If you have need a best suitable Family Law experience, Family Law Attorney Houston in Texas the great process!
Houston Divorce Lawyers – You spent a long time in mediation negotiating and getting your custody order worked out so that both you and your ex were satisfied with it. Or maybe you fought a long custody battle that ended in a trial where the judge had to make the decision for the two of you. In either scenario, there is often some point that a child may refuse to see the other parent. This is often where either the parent who is not seeing the child or the parent who has the child shows up in my office to ask questions: 1. What can they do? 2. Does the child have to be forced to see the parent? 3. What are the legal options or consequences? 4. At what age can the child choose when they want to visit a parent? In today’s blog, we will discuss these questions in greater detail and some possible solutions. THE TEXAS FAMILY CODE Houston Divorce Attorney – The way a Texas Family Law judge views visitation orders is that although a child may not want to visit the other parent, visitation is not optional for the child. The judge ordered the visitation and they expect their orders to be followed. If you are the custodial parent or managing conservator, you are held responsible for complying with the visitation order. The judge is not going to let you off the hook just because your child does not want to follow the orders. PASSIVE CONTEMPT—WHAT IF MY CHILD REFUSES TO GO? I have previously discussed passive contempt in another blog article, but in summary, a parent will claim to have fulfilled their obligation by: 1. Having the child ready to go 2. The child walks out on the porch 3. Then the child refuses to go with the parent attempting to exercise their possession. This situation comes up frequently and appellate courts have taken differing views as to whether the parent with primary possession can be held in contempt when the child refuses to go. Ex Parte Morgan, 886 S.W.2d 829 (Tex.App.-Amarillo 1994, orig. proceeding) The Amarillo court indicates that there is no such thing as passive contempt. If a parent has the children ready to go and they refuse to go, the custodial parent could not be held in contempt. Ex Parte Rosser, 899 S.W.2d 382 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1995, orig. proceeding) However, the Houston court of appeals came down on the issue differently. In “Ex Parte Rosser,” the custodial parent had the obligation to: 1. Effectively drag the kid to the visiting parent’s car, kicking and screaming, or 2. Go directly to jail, unless that parent can affirmatively show “an involuntary ability to compel the visitation.” WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOUR CHILD WILL NOT VISIT THE OTHER PARENT? Houston Family Lawyer – If a child refuses to visit the other parent, this can be problematic for both parents. This refusal disrupts the visitation order that both parents have adjusted and worked their lives around. Possessory Conservator’s Point of View Understandably, the noncustodial parent or possessory conservator may be hurt or upset. They may suspect that the other parent of manipulating their child or purposely causing parental alienation. Managing Conservator’s Point of View The managing conservator may also have their own suspicions of what is going on in the other house that is causing their child distress so that they do not want to see their other parent? Remember That You’re the Adult Do you let your child skip school whenever they want? Are they allowed to stay up all night playing games on their phone? Can they eat junk food and drink soda whenever they like? Does your child only do their homework when they want to? Of course not, because as a parent, you sometimes have to make your children do things that they don’t necessarily want to do. This is how children learn responsibility and that what they want can’t always come first. Divorced parents often feel guilty, which can make them fall into the trap of giving in too easily to their children. While it’s important to listen to children and their opinions, you need to remember your child is not in charge. You are. Your child needs to know that both parents are an important part of his or her life. They don’t get to choose when and if visitation happens. Tell your child that part of having divorced parents is spending time with each one of them. This means that it’s not fair to your ex or your child—although they may not see it that way—if you don’t make him or her go along with the visitation order. THE BUCK STOPS HERE—YOUR BEHAVIOR Divorce Lawyer Houston – Is your behavior making your child feel like they have to choose sides? If your child is refusing to go to the other parent, this may be a sign that child is reacting to something you are doing. They may be trying to avoid upsetting you or being made to feel guilty for spending time with their other parent. Questions to Ask Yourself Some questions you need to ask yourself include: 1. Are you bad-mouthing the other parent or allowing other people to do so in front of your children or where they can hear you? 2. Do you get upset or agitated when your children get ready to go for their visitation? 3. Do you interrogate your children about your ex after they get home from their visitation? 4. Do you do things to make them feel guilty for seeing the other parent? 5. Do you badmouth your child’s step-siblings or step-parent? These types of behaviors can place your child in an incredibly awkward position, and it is wrong for you to put them there… Continue Reading
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If you have need a best suitable serving your Child Custody Law experience, Divorce Lawyer in Spring TX the great process!
