If you have need a best suitable service your Law experience, Committing family violence has a dramatic effect on many phases of your life in Texas the great process!
Houston Family Law Lawyers: If you have committed an act of family violence then the consequences of your actions go well beyond being placed under arrest. For instance, if you are in the midst of a divorce case then it is likely that your spouse will have applied for and been awarded a protective order limiting your access to your home, your spouse and most importantly your children. A permanent protective order can go into place that lasts for an extended period of time and can turn your life into an absolute mess. Today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan will discuss these matters in greater detail including what the immediate and long lasting effects can be of committing an act of violence against a family member are. Beyond the regret and emotional suffering that you are likely to go through, there are legal and societal consequences that you need to be aware of as well. RESTRICTED USE AND POSSESSION OF FIREARMS The Law Office of Bryan Fagan is located in north Harris County, adjacent to large suburbs such as Spring, The Woodlands, Tomball, and Cypress just to name a few. These areas are home to some of the highest number of persons with a license to carry a concealed weapon in our state. That’s not to say that this is a good or a bad thing. I mention it only to give some context to this section of our blog. As a result of having been found guilty of having committed an act of family violence, you may also face potential charges relating to your ability to possess a firearm. The rationale is for this is pretty obvious and is one to consider before harming a member of your family with physical violence. RESTRICTIONS RELATED TO THE CUSTODY OF YOUR CHILDREN Family Law Lawyer Houston: The ability to be with your children can be put in jeopardy if you are convicted of having committed an act of family violence. There is in Texas a presumption that it is in the best interests of a child to have continuous and active involvement with both of their parents. Joint Managing Conservatorship, a set-up wherein both you and your spouse share nearly equally in the rights and duties related to raising your children, is what is typically ordered either by agreement or rendered verdict in a Texas divorce. However, that presumption can be rebutted in the event that you have committed an act of family violence. A court would consider whether you used physical force intentionally against your spouse, your child within two years of your divorce lawsuit having been filed. Physical abuse means sexual abuse as well. This is a far-reaching and extremely damaging aspect of your having committed family violence either in the two years prior to a divorce or while the divorce itself is occurring. GETTING DEPORTED AS A RESULT OF HAVING COMMITTED FAMILY VIOLENCE. If you are living in this country illegally and you commit an act of family violence, you can be arrested for having done so and risk the possibility of deportation. At the very least, you can never be granted status as a legal alien in the United States if you have been found guilty of having committed an act of family violence. On the other hand, if you are in the United State illegally and have become a victim of family violence then you may apply for legal status if your sponsor was the person who committed the act of family violence against you. PROTECTIVE ORDERS AND FAMILY VIOLENCE Spring Divorce Lawyers: Getting a protective order granted by a judge that goes against you is a huge impediment to achieving any of the goals that you had previously set out for yourself in your divorce case. A protective order that lasts anywhere from one to two months is known as an emergency protective order. It can be issued against you without a formal hearing after you had been arrested for committing an act of family violence. It is from this order that your ability to possess a firearm can be restricted. A Protective Order as laid out in the Texas Family Code can be filed against you during a divorce case. A temporary protective order can be issued without a formal hearing on the subject in the event that your spouse shows a judge that there is an immediate need for a protective order based on their description of the circumstances at play. Should the judge determine that there is an immediate threat of harm apparent in your situation, to either your spouse or your children, then the order will be issued. At that point, there will be a hearing in which you will be able to state defenses as to why a protective order should not be granted on a permanent basis. This “permanent” protective order can last for up to two years from the date of the hearing. You would risk having a protective order granted against you in the event that the judge finds an act of family violence has occurred and is likely to occur again in the future. QUESTIONS ABOUT DIVORCE, CHILD CUSTODY AND PROTECTIVE ORDERS? CONTACT THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN TODAY Kingwood Divorce Attorney: If you have been the victim of an act of family violence and need to seek a protective order please take steps to protect yourself and your children. Once you have done so consider speaking to an attorney with a strong desire to protect their clients and advocate for their rights. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan are those type of attorneys. We represent clients from all different backgrounds across southeast Texas and would be honored to do the same for you and your family … Continue Reading
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If you have need a best suitable service your Houston Texas Law experience, How your Children can succeed in School after a Divorce, Part Two on Texas the great process!
