’s life is not guaranteed. If you are a father who wants custody of your children, you will need to ensure that you take the proper steps to establish legal paternity. However, there is more than one way to be recognized as a child’s legal parent, and it is important that you understand the method that is most appropriate for your situation.
Presumptions of Paternity in Texas
According to Texas law, a man is presumed to be the legal father of a child when he was previously married to the mother, and the marriage ended within 300 days of the child’s birth. If your child was born soon after your divorce from the mother, you may not need to take further action to establish paternity. However, a presumption of paternity is rebuttable if, for example, another man purports to be the biological father. It may be a good idea to consult with an attorney to see if you need to take further steps to protect your rights as a father.
What Can I Do If I am Not Receiving Child Support in Texas?
Between housing, groceries, extracurricular fees, and childcare expenses, raising a child can be expensive. If you are a parent, you know this first-hand. Child support payments can help an unmarried or divorced parent cover child-related costs, however, getting the child support you need and deserve is not always easy. If you are not currently receiving any financial support from your child’s other parent, you should know that there are steps you can take to establish child support or enforce your current child support order. An experienced family law attorney can help.
Make Sure You Have an Official Child Support Order
In an ideal world, every parent would do his or her share to ensure that his or her child’s financial needs were met. In reality, many parents try to avoid child support. This is why it is important for every parent to obtain a formal child support order from the court. If you and your child’s other parent had a verbal agreement about how much money he or she would pay you each month, the state does not have any authority to recover the past-due payments from the other parent.
From our office in Frisco, our law firm serves clients in the communities of Plano, McKinney, Little Elm, The Colony, Prosper, Celina, Denton, Carrollton, Lewisville, Richardson, Parker, Allen, Flower Mound, Melissa, Sachse, Murphy, Coppell, Farmers Branch, Grapevine, Tarrant County, Dallas County, Denton County, Collin County, and the rest of North Texas.