Spring TX Divorce Lawyer – Unfortunately, there are family law cases that involve one parent making allegations of substance abuse against the other parent. In some scenarios these allegations are just that- allegations- and no evidence exists in order to substantiate them. However, even in instances where these sort of allegations have no merit, an investigation will still need to be undertaken by the court to determine that your child is not in harm’s way. This can be a hectic and stressful time for you as a parent even if you know full well that the allegations being made against you are baseless and untrue. DRUG TESTING: A FIRST STEP TO DETERMINING WHETHER OR NOT A PARTY HAS A SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEM Spring Divorce Lawyer – Typically if you or your spouse request that the other party be drug or substance abuse tested then the judge will grant that motion and make it mutual. This means that the requestor of the drug test will be tested as well. This is seen as being fair by the court in that the treatment of both sides will be equal in the eyes of the law. I have seen judges order both parties to a child custody case be drug tested that afternoon at a specific testing facility near the courthouse with the results to be submitted to both attorneys and the judge within 48 hours. In certain instances, I have seen a judge call a drug testing facility and have an employee come to the courthouse immediately to have urine and hair specimens taken at the courthouse. Depending on the allegations and the judge’s interpretation of the subjective possibility of harm befalling your child he or she may order either of these types of drug tests for you and your opposing party. Costs of the drug test are split between you and your opposing party most of the time. HOW A POSITIVE DRUG TEST IMPACTS A CHILD CUSTODY MODIFICATION CASE Houston Divorce Lawyer – If you have filed a modification case against your ex-spouse due to your becoming aware that he or she is abusing a controlled substance a court will look at a positive drug test as one of a few factors when considering whether or not to grant the modification request. As I mentioned earlier the judge will need to consider the positive test result in the context of its potential impact on your child. A connection between the substance abuse and potential harm to your child will need to be strong in many cases to have an order modified. The reason being is that the basis of a child custody modification case in Texas is that the court will need to see and be presented with evidence to show that a substantial change in circumstances has occurred since the rendition of the previous order. This substantial change in circumstances can involve the circumstances of either yourself, your opposing party or your child. For example, our office recently represented a father who filed a custody modification lawsuit here in Harris County. Our client had become aware of his ex-wife’s having abused prescription medicine that had been prescribed to treat her depression. Her depression had gone untreated and unmedicated for some time, and when the diagnosis was finally received the opposing party began to almost immediately abuse her medicines. The family law court that had jurisdiction over her case determined that the nature of her health problems being what they were, in combination with the substance abuse that was occurring were strong enough factors to determine that the mother was no longer able to care for our client’s son. Divorce Lawyer in Houston – Our client testified to the fact that the opposing party had moved three times in the past four months and had been bouncing from job to job as well during that same time period. This caused a great deal of turmoil in the life of the parties’ elementary school-aged son. As the mother’s abuse of prescription drugs, lifestyle choices and changes in her temperament began to affect the child the judge found sufficient change in circumstances to award our client with primary conservatorship of the child. GOALS OF THE COURT IN A LAWSUIT INVOLVING POTENTIAL SUBSTANCE ABUSE BY A PARENT All family law cases in Texas that involve a child necessarily have the judge take the viewpoint of what would be in the best interests of your child. It is not simply what is best for the health of you, or your ex-spouse or anything along those lines. While those are important considerations, obviously, the most important thing in regard to your health is how it impacts the life of your child. It is when your decisions regarding what substances to put into your body begin to have an effect on your child that a judge will become concerned to the point where the custody arrangement between you and your ex-spouse may need to be altered. Divorce Attorney Houston – If you believe that your ex-spouse is abusing substances, be they legal or illegal, it is up to you to bring this to the attention of the court. If you do not go about modifying your orders in this way there is no other avenue for you to turn to seek a permanent and long-lasting change that can impact your child… Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable serving your Law experience, Houston Family Law Lawyers in Texas the great process!
WHAT HAPPENS DURING AN INITIAL CONSULTATION? When you first meet with an attorney in our office, we will obtain a history and facts about you, your spouse, and your family. Spring Divorce Lawyers – The divorce attorney will look over your history together as well as any assets accumulated during your marriage and advise you of the law regarding child custody, alimony, and property rights, as well as counsel you on how to best protect yourself and your children legally. HOW LONG WILL MY INITIAL CONSULTATION LAST? A typical consultation will last from 30 minutes to two hours. Depending on the facts of your case and how long it takes you to disclose everything, you should prepare for a longer session, as it may take the attorney some time to go over all of your options with you. WHAT SHOULD I BRING TO MY INITIAL CONSULTATION? You are not required to bring anything with you. However, if you have been served court papers by your spouse, or if you have a separation agreement drafted between you and your spouse, these would be good to bring to your appointment. MAY I BRING ANYONE WITH ME TO MY INITIAL CONSULTATION? For this appointment, it is best to come on your own. Your relationship is between you and your spouse, and we want to make sure we get all the facts from your point of view without outside influence. Bringing in a third-party can also nullify your attorney-client privacy privileges. MAY I BRING MY CHILDREN TO MY INITIAL CONSULTATION? If it can be helped, it would be better to not bring your children. We understand that it may be difficult to find a relative or sitter to look after your child depending on the time of your appointment. However, we will be discussing some very serious and sensitive topics during your consultation. Some of these topics will involve your children themselves. If you cannot find someone to look after your children, they may wait in our lobby. We will have crayons and other activities for them. HOW MUCH WILL MY CASE COST? Family Law Lawyer Houston – Every individual case is different. Different factors like the length of your marriage, the number of children you have, and the number of assets to be divided between the two of you all affect the cost of a case… Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable Family Law experience, Family Lawyers Houston in Texas the great process!