Family Lawyer in Houston: Parents like yourself can feel overburdened and stressed out in even the best family situations. If you add a heated divorcecase to the mix of school, extracurricular activities, social obligations and family time then those feelings can be made to feel even more overwhelming. When times get hectic, our schedules can get out of whack and it is easy to do whatever it takes to make it through the day. Take out meals for dinner, no set schedule for homework and multi-tasking are unfortunately common in these types of situations. This is one area that you as a parent going through a divorce can really take the initiative is to improve the academic life of your child. We discussed in yesterday’s blog post how communication with your spouse is essential to establishing rules and parameters for parenting during the divorce. Again I will state that consistency and stability are the hallmarks of success in school for your child. If he or she understands that there are expectations for their performance in completing school tasks at home then it is likely that their grades will improve. Understanding that whoever’s house at which he or she is staying will have the same rules as the other house is important as well. At a certain point, your divorce becomes a business transaction rather than an emotional transaction. I understand that this is your spouse and your family we are discussing and nothing should take away from how much you love your child and on some level likely care for your spouse as well. However, if we remove the emotion from the situation as much as possible and focus on the objectives that you have created for yourself we can see that approaching the divorce like a business negotiation can be advantageous. In the area of your child’s success in school, your spouse and you can negotiate and discuss these commonly held goals and objectives on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. Approach the talks like you would a phone call with a client or co-worker. Maintain professionalism and décor and don’t take anything personally. I realize that this is easier said than done since you will be talking about your child but if you can make an effort I believe it will be quite beneficial to you. For this conversation you and your spouse are not competitors or adversaries- you are co-parenting towards mutually held goals. If that spirit de accord continues on for the other parts of your divorce then that is for all the better. YOUR POSSESSION SCHEDULE CAN BECOME THE HOMEWORK SCHEDULE Houston Family Law Lawyer: In your divorce, you may end up following a possession schedule based on the Standard Possession Order contained in the Texas Family Code. This possession schedule will have you being with your child either during the week plus every other weekend or every other weekend plus a weeknight during the week. Whatever position you find yourself in you need to work with your spouse to ensure homework assignments are completed satisfactorily and on time. In the event that your child has a multi-day assignment or project that is due on a Monday morning, for example, it is not fair for you to not have worked on the project with your child during the week only to lump the entire responsibility on your spouse to complete the assignment in a few days on the weekend. Instead, work with your child to map out his or her school schedule ahead of time and then use that mapping session to discuss the schedule with your spouse. Share responsibilities and materials to complete any assignments. I know on some level it may feel good to tell your spouse to buy their own set of map pencils, etc. but ultimately this does nothing but annoy your spouse and take time away from your child. USE TECHNOLOGY TO ASSIST WITH LOGISTICAL ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL CALENDAR Court dates, meetings with your attorney, doctor’s appointments and school events will fill your days during a typical divorce. Managing your own time can be difficult enough, not to mention coordinating your responsibilities with those of your child. Family Lawyers in Houston: Now add on to this the need to coordinate with your spouse how you all want to parent and handle school assignments and it’s enough to drive you berserk. Is there a solution to all this, you may be asking? I would advise anyone with this much on their plate (yourself included) to utilize technology wherever possible to avoid unnecessary work and stress. If you and your spouse can share an online calendar where school events, assignments and important dates can be added then I can almost guarantee your chances of success at parenting during the divorce will increase. Utilizing an online calendar allows you to add, remove and change important dates and deadlines so that both you and your spouse will operate off of the same information. Monthly, if not weekly, discussions about school coupled with an easy to read and understand calendar with those dates and assignments mapped out can go a long way towards helping to ease stress and place the emphasis on your child’s academic performance. With any luck, your child’s grades will not slip during your divorce and you and your spouse may even figure out that your ability to communicate is better than you give yourselves credit for previously. QUESTIONS ABOUT DIVORCE WITH CHILDREN? CONTACT THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN TODAY Family Law Attorneys Houston: Managing a divorce, your family and your career is quite a task. Having an experienced advocate by your side to help guide you through the process of getting a divorce can provide peace of mind. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan stand ready to assist you with any problem you may have associated with divorce or child custody. A free of charge consultation is only a phone call away. Our licensed family law attorneys can help to answer your questions and discuss the services our office can provide to you as a client … Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your divorce law experience, Can your children succeed in school after a divorce on Texas the great process!
