Posted on October 01, 2021 in Co-Parenting

Thanksgiving and Christmas are full of robust and joyful times. But if you and your child's other parent have a challenging relationship, the season can be anything but jolly.

You and your co-parent have many factors to consider when scheduling parenting time, such as your kids’ ages, the distance between households, family religious beliefs and traditions.Much of what you decide depends upon how well the two of you get along. If it's a combustible relationship, it's best to put differences aside and focus on your children's happiness.

Setting a sensible schedule

Holiday schedules are usually included in your Texas parenting plan, but co-parents typically choose one of two ways to share time.

• Trading years: One parent keeps the kids for the entire winter break on odd years, and the other gets them during even years. They flip-flop possession for Christmas and Thanksgiving, so that each parent can spend one of the major holidays with their children.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on October 01, 2021 in Child Custody

New legislation went into effect on Sept. 1, 2021, affecting Texas parents with 50/50 or shared custody orders. The new law expands the beginning and ending times for weekend stays with the child's noncustodial parent.

The reason for the law is to provide children more time with their noncustodial parent (called the “possessory conservator” in the new law). With these new beginning and end times, the possessory conservator is able to have about 46% of the total time with their child.

Here's how it works

The new law allows for an Expanded Standard Possession Order (ESPO). If you are the noncustodial parent, this order will extend your child's time with you. Instead of picking your kids up from school on Friday, you will get them after school on Thursday until Monday morning when you drop them off at school.

This change is not retroactive. This means it won’t apply to you if you already have an order in place. Instead, it applies to custody disputes that are pending as of Sept. 1, 2021 or were filed after that date. The new law automatically applies to custody orders created after that date if certain criteria are met.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 01, 2021 in Child Custody

You and your former or soon-to-be-former spouse have already gone through a lot. Divorce is never easy, especially when you have kids and hard or angry feelings persist with your ex-partner.Chances are you have diligently worked to keep those emotions in check to avoid making things harder for you and your children. Now your goal becomes creating a peaceful co-parenting relationship.

Positive steps for healthy and productive co-parenting

Psychological studies show children of divorce can thrive when both parents remain actively and positively engaged in their lives. It may take a lot of work to get to a peaceful place with your ex, but here are some signs you are accomplishing your goal:

• Sticking to the schedule: Having a predetermined plan makes the arrangement easier for everyone and shows that you and your former spouse can honor your commitments to your children.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 01, 2021 in Spousal Maintenance

Recently, we have discussed some of the basics regarding child support awards and spousal maintenance awards. As we saw, both of these obligations are based on complex systems built into the fabric of Texas family law. What we didn’t discuss in any detail, however, is the fact that both of these obligations can be modified after an initial determination. Depending on the circumstances at hand, a Texas judge can decide to change or, in the case of spousal maintenance, even eliminate an obligation altogether.

In this post, we will discuss some of the factors which go into the decision-making process underlying these modifications.

Modifying a Texas Child Support Award

As mentioned, child support awards are determined according to a well-established system in Texas. But, after an award has been created, this doesn’t mean that this obligation will remain in place indefinitely. Whenever there is a significant change in either parent's life, or the child's life, this change may be sufficient to amend the award.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 01, 2021 in Divorce

As hard as it may be for younger people to believe, at one time, divorce was a very rare occurrence. In fact, in certain eras, divorce was almost taboo, something approaching a scandal. Things have changed substantially in recent decades, and now divorce is exceedingly common. What's more, the stigma of divorce has gradually dissipated as well. The stigma has receded in tandem with the increased frequency of divorce and changing perception of marriage and relationships in general.

In this post, we will look at some recent statistics on marriage and divorce to get a sense of what's going on here in the Lone Star State.