Family Lawyer in Houston – For an adoption to take place the parental rights of either the child’s mother or father must first be terminated by a court. A petition for adoption would be filed in the court with jurisdiction over the child. The petition will be filed by either the potential adoptive parent or parents if two persons are married. Both married people must be participants in the adoption case. The suit would need to be filed after a point at which the child has resided with the adoptive parents for at least six months. As we discussed a few days prior, an ad litem attorney may be appointed by the judge in order to represent interests of the child. The court will do some “detective” work and investigate the criminal histories and backgrounds of the potential adoptive parents. A study of the family’s home will be conducted as well with the results being reported back to the judge. A social study must be conducted in order to terminate the parental rights of both biological parents of the child. Assuming that the results show the judge that allowing the adoption would be in the best interests of the child the adoption petition will be granted. SITUATIONS THAT WILL ALLOW FOR THE TERMINATION OF THE BIOLOGICAL PARENT’S RIGHTS Divorce Houston – There are basically two situations in which parental rights of biological parents can be terminated: 1. If the judge finds that the rules regarding termination as set forth in the Texas Family Code justify the termination and said termination is in the best interests of the child 2. A biological parent has voluntarily relinquished the child by signing an affidavit signing over their rights to the state agency or other person. If you are a father and you do not register with the State’s paternity registry your parental rights may be terminated as well. HOW TO START THE PROCESS OF ADOPTING A CHILD Either a licensed adoption agency or you as a potential adoptive parent can file a lawsuit to begin the process to terminate the parental rights of the biological parents. If you are working through an agency they will have an attorney to do this for you. If you are going about the process without an agency you will need to hire an attorney to file the termination lawsuit on your behalf. Once the lawsuit is filed the process proceeds as described in the opening section of this blog post. MODIFYING A COURT’S PRIOR ORDERS FOR CUSTODY. CHILD SUPPORT AND VISITATION Houston Family Law Lawyer – If you find yourself in a position where the current orders in place in regard to child custody, visitation or child support are not working for you and your family due to a change in circumstances then you can file a modification lawsuit in the same court that issued those prior orders. Before you decide to do so, however, it makes a lot of sense to contact a family law attorney to determine if doing so is a prudent step to take. The reason being is that a court’s analysis of your situation will be fairly complex and will involve many subjective factors that the judge will consider. For starters, in your petition to modify a prior court order, you will need to submit an affidavit to the judge which describes the change in circumstances your family has seen and how that changes requires an update/modification of the prior orders. That affidavit must lay out the circumstances clearly to the judge or you risk having your case dismissed prior to even getting a hearing date. For the most part, if you are attempting to file a modification case within one year of a prior order being signed by the judge your odds of success in a modification suit are extremely low. MODIFYING POSSESSION OF A CHILD Family Lawyers in Houston – Again, I would advise that you speak to an attorney before filing a modification suit regarding possession and visitation. The most important factor is that a judge will seriously evaluate whether or not a significant change in circumstances is apparent in relation to either yourself, the other parent or your child. If it is clear to the judge that the visitation schedule either cannot work or is otherwise not in the best interests of the child for whatever reason then a modification may occur. What sort of circumstances would a court be looking for in order to modify visitation orders? From my experience, if your child’s other parent fails to take advantage of his or her periods of possession multiple times then that may be reason enough to modify the orders of possession. If the other parent has begun to engage in drug or alcohol use and that has affected the child then a modification may be appropriate. A prior client of the Law Office of Bryan Fagan hired us to help her modify a court order on possession after her ex-husband was arrested for DWI while their child was asleep in the backseat of the vehicle. Fortunately, nobody was injured and the child never actually woke up during the car ride or subsequent arrest of his father. However, our client did not want to put her child in harm’s way again and had us file a modification suit immediately. We resolved the issues in mediation without ever having to go to a hearing or trial. A court would surely have determined that the ex-husband’s behavior was not in the best interest of the child and offered a significant risk of immediate harm. With this in mind, it made sense for the opposing party to settle out of court rather than to risk a worse result in a hearing. QUESTIONS ON ADOPTION OR MODIFICATION CASES? CONTACT THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN Family Law Attorneys Houston – To learn more about either of the subjects that we covered in today’s blog please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan today… Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable serving your Family Law experience, Houston Family Attorney in Texas the great process!