Houston Family Law Attorneys: There is no way to avoid running into the realization that a divorce is difficult, especially for children. If you and your spouse attempting to work out the issues that were dividing you in marriage and were still not successful in doing so then at least you both had an opportunity to directly confront those issues. Your children are bystanders for the whole process- affected by every move you and your spouse make but not in a position to weigh in or move you both closer to reconciliation. This can be a helpless and extremely disheartening feeling. Just like we as adults have our own responsibilities to attend to at work on a daily basis, so too do our children at school. We like to think of this time away from home as a respite for our children- away from stress and anxiety they can focus their attention on studies and extracurricular activities rather than the drama that is going on at home. Unfortunately, this is not always how it works out. We hear stories about the child who succeeds on the playing field after a divorce. How the gridiron or the baseball diamond offered a child a means to escape their less than desirable at home reality. However, I would offer to you today that this type of scenario is the exception rather than the norm. School has likely become more stressful, tedious and trying for your child now that you and your spouse have begun divorce proceedings. There are ways to minimize the effects of your divorce on your child’s performance in the classroom. Today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan will discuss this subject with you all and will offer some tips on how to help your child achieve success academically during and after your divorce. YOUR CHILD COMES FIRST- ALWAYS Divorce Houston: In a divorce, everyone’s lives are thrown for a loop and it is normal to have concern for yourself more so during the divorce than in previous years. I talk to clients about how when you’re about to embark on a flight the flight attendants will tell you that in the event of a situation where the air-masks are lowered to always place your mask on first become helping your children do so. The thought is that if you can’t help yourself survive a low oxygen environment first, you will be unable to do so for your children. For the purposes of discussing divorce coping techniques, I do not think this principle applies. I would advise you as a parent to place the focus of your attention on your children before yourself in a divorce and in the time period after the divorce. The judge in your case will approach matters by looking at what is in the best interests of your child and it is this same standard that is best applied by you and your spouse as well. In your divorce, it’s likely that you and your spouse are having a difficult time finding consensus on any issue. It is always best, though, to attempt to communicate regarding your child and to find common ground when parenting him or her. Being on the same page with your spouse in regard to your child’s schooling is crucial. Your child needs to continue to be held accountable for his or her performance in the classroom while your divorce is ongoing. Assignments will come due, projects need to be worked on and tests need to be studied for. If your child senses that your attention is diverted it may direct him or her to focus their attention on other matters as well. Your divorce should not be an opportunity for your child’s grades to slip or behavior to worsen. If you and your spouse pay sufficient attention to their schooling it does not have to be this way. THINK AHEAD, WORK WITH YOUR SPOUSE AND AVOID PROBLEMS WITH YOUR CHILD IN SCHOOL Family Lawyers Houston: Like most things in life, communication is crucial when it comes to emphasizing and focusing your attention on your child’s schooling during a divorce. If you and your spouse can communicate your mutually held goals to one another this is a great first step. As we’ve already discussed, each of you has your own individually held goals for your divorce. Your child and their schooling offer an opportunity to be on the same team during this time of discord and conflict. Secondly, I would make sure your child’s teachers are aware of what is going on at home between you and your child’s other parent. This can help the teachers keep an eye out for academic or behavioral problems that your child may begin to exhibit now that your divorce is in full swing. It also creates an open line of communication for the teachers to get back with you in the event that is necessary. Finally, if you and your spouse can agree to a schedule for your child to adhere to in terms of after-school activities that will invariably benefit your child. No matter where your child is after school- whether your home or your spouse’s home- there will be an expectation that school work will be completed, chores accomplished and recreational time will be had as well. Will this level of coordination and teamwork be easy? No, most likely it won’t be. Will it be beneficial for your child? Absolutely. PART TWO OF OUR DISCUSSION ON MAINTAINING ACADEMIC SUCCESS FOR YOUR CHILD DURING A DIVORCE COMING TOMORROW The Law Office of Bryan Fagan is passionate about ensuring the successes of our clients and their families during a divorce. We would invite you all to return to our website this week as we further discuss the important subject of academic performance during a divorce … Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your law experience, Annulments in Texas Part Two the great process!