Divorce Rates in the State of Texas

Let's look at data from a few years ago, as this data are more readily available. Back in 2017, the divorce rate in Texas was 2.2 per 1,000 inhabitants. This rate represents a steady decrease in recent years. For instance, back in 1990, Texas had a divorce rate which was more than double the current rate at 5.5 per 1,000 inhabitants. By 2007, the rate had dropped to 3.3, and then in 2016 it was 2.6. So, although divorce is much more common now than it was several generations ago, the rate of divorce in Texas has actually been declining in the recent past.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 01, 2021 in Family Law

Common law marriage is a rapidly disappearing concept in American family law. This is reflected in the fact that very few states throughout the country recognize common law marriage in their legal system. Texas is among the few states left in the union which still recognize this unique institution. In this post, we will discuss the basics of common law marriage here in Texas, highlight how this institution can be created, and point out the contexts in which this institution has the most significance.

Basics of Common Law Marriage

Common law marriage – commonly known as “marriage without formalities” or “informal marriage” in Texas law – describes a relationship which has the outward appearance of marriage without the formality of marriage. In other words, the couple doesn’t have a certificate of marriage signed and approved by the state. The couple has many of the external signs of being married, such as living together, sharing bank accounts, sharing expenses, filing joint tax returns, and so forth.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 01, 2021 in Child Custody

Texas classrooms are opening as schools attempt to return to the new normal. Along with in-school learning, students are once again participating in a wide variety of extracurriculars in sports, music and other social groups. Some divorced parents may struggle with this new schedule. But is it possible to alter your current custody or visitation order?

Considerations for modifying parenting plans

The Texas Family Code doesn’t include the phrase “extracurricular activities” when establishing or modifying parenting plans. If you want to change a custody or visitation order, the court only considers specific factors, including:

• The child's age and safety
• The original custody and visitation orders
• Distance between the two parents’ homes
• Financial impacts

The judge has 100% discretion in these requests with the overriding objective of ruling in the child's best interests, even if a modification would make the situation easier for you or the other parent.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 01, 2021 in Co-Parenting

Happily married Texas couples don’t agree about every matter regarding their children. So, there's no reason to expect that co-parenting with your former spouse will be a cakewalk.

The trick is – despite any bitter or angry feelings you may still have for your ex – to put those emotions aside and focus on what's best for your children when parenting disputes arise.

Two ways to problem-solve with your co-parent

Successful co-parenting requires patience, open communication and empathy. That may sound like a tall order for some. Depending on the space you and your ex are in, here are two problem-solving methods to consider:

• Strategic: This model only focuses on the issues at hand, leaving emotion out of the equation. You and your co-parent identify the problem and work to negotiate a solution objectively.
• Social-psychological: This method addresses how deeper emotional issues and attitudes cause or contribute to co-parenting conflicts. Talking to your ex about feelings may be difficult unless both of you focus on your kids’ needs and speak to each other in a nonconfrontational manner.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on August 01, 2021 in Child Custody

One of the central aspects of child care is parental visitation. When a married couple breaks up, they need to develop a child custody agreement. The custody agreement determines certain things such as who will have primary physical custody, shared legal custody, and so forth. Visitation rights are another key part of caring for the child shared between the parties. In this post, we will lay out the basics on how the State of Texas deals with this critically important matter.

Texas Believes in the Necessity of Dual Parental Involvement

The first thing to know when it comes to visitation rights in Texas is that our system believes that the welfare of children is best promoted by having involving from both parents. This is sort of the “first principle” when it comes to understanding how our visitation rights work. Unless a parent is unstable, or potentially dangerous, the State of Texas adheres to the notion that a child should have regular contact with both parents. This principle informs Texas's laws on visitation, as is reflects in Texas's “Standard Possession Order,” which we will discuss below.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on August 01, 2021 in Divorce

Going through a divorce can be a devastating experience. It can be even more challenging under the bright lights of the social media age. If you are a fervent user of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other platforms, it's vital to your future to understand how these applications can affect the outcome of your divorce.

Social media dos and don’ts during divorce

So many Texans’ lives are chronicled these days on social media. But once you decide to end your marriage, you need to change your social media habits, since anything you post may be used against you in court. Here are some general rules for managing your online presence:

What you should do with your social media accounts:

• If possible, stop using Facebook, Twitter and Instagram until your divorce is final
• Change your passwords so your spouse or others can’t access your accounts
• Change your security to the highest level possible to restrict what others can see

Continue Reading ››