Divorce Attorneys in Houston – If it is unknown who the biological father of your child is, a paternity suit may be filed in order to make a legal determination of parentage. The reason that this type of family lawsuit may be filed is to not only create a legal relationship between parent and child but to also create orders related to child support, visitation and conservatorship over the child. The persons that are able to file a paternity lawsuit in Texas include: 1. The child him or herself 2. The mother of the child 3. The potential father whose paternity is to be determined in the lawsuit 4. If the mother is deceased a relative within the second degree of consanguinity 5. A government agency 6. A child placement or adoption agency 7. A representative for any deceased party that would ordinarily be able to file a paternity suit 8. An intended parent of the child Who can be a presumed father? Houston Divorce Attorneys – A man who is recognized to be the father of a child is a presumed father in the context of a paternity suit in Texas. Their status as a presumed father can either be confirmed by a paternity suit or rebutted depending on the results of the lawsuit. For instance, if you are a man who is married to the mother of the child at the time of the child’s birth or if you are married to the mother of the child and the child was born before the 301st day after the date the marriage ended due to divorce then you are the presumed father of the child. Another method to become the presumed father of a child is if you married the mother after the child was born and you voluntarily acknowledged paternity of the child. The following circumstances must also be in place: 1. You must file an assertion of parentage with the State Vital Statistics Office 2. You were voluntarily put on the child’s birth certificate as the child’s father, or 3. You promised in writing to support the child as your own son or daughter There is also a way that you can become the presumed father of a child by default. If during the first two years of the child’s life you reside with the child continually and represent to other people that you are the father of the child then you can become a presumed father. This is somewhat akin to becoming a “common-law” father. How you are determined to be an acknowledged father? Divorce Attorneys Houston – If you claim to be the father of a child and have signed an acknowledgment of paternity along with the mother of the child you are now an acknowledged father in the eyes of the law. This form is filed with the Bureau of Vital Statistics and is a sworn affirmation that you are the biological father of the child. Instead of having to go through a paternity lawsuit, this document adjudicates you as the father without going through a formal legal process to have a judge make a decision as to who the father of the child is. How soon can a paternity suit be filed in Texas? Any time before the birth of the child a paternity suit may be filed in Texas. However, if there is no acknowledged or adjudicated father in the picture then the paternity suit may be filed at any point in time. On the other hand, if the child has a presumed father then the lawsuit must be filed prior to the child’s fourth birthday. An exception to this four year requirement comes into play if the court determines that the presumed father and mother did not reside together or have sexual relations with one another during the likely time period in which the child was conceived. Likewise, if you as the presumed father mistakenly believed that the child was not yours due to misrepresentations made by either the mother or another person then the four year lime limit does not apply either. You’ve filed a paternity suit- what happens next? Divorce Attorney in Houston – A genetic test will be ordered by the judge in your case. The costs for the testing will likely be split evenly between you and the other party. If your lawsuit was filed prior to the birth of the child the judge will wait until the child is born to order genetic testing of the baby. The samples will be sent to a lab to have a report written for the judge to review. Right away the case will be dismissed in the event that the man who was tested is determined not to be the father of the child. In the event that the testing shows the man to be the father with 99% or greater probability the judge will rule that he is indeed the newly adjudicated father of the child. Once there is an adjudicated father in place the court is able to determine visitation, support and custody of the child in relation to mother and father. Of course, if at that point the mother and father can come to an agreement on these issues the court will defer to the decisions made by the parties. So long as the best interests of the child are protected by any settlement agreement then the court will approve an order based on either a mediated settlement agreement or an informal settlement agreement. Questions on paternity suits in Texas? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan today Houston Family Law Attorneys – If you beli eve that a paternity suit will be necessary for you and your child please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Likewise, if you believe yourself to be the father of a child it is critical to speak to an attorney to learn more about your rights… Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable Family Law experience, Houston Family Lawyers in Texas the great process!