Houston Divorce Attorneys: In yesterday’s blog post I introduced the topic of annulments in Texas by discussing the situation of a potential client of the Law Office of Bryan Fagan who came in for a consultation last year. In short, she wanted to know if she could get an annulment from her friend whom she married after stumbling into a Harris County Municipal Court building while intoxicated. While you may never find yourself in her exact situation, there are different sorts of circumstances that can lead a person to need an annulment in Texas. Yesterday we discussed impotency and persons getting married while under age 18 as reasons to possibly annul a marriage. Today we will conclude our series of blog posts on annulments. Did the young lady who came in to talk to me find out that she could get an annulment? Read on to find out more. ANNULMENT GROUNDS OF- FRAUD OR DURESS If you were married due to your having been forced into the marriage then it is possible for you to get an annulment. The same goes for fraud- if you mistakenly relied on the assurance or promise of another person in order to marry him or her then you may have grounds to get an annulment. Let’s unpack this issue a little more. Fraud or force are available as grounds for an annulment if you did not live with the person after you were no longer under the control of the fraud or force. If this seems a little tricky to navigate then I would have to agree with you. Determining when you were no longer under the direct control of these factors will be up to the judge to figure out. The bottom line is that it would likely be in your best interest to get out of contact with your “spouse” as quickly as you can. ANNULMENT GROUND OF- CONCEALED DIVORCE Divorce Attorneys Houston: If your spouse did not disclose that he or she had been divorced previously then you have a limited opportunity with which to request an annulment of the marriage. If your spouse got their divorce fewer than thirty days prior to your marriage then you have a shot to get an annulment. However, there are three additional circumstances that must be met: 1. You must not have known about the divorce prior to your marriage and it must be shown that a reasonably prudent person would not have known about the divorce 2. Since you found out about the divorce you have not lived with your spouse 3. You must then file for an annulment within one year’s time of your marriage having begun ANNULMENT GROUND OF- MENTAL INCAPACITY Mental incapacitation is the next way that a marriage in Texas may be annulled. You or your spouse can attempt to argue to a judge that you lacked the ability to consent to the marriage or even understand what was occurring at the time you and your spouse became married. Likewise, if it is your spouse who suffers from the mental incapacitation, you may bring the annulment proceeding if you can show that you did not know of your partner’s mental state prior to the marriage nor would a reasonably prudent person have the ability to know of the incapacitation at the time the marriage took place. Again- and stop me if you’ve heard this before- you and your spouse cannot have lived together after the discovery of the mental incapacitation. If you are the spouse with the mental incapacity and you live with your spouse during a time that you were able to understand that you were married then an annulment may not be possible. ANNULMENT GROUND OF- UNDER INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL OR DRUGS Divorce Attorney in Houston: Finally, you can be successful in an annulment petition if you show that you were unable to provide consent to the marriage due to your having been under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the exchange of vows. Once you are no longer intoxicated you must take steps to remove yourself from the residence that you shared with your spouse or you risk being unsuccessful in your annulment attempt. TAKEAWAYS FROM THESE POSTS ON ANNULMENTS IN TEXAS FAMILY LAW By the end of my conversation with the woman in our office, I was able to tell her that it appeared that she did have grounds to seek an annulment due to her having been intoxicated at the time she got married. She was happy to learn this, as was her boyfriend who was also at the consultation. I told him that he deserves some credit for sticking with his girlfriend despite her lack of judgment. He sheepishly smiled at me but didn’t add anything to the discussion. The bottom line is that while there are many ways to qualify for an annulment in Texas, those ways are pretty narrow in that the facts have to be just right to qualify. It’s always best to seek out the advice of a family law attorney to learn if your situation presents itself within one of those narrow areas. On top of that, for each of the above ways to potentially qualify for an annulment, you must not have resided with your spouse after you became aware of a circumstance that justified the annulment. Otherwise, if you do, you may qualify instead as common law spouses thus invalidating any justifications for the annulment in the eyes of a judge. Recognizing the grounds for an annulment is important, but then acting in the correct way after that recognition can be just as crucial for you. THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN- ADVOCATES FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS FAMILIES Houston Family Attorney: When it comes to taking pride in their work and putting the interests of their clients first, the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan have no peers. Our office represents clients across southeast Texas and would be honored to speak to you about doing the same for you and your family … Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your law experience, Annulments in Texas the great process!