Houston Family Law Attorney – Many of the subjects that we’ve discussed so far in our discussion of Texas Family Law Courts are very well known. Child support, property division upon divorce and child custody are all concepts that immediately come to mind when considering the implications of filing a divorce or child custody case in Texas. They may even be issues that have kept you awake at night due to your not knowing exactly how everything is going to fall into place for your particular case. On the other end of the spectrum are circumstances that occur in many family law cases in Texas but do not immediately jump to mind for most folks. One of those issues are ad litem representatives being appointed to your case. It is possible that not only have you not considered this subject much, but that you’ve also never even heard the term before. The purpose of today’s blog is to explore this subject in greater detail and to help you process how an ad litem can impact the lives or you and your family. Ad litem defined for a family law case in Texas Divorce Lawyers in Houston – The word “ad litem” may have multiple definitions if you were to go online and look up all the different contexts in which it is applicable for. However, for our purposes we can think of an ad litem as a person who is appointed by a judge (either by the request of a party to a lawsuit or at the motion of the judge him or herself) whose role in the case is to protect the interests of a child or other party that is involved in the case. For the most part, it is children that the ad litem ends up representing but this is not always the case. Persons that are declared mentally incompetent are represented by an ad litem in many instances due to their inability to understand and process the proceedings of a case themselves. In many CPS cases ad litem attorneys are appointed to search for a missing parent who has not answered the court’s notification of a legal case that involves him or her. The ad litem would utilize whatever contact information is available to him or her and will seek to locate and inform the parent of the proceedings. If the parent cannot be located the ad litem reports back to the judge with that information. Amicus attorney vs. Ad litem attorney Family Lawyer Houston – An amicus attorney functions in some of the same ways as an ad litem attorney but acts more so as the eyes and ears of the court outside of the courtroom. The amicus attorney conducts interviews of the parties, children and other relevant persons involved in your divorce or child custody case and reports directly to the judge with their opinions. A judge is tasked with making decisions that are in the best interests of the children involved. The amicus attorney does their job with this responsibility in mind and will assist the court as much as possible in this endeavor. The amicus attorney does not work for either party individually or a child of the case. The amicus is an independent practitioner that is appointed by the judge to help the judge with decision making. Grandparent Visitation in Texas Family Law Cases Divorce Lawyers Houston – Let’s jump around some and discuss what rights grandparents have in Texas to visitation with their grandchildren. The idea of the “nuclear family” as portrayed in such famous television shows as “Leave it to Beaver”, is fast becoming a structure of the past. Today, blended and multi generational households are becoming much more commonplace. With grandparents living with grandchildren more and more it would make some sense that they would have a special role to play in the upbringing of children. You may even be under the impression that as a result of that “special” relationship, grandparents are afforded special rights to visitation with their grandchildren no matter if the child’s parents remain married. The fact is that grandparents do not have special rights carved out for visitation in Texas. The law in Texas is such that if a parent denies a grandparent visitation it is assumed that the parent is acting in the best interest of the child. However, grandparents can file their own lawsuits to gain visitation or can even see to modify prior orders that were already in place. The law is such that grandparents will not have an easy time winning a case, however. Let’s discuss some of the circumstances where a grandparent could be successful in attempting to gain visitation with their grandchildren. First and foremost, a grandparent must be the biological or adopted grandparent of a child in order to proceed with a lawsuit. This means that if you are a step grand parent that you are out of luck and cannot be awarded visitation as a result of a family lawsuit in Texas. Your child’s parent rights to your grandchild must remain in place in order to proceed with a lawsuit as well. A judge will need to determine that your being denied visitation with your grandchild will impair your grandchild’s physical health and emotional well being. The last requirement that you must meet is that it is necessary to show the court that you are the grandparent of a child whose parent (your child) has been: 1. Incarcerated during the three month period prior to your having filed the lawsuit 2. Found to be incompetent by a court 3. Is Deceased 4. Does not have court ordered possession or access to your grandchild With this number of requirements in mind it is critical to make sure that you have a strong case prior to proceeding to court. I would advise you to meet with an attorney to learn about your rights and your circumstances prior to filing suit. Questions on ad litem attorneys, grandparent rights or any other subject in family law? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan today Family Attorney Houston – If you have additional questions on any of the subject matter we’ve discussed today please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan… Continue Reading On the off chance that you have require a best reasonable Law Office encounter, Divorce Lawyer in Spring TX the immense procedure!
Spring TX Divorce Lawyer – The customer is always right. We all grew up going to stores, restaurants and other businesses where above the door or by the cash register a sign hung that read that very saying. In a competitive marketplace, where the public’s dollar is highly sought after, making an effort to let your customer or client know that they’re number one is important. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan believes in the importance of providing great customer service. We place our client’s interests before our own and strive to go above and beyond in the field of customer service. If you’re reading through the blogs on the website for the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, it’s safe to assume that at the very least you are considering beginning a family law case of your own or considering our office for employment in response to a case filed against you. The circumstances notwithstanding hiring a lawyer is a huge decision. Not only are you paying money for their services, but you’re also placing your trust and the wellbeing of your family into their care. You probably have many questions such as: 1. What happens when you pay your retainer fee and then don’t hear back from your attorney for some time? 2. Should you be worried? 