Divorce Lawyers Houston: This past year I had one consultation that I will not forget about any time soon. In case you were not aware, the Law Office of Bryan Fagan offers free of charge consultations to you or anyone else who is interested in learning more about a potential family law case. The consultations are done at our office and are free of charge. Most people come in and ask questions about one specific area that he or she has questions on. The unforgettable consultation that I was referencing in the opening paragraph to this blog post came in to discuss an annulment. I cannot recall having ever spoken with a person about an annulment before this particular consultation and have not spoken with anyone about one since. However, it is not the subject alone that will cause this interaction to stick with me. A young lady came in to speak to me about an annulment and did so with a man. The man is the person who I assumed she was coming in to discuss getting an annulment from. After about one minute it became obvious that this was not the case. She let me know that she had consumed one (or four) too many adult beverages the day prior with a female friend of hers and managed to find themselves at a municipal court building here in the Houston area. The next thing she knew, she and her friend had been legally married. Call it an unintended consequence of the new laws regarding same-sex marriage or a reason to moderate your future alcohol-related activities, but this lady found herself needing a way to declare her marriage void. Is the aforementioned scenario one that is covered by our state’s laws on annulments? Let’s discuss that subject in today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. ANNULMENT BASICS If you are seeking to have your marriage annulled then you would need to argue to a court that at no point was your marriage ever valid. This means that you would not be able to argue that you acquired community property rights to any of the income or property of the other person involved in the annulment case. In the event that you or the other party had a child born during the marriage that was annulled that child’s parentage will have already been determined under state law. Legally speaking you and the other person are that child’s mother and father. HAVING A COURT APPROVE AN ANNULMENT Family Attorney Houston: This is the part that is easier said than done and is what I told the woman who came in to meet with me last year at the office. In the event that you are a person that cohabitated with another adult with whom you had a relationship, held yourself out to the community as being married and agreed between each other to be married then you meet the requirements of a common law marriage. The important point in all of this is to understand that while you may think that you have grounds to have a marriage declared void, it may be that you and the other person were living together as spouses for some time but just did not know it. Younger than 18 A person under the age of 18 needs permission from a parent in order to get married. A person under the age of 16 cannot get married under any circumstances in Texas, so in reality, we are discussing persons between the ages of 16 and 18 for this section. In the event that you, your parent or guardian seek an annulment based on the lack of parental approval then there are grounds present in order for that annulment to be granted. The annulment must be sought within 90 days of the date the marriage began. It is not an open and shut matter, however, as the judge can decide to allow the marriage to remain in place. If for some reason the judge determines that you or the other person in a marriage like this would be harmed due to the marriage being annulled then he or she may not declare the marriage to be void. Impotence Divorce Attorneys in Houston: Impotence is another way to declare a marriage void in Texas. If you or the other person in your annulment case were impotent when the marriage began, and the requesting spouse was unaware of the impotency Then the marriage can be declared void. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are the party who seeks the annulment and you continue to live in the same residence as the other party even after learning of his or her impotency then the annulment does not have to be granted. So where you live after finding out this information has a great deal of bearing on the ultimate determination you are seeking. So far, then, our woman from the consultation has not been saved from her lack of judgment in getting married. Fortunately for her, there are a few more ways to declare a marriage void and grant an annulment in Texas and we will discuss those in tomorrow’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Once we cover each of the ways to get an annulment you will know whether or not I was able to give this potential client any peace of mind on this subject. QUESTIONS ON ANNULMENTS IN TEXAS? CONTACT THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN TODAY If you have any questions about the material that we have covered in today’s blog post please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. The best way to learn more about any subject in Texas family law is to speak with a licensed family law attorney… Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your prenuptial agreements law experience, Prenuptial agreements can be voided in Texas the great process!
Houston Family Lawyers: If you’ve ever read the blogs on the website for the Law Office of Bryan Fagan then you know that prenuptial agreements are typically very strong in terms of their ability to hold up to scrutiny once signed by all both parties. Even if one party has a change of heart or a regret for agreeing to what he or she did as long as some basic requirements are met there is not much someone can do to invalidate a prenuptial agreement. That isn’t to say that it’s impossible, however. The Texas Family Code contains the requirements that a premarital agreement must embody. Today’s blog will discuss a few of the ways to do so. THE AGREEMENT MUST BE SIGNED PRIOR TO MARRIAGE The prenuptial agreement must be signed prior to your marriage. This is key in a few different ways. For one, if for some reason your agreement was not signed by both you and your spouse then it is likely to be declared invalid even if one of you signed immediately after the wedding. More interesting, in my opinion, is how your living conditions can impact just how “ironclad” a premarital agreement is. With more and more people cohabitating prior to marriage in today’s world, you and your partner may have met the requirements for a common law marriage even before actually getting legally married. The effect of this is that a premarital agreement that you and your spouse had believed was signed correctly may be invalid due to your having been married (even unknowingly) prior to the document being signed. This is something that most people would not consider and is a good way to attempt to invalidate a premarital agreement. If you are able to prove that you and your spouse were already common law married at the time of the signing of the document then you may be able to get the agreement tossed out of court. THE AGREEMENT MUST NOT BE UNCONSCIONABLE Houston Family Law Attorney: The prenuptial agreement must not be unconscionable when written. The term “unconscionable” is utilized more in the context of contract law than in family law. In fact, our Family Code does not define the word. You can hop online or dust off the old Webster’s Dictionary on your bookshelf to see the different definitions of the word, but for our purposes today we can think of unconscionable as meaning being so oppressive that one side lacks reasonable options as a result of having entered into the agreement. Obviously, a lot would depend on your individual circumstances to determine unconscionability but if the agreement seems to be unfair to the extreme then it is possible that a court would determine the agreement to unconscionable. If you are able to prove that the agreement is unconscionable you must still prove that other “voidable” conditions are met. It certainly is not advisable to negotiate an unconscionable agreement under any circumstances but it is not alone enough of a reason to void a prenup. AGREE MUST BE SIGNED AFTER PARTIES HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF FINANCES The prenuptial agreement must be signed after both parties have knowledge of both person’s finances. If the prenuptial agreement that you signed was both unconscionable and was signed without knowledge of the other spouse’s financial state then the agreement can be declared invalid. Here, we see that a court will not be quick to declare the agreement to be invalid unless you can show that not only did your partner not discuss their financial status with you but that you also would have had no reasonable way to learn about this subject in other ways. AGREEMENT MUST BE SIGNED VOLUNTARILY Divorce Lawyers in Houston: The prenuptial agreement must be signed voluntarily. Voluntarily entering into the prenuptial agreement is one of those additional circumstances that could invalidate a prenuptial agreement along with unconscionability. Both you and your spouse to be must sign the prenuptial agreement in accordance with each of your free will. It is not enough to argue to a judge that you did not get a chance to review the document in full before signing. It is not enough to argue that your spouse would not marry you unless you signed the document. Only if there is evidence that your spouse attempted to blindside you with a prenup or deceived you in some extreme way would I think that this requirement would be met as well. AGREEMENT MUST BE WRITTEN LIKE A TEXAS CONTRACT The prenuptial agreement must be written like any other contract in Texas. Just because it is a prenuptial agreement and is governed in part by the Texas Family Code, does not mean that elements of contract law do not apply. For instance, if a contract has language that is not clear then that section of the contract will be voided. Non-specific language about a particular subject is recipe for disaster in both contract law and family law in this context. AGREEMENT MUST BE IN WRITING Family Lawyer Houston: The prenuptial agreement must be in writing. Since we just discussed how a prenuptial agreement is like any other contract, we may as well finish our discussion today by stating that a prenuptial agreement has to be in writing for a court to declare it to be enforceable. In fact, if you go into the Texas Family Code you will see that a prenuptial agreement must both be in writing and signed by both you and your future spouse. Oral contracts for a premarital agreement will suffice even if it the conversation was recorded by one of you. While the requirements for a premarital agreement are not many as you can tell from reading this blog there are ways to declare a premarital agreement void even if these couple of requirements are met. QUESTIONS ON INVALIDATING A PREMARITAL AGREEMENT? CONTACT THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN TODAY In order to learn more about premarital agreements please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. A licensed family law attorney is available to you six days a week in order to schedule a free of charge consultation for you… Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Law experience, Texas credit card debt during your divorce the great process!