3. What then can a client do to help make their divorce case run smoothly? There are a few highlights from my experiences as a practicing attorney that I would like to share with the blog reading public at large and a couple pieces of advice I can provide that come to mind immediately. YOUR CASE IS IMPORTANT TO US Spring Divorce Lawyer – To begin, I will tell any client I’m working with that I fully understand that unless they hear my voice on a somewhat regular basis it is assumed that their case file is buried beneath a mountain of paperwork on my desk. This is most certainly not the case, but, if I were a client who was new to a firm, I would seek to establish some ground rules with my attorney right off the bat? How often will I hear from my lawyer? What are the first few weeks of my case going to look like? What is the plan of action as it pertains to my case? These are all relevant questions to raise in your initial phone call or two with your lawyer. HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE COMMUNICATED WITH? Point number two: figure out with your attorney how you want to be communicated with? Is it by: 1. Phone 2. E-mail or 3. Text or 4 . Mail? we do not suffer from lack of options to get a hold of someone in our day and age. Sometimes it’s as simple as figuring out the best method to convey information to one another that can really get the attorney-client relationship off on the right foot. From an attorney’s perspective, putting the ball in the client’s court- having he or she determine the rules of engagement- takes the guesswork out of how to deliver an important message. IT’S YOUR CASE Houston Divorce Lawyer – As an attorney, I always tell my client that this is their case- not mine. I may be the one working with the opposing attorney or party and setting up courtroom hearings and mediations, but at the end of the day it is the client’s case that is at stake. They are the decision makers. I am the person who’s there to give advice based on my experiences in an attempt to avoid mistakes and errors that can either lengthen a case unnecessarily or result in a bad result when it comes to time with their children or distribution of their property. I’d make the claim that if a client takes ownership of their case and becomes fully invested not only in the end results but in the process it takes to complete the case that will go a long ways towards making the divorce process a relatively smooth one. RESPONSIVENESS TO REQUESTS Divorce Lawyer in Houston – Finally- I would say that a client who is responsive to requests is especially helpful during a divorce. At the beginning of a case there is a fair amount of paperwork to be done that includes basic information that is needed by our office about you and your family. In addition, courts require that participants to a divorce case file financial information that detail their monthly income and expenditures for the court to consider when and if they need to award spousal or child support. After that, if the opposing party requests additional information from a client (known as Discovery) our office will need a client to work closely with us to retrieve and turn in various documents that are relevant to the divorce. My point is that throughout the divorce there will be times that an attorney will need their client to be responsive to requests for documents, information and requests for various items. If a client is attentive and quick to respond it keeps the train moving along, so to speak. If it takes a week to get a response from the client that can delay your case unnecessarily. Make no mistake- it is your attorney’s job to ensure that your case moves along smoothly and efficiently- not the client’s. However- it is the client’s life that is directly affected by the proceedings and as a result it is imperative that they take ownership of the process and are attentive to the requests of their counsel. FINAL THOUGHTS My final thoughts on the subject of attorney-client communication is that attorneys function similarly to your accountant, your mechanic or the person you’re the closest to on earth- yourself. Attorneys are infamously busy, over-worked and sometimes not the best with getting in touch with clients after a missed phone call. Divorce Attorney Houston – However, I would ask a little patience on behalf of myself and my fellow members of the bar. If you haven’t heard back from your lawyer after a day or so, rather than stewing silently- you’re better off calling the lawyer again… Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable serving your Law experience, Family Law Attorney Houston in Texas the great process!
Houston Family Lawyer – When the subject of child support is raised with a person going through a divorce, he or she is sure to have an opinion. If you are the person who is going to be on the hook for paying child support it is likely that you think that the amount that you will have to pay is too much. That’s not to say that you don’t think supporting your child is a good idea, or that you don’t love your child. It’s just that being made to pay money that goes directly to your ex spouse can cause some mixed emotions about the subject. On the other hand, if you are the parent who is set to receive child support as a result of a divorce you likely think the guidelines set forth by our State Legislature leave a lot to be desired. You’re losing an entire income as a result of your divorce, and a smaller amount of support from your ex spouse is supposed to make all that better? Has anyone taken a look at what daycare costs nowadays? Regardless of your perspective or position when it comes to child support, there is information out there that we need to talk about. I’m not here to sway your opinion on the subject, whatsoever. My goal today is to present the facts and a little of my own personal experience with handling child support matters for clients in family law cases. You can form your own opinions based on that information. What will you stand to receive (or pay) in child support as a result of your divorce? Houston Divorce Lawyers – As I mentioned a moment ago, the Texas Family Code has within it certain guideline amounts of child support that are to be paid by one parent to the other for the purpose of helping to support a child. The “net resources” of the paying parent are subject to the following percentages when it comes to child support: -20% of net resources for one child -25% of net resources for two children -30% of net resources for three children -35% of net resources for four children -40% of net resources for five children If you are the parent of more than five children, you can expect to pay no less than 40% but no more than 50% of your total net resources in monthly child support. The most frequently used word from this past section was “net resources”. What exactly does this term refer to? Net Resources defined in regard to child support Houston Divorce Attorney – Net resources, for the purposes of calculating a person’s child support obligation, includes salary, overtime, tips, commissions, bonuses, self employment income, retirement benefits and even unemployment benefits. From these sources of income, social security taxes, federal income taxes and health insurance costs for the child(ren) will be subtracted in order to arrive at your net resources. While I just laid out net resources as a concept in two sentences it is important to note that the calculation of this figure can be a much debated component of your divorce. This is especially true if either you or your spouse (whichever will be responsible for paying child support) has multiple sources of income. In this case, it is critical to have an attorney who is experienced in helping clients calculate child support based on multiple sources of income. Whether you are attempting to increase or decrease a child support figure, having an attorney to assist can make a huge difference for you. How is child support paid? Divorce Lawyer Houston – Wage withholding orders are typically filed along with the other “Closing” documents to your divorce. This wage withholding order identifies you as the paying parent responsible for child support and is sent to the court for the judge’s signature. Once received it will be forwarded to your employer and the amount of child support that you owe will be deducted on either a monthly or bi-monthly basis. This is a good thing for both the paying spouse and the receiving spouse. The paying spouse does not have to worry about falling behind (supposing that you maintain employment) in paying child support. It’s one less thing to have to think about, basically. If your child’s other parent has a problem with the amount of child support that has been paid all you have to do is point to the ledger maintained by the Attorney General’s Office. The truth is in black and white. Instead of having to make payments directly to your ex spouse your payments will filter through the Child Support Disbursement Office for the Attorney General. If you are the parent who receives child support, a wage withholding order keeps you from having to directly ask your ex-spouse for child support each month. Furthermore, you will not be receiving partial or missed payments with an order in place. It is completely out of your spouse’s hands assuming that he or she maintains employment at the employer who holds the wage withholding order. Likewise, if you have to take your ex-spouse back to court for an enforcement hearing regarding missed child support payments, all you and your attorney would have to do is access your child support payment records online and see just how far behind your ex spouse is. These causes of action are fairly straightforward as far as enforcement cases are concerned and the wage withholding order assists a great deal in this regard. Questions regarding child support? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan today Houston Divorce – It is understandable to have questions regarding an important and complex subject like child support. If you find yourself wanting more information about child support please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan today… Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable serving your Divorce Law experience, Divorce Lawyer in Spring TX the great process!
Spring Divorce Lawyer – Texas is, as any family lawattorney will tell you, a community property state. This means that there is a legal presumption in our State that if all property that is acquired by you and your spouse during the course of your marriage is presumed to be community property- jointly owned. Therefore, there is a burden on a divorcing spouse to prove that a piece of property- no matter what type of property- is actually separately owned. We’ve defined what community property is in the context of Texas family law, which begs the question of what exactly separate property is. By definition, separate property is the property owned by a spouse prior to marriage or acquired by a spouse during marriage by gift or inheritance. Awards related to personal injuries are also included as separate property. What this all means for your divorce is that if an item is determined to be part of your or your spouse’s separate estate, cannot be divided in a divorce. Once the separate property is identified and decided upon by the judge in your trial it will be allocated according to which spouse it belongs to. PROVING SEPARATE PROPERTY IN A TRIAL Spring TX Divorce Lawyer – This is one of the most important questions that you will encounter in your divorce if your case actually makes it to trial. Evidence, fairly overwhelming evidence at that, needs to be shown in order to trump the presumption in place that all property belonging to spouses in a marriage is considered community property. When the property was received as well as how the property was received is critically important. Suppose that you had a piece of property that was sold and that proceeds of that sale were deposited into a jointly held bank account or otherwise invested. The concept of tracing would come in to play as the separately held property has since been turned into what could be considered community income. Often times you will need to either have kept great records of any transaction like this or have an expert witness who is available to testify to the history of the funds and where and how the property should be considered your separate property. SPLIT IT ALL DOWN THE MIDDLE? Houston Divorce Lawyer – It is not so simple to just assume that if your case makes it before a judge that he or she will just take all the community property and split it down the middle, 50/50. Rather, a judge will take into consideration all of the evidence presented in your trial and make a “just and right” division of the community property based on that determination. Keep in mind that which of you or your spouse ends up with the children primarily plays a role in this determination as does whether or not either of you played a role in the dissolution of the marriage through infidelity or other causes. Prior bad acts can be punished by having your spouse be awarded a disproportionate share of the community estate. A basic run-down of the factors that a judge will use to determine what a just and right division of the property looks like are: 1. Special needs of you and your spouse. Are one of you disabled and unable to work? 2. Separate property allocation. Did your spouse come into the marriage with a great deal of separate property whereas you have virtually none? This may sway a judge to award you with a greater than fifty percent share of the community estate. 3. Differing abilities to earn an income. If your spouse is a doctor and you’re a teacher then his or her ability to earn a large income significantly outpaces your own. With this in mind a judge can even out this disparity by awarding you a larger share of the community estate if he or she deems that appropriate 4. Fault in the breakup of your marriage. I alluded to this point earlier in this blog post. If your cheating has caused your spouse to file for divorce then you may be looking at receiving a relatively small portion of your community estate. This is especially true if you spent community property funds on hotel rooms, meals and gifts for the “other man/woman”. PUTTING A DOLLAR VALUE ON THE PROPERTY IN A DIVORCE Divorce Lawyer in Houston – An inventory and appraisement is typically one of the first forms that your attorney will ask you to fill out for him or her. This form asks you to list out each piece of property that you own, your spouse owns and your community estate owns and to estimate a value for it. This gives your attorney, your spouse’s attorney and the judge a good idea of what you believe to be in play for your divorce from a property standpoint. The inventory is a taken as an affidavit, meaning that you will sign your name to it and have it notarized before submitting it to the court. A judge will take these inventories and utilize them as evidence in your trial and will base his or her decisions regarding property in large part on what the inventories have to say. TOMORROW’S TOPIC- SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE ESSENTIALS IN A TEXAS DIVORCE Divorce Attorney Houston – Stay tuned tomorrow for another blog post that covers an aspect of Texas family courts and family law. Spousal maintenance, or alimony as it is sometimes referred to as is another popular area of the law that our attorneys are asked about with some frequency. We will break this subject down tomorrow and help you to understand the points that are important in a divorce case in Texas… Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable Divorce Law experience, Family Law Attorneys Houston in Texas the great process!