Houston Family Lawyer: Despite how powerful the judge may seem in your divorce case he or she cannot do anything to affect a contract that you had agreed to with a credit card company. If you agreed to pay a certain interest rate on credit that you utilized then that is the agreement that you are going to be bound to. This is regardless of what your divorce decree says. You and your spouse could theoretically agree to split any amount of credit card debt in your divorce. However, if the credit cards are all in your name then your spouse is not going to be legally responsible for them. If he or she fails to reimburse you their half then you can take him or her back to the judge to seek to enforce your divorce decree, of course. The point is still that there is no fail-safe method of handling credit card debt in your divorce case. By hook or by crook your creditors will still be looking for payment. What then are some possible outcomes from your divorce that can take into consideration the debt that you owe? The purpose of today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan is to review some of the methods of dealing with credit card debt in your divorce. COMMUNITY INCOME TO PAY DEBT Divorce Lawyer Houston: Utilizing community income to pay debt solely in your or your spouse’s name. The point I made in the opening to this blog post was that if you took out debt solely in your name (or likewise if your spouse did) then you can expect to have to pay that debt out of your divorce as your responsibility. Commonly I will tell potential clients and clients alike of our firm that you can expect to take on your own debts and your spouse can expect to take on their own debts after the divorce. In some instances, however, your community income can be utilized to help pay down debt that is solely in your or your spouse’s names. This may be due to differing levels of relative wealth, i.e. if you or your spouse have a higher income earning potential or prospects for building wealth you may be asked to take on some debt in your spouse’s name out of fairness or equity. I realize this may not seem fair to some of you, but Texas is a community property state for better or worse. If this were property instead of debt then you all may not have the same opinion as for the spouse with more may have to share with the spouse who would have less. All the more reason to clean up your debts as quickly as possible so as to not have to deal with them during a divorce. SEPARATE INCOME TO PAY COMMUNITY DEBT Utilizing separate income of one spouse to pay the community’s debts. This takes the prior scenario to the extreme. Instead of money that is theoretically yours and your spouse’s to pay down debt solely in one of your names, this situation describes utilizing money that is considered the separate property of you or your spouse to pay the community’s debts. If you are the higher income earner compared to your spouse and there are debts that were utilized to benefit both of you equally then it is possible that you would either agree to or be ordered to pay the debt out of your own separate property. The problem you may encounter here is that, again, the credit card companies don’t care who is ordered to pay what in the divorce decree. If an account holder does not pay the debt on time then the credit card company will go after the account holder for payment. This is where an enforcement of the terms of the divorce decree would have to be filed in order to have the matter addressed with a judge. Money and time are spent with a great deal of frequency if this arrangement is entered into, unfortunately. TAKE ON DEBT, TAKE ON PROPERTY Houston Divorce: To cancel out your taking on the entirety of a debt, you would likely be awarded an offsetting amount of property. This is a clean and easy method to allocate credit card debts in your divorce. For example, if you are a credit card account holder and have $15,000 worth of debt on a credit account you can agree to take on that debt as your sole responsibility in exchange for property worth $15,000. This works best if you and your spouse agree that the debt was incurred in a joint venture of some sort such as renovating your home or purchasing an item utilized equally between the two of you. If you and your spouse choose to utilize this method then you should be prepared to have an accurate inventory and assessment submitted to your attorneys for exchange prior to any mediation session. The reason being is that both sides will want to make sure that you have agreed to take on a piece of property that is actually of equal value to the debt. Getting the framework of an agreement in place is not the problem. Actually finding a piece or pieces of property to offset the debt can be tricky and takes some negotiation and creativity often times. QUESTIONS ABOUT CREDIT CARD DEBT AND DIVORCE? CONTACT THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN TODAY The bottom line is that debt often times causes people to make hasty decisions that can impact their future ability to save and build wealth. If you have debts and have not yet entered into the divorce process I would encourage you to pay down those debts as much as possible by living on a budget and throwing as much money as you can at those debts. It will provide immediate peace of mind. However, if you are going through a divorce and have credit card debt or debt of any kind please contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan … Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Divorce Law experience, Texas Divorce (LLC) Part Two the great process!