Houston Family Law Lawyers – Today will be our third installment in the Law Office of Bryan Fagan’s series of blog posts on Family Law Court– what to expect from a case and how to best prepare for those situations and concepts. If you have not already done so I would highly recommend that you go back and read through parts one and two. I’ll wait until you get caught up… Ok, now that you’ve read through parts one and two we can jump right into our third topic- divorce. Yes, divorce is probably the most widely litigated type of family law case in southeast Texas and for good reason. Divorce encompasses the two most important areas in most people’s lives- their children and their money. With that said, what are the basic requirements of a marriage and how do those requirements tie into family law cases? Read on to find out more. REQUIREMENTS FOR A MARRIAGE IN TEXAS At its core, marriage in Texas is between two people who are over the age of eighteen. The reason being is that a person must be at least eighteen years of age in order to obtain a marriage license. If you are under eighteen then you will need to get your parent’s permission or a court order to get married. Once your marriage license is obtained you must wait seventy two hours in order to actually get married. I know, I know- the wait is killing you! Don’t worry- he/she isn’t going anywhere and neither are you most likely. Your marriage ceremony must be performed by someone like a priest, rabbi, minister or a judge. These are folks who are authorized under the law to perform a marriage ceremony. WHAT EXACTLY IS A COMMON LAW MARRIAGE? Family Law Lawyer Houston – This is a marriage that is provided all the rights, protections and responsibilities of an official, licensed marriage like those we discussed in the previous section. A common law marriage involves a relationship between two adult people who: 1. Have lived together as spouses 2. Represented to others that they were in fact married and 3. Have actually agreed to be married to one another. If only two out of the three components listed above are met then there is no common law marriage. Affidavit of Informal Marriage An official document can be signed and registered with your county clerk stating that you are from this point forward common law married. This makes your informal marriage more formal (try to wrap your head around that). Common Law Divorce? If you or your spouse want to end your common law marriage there is no such thing as a common law divorce. If you are married whether by common law or ceremonially the only way to get a divorce is the “standard” way like any other married couple. There is no separate common law divorce that you would be able to get. If you and your spouse are in a common law marriage together and have separated and lived apart for two years there is a presumption that there is no marriage. However, this presumption can be overcome with evidence. ANNULMENT VS. DIVORCE An annulment is something altogether different as opposed to a divorce. A divorce is the voiding of a marriage that at one time was valid. An annulment is the declaration that a marriage was never valid and was therefore void from the get-go. Spring Divorce Lawyers – This means that after an annulment is granted, it would be as if your marriage never actually took place. Property would still be divided in an annulment and there would be orders issued by a court regarding any children of the voided marriage. Grounds for an annulment are as follows: 1. If you and the person you married were related by either blood or adoption 2. Either you or your spouse were previously married and that marriage had not been dissolved at the time of your marriage 3. Either you or your spouse were under the age of 18 and did not have the permission of the minor’s parent or guardian to marry 4. Either you or your spouse were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the marriage 5. Either you or your spouse were determined to be impotent 6. Either you or your spouse were determined to be mentally incompetent 7. The marriage was brought about by fraud or duress 8. The marriage was brought about by being misled regarding a prior divorce The law in Texas requires that as soon as you find out about one of the above circumstances that you immediately move out of the home and stop living with the other party. If not, you risk not being able to get an annulment and would instead have to get a traditional divorce. OTHER REQUIREMENTS AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS REGARDING DIVORCE Texas is a “no fault state” which means that a divorce may be granted without either you or your spouse being at fault for some reason that led to the breakup of the marriage. There are fault grounds- infidelity, abandonment, abuse, etc.- that can be cited in a Divorce Petition, however, that can influence how much property each spouse is awarded in your divorce. Finally, you must have been: 1. A resident of Texas for at least six months prior to filing for divorce here and 2. A resident of the county in which you are filing for ninety (90) days. Spring Divorce Lawyer – Otherwise, Texas does not have jurisdiction over the case and your divorce proceed… Continue Reading |
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