Divorce Lawyer in Houston: A subject that, in my opinion, that is becoming increasingly relevant is the status of a business after a divorce. Specifically, we have been discussing a Limited Liability Company (LLC) as a specific type of business formation. If it is your spouse who is a member of an LLC then you would want to know that you can be assigned a portion of that membership interest but that you would not be able to have much control or even input into the day to day workings and decision making of the LLC. Let’s explore this topic more in detail as the subject of today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. The day to day responsibilities of managing an LLC in addition to deciding how the money will be spent, invested or kept in reserve is not something that an assignee of a membership interest is able to take part in under Texas law. While your spouse may have had those sort of rights in his membership, they cannot be assigned to you in a divorce decree. You would be able to earn whatever income or loss comes out of the LLC, however. Likewise, you are able to inquire as to how the LLC is performing by inspecting their records and financial statements as a membership assignee. VIEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP ASSIGNMENT AS A PARTNERSHIP Divorce Attorney Houston: If we view your membership assignment as being similar to a partnership then we can make some progress on figuring out how to understand the rights you have after a divorce in the LLC. Let’s take a hypothetical example to see if we can learn a little more on the subject of LLCs. Suppose that you as a husband did not work within the partnership but was awarded your wife’s shares of stock in the family partnership. As mandated in the partnership agreement, the partnership took back the stock and offered to pay you their own estimate of what the stock was worth. What could you do? The estimate could be much lower than the fair market value of the stock, after all. Would you be bound by the terms of the partnership agreement? Since Texas is a community property state and the stock itself would count as community property it is likely that you could own the stock per the terms of the partnership agreement that issued the stock. You would then be able to sell the stock but only as allowed by the partnership agreement. RISKS OF OWNING AN ASSIGNED INTEREST IN AN LLC Houston Divorce Lawyers: An LLC is a “pass through” entity which means that income is not taxed at a corporate rate but only at your own individual level as a taxpayer. In this way you would not have to pay a “double tax”- once at the corporate rate and once at your own individual rate. An LLC will typically distribute funds to its members on a yearly basis in which they can pay their share of the taxes associated with the business. A family business will often times reinvest money itself in order to pay for items down the road or save to make an investment. Distributions, as a result, are less common than in other LLCs. This puts you as a the assignee of a membership in an LLC in a tricky position, in that you cannot have a say in this decision and you then must pay your tax burden without assistance from the LLC. This is obviously a risk for you to take on potentially and you would have to assert that the LLC did not distribute funds based on a reason other than legitimate business interests. Another method to protect yourself as the spouse to assert that the assets of the LLC are not protected under the operation agreement of the LLC itself and instead belong to you as an individual. You could see this sort of issue arise if your spouse who owns a share of the LLC asserts that the LLC is their separate property. You would then, theoretically, be able to go against this belief of your spouse and get access to the share of the LLC that is in fact community property. AS WE’VE STATED BEFORE MOST DIVORCE CASES SETTLE OUT OF COURT Family Law Attorney Houston: It should not come as a surprise to anyone who has read through blog posts that we have written that the majority of divorce cases settle in mediation or even prior to mediation. This is due in no small part to the fact that you and your spouse, just as spouses before you, would be better able to hammer out an agreement that takes into consideration each side’s desires much better than a judge would. Obviously, a judge would come up with their own framework and you and your spouse would have to find a way to live within that framework. In a situation where one of you are members of an LLC an “outside the box” agreement is more possible and would better suit you and your spouse. You may end up with only 80 percent of what you want in a settlement but your odds of doing better with a judge are lower than in a settlement situation. A subject like LLCs with difficult to understand terminology and factors require a great deal of thought and analysis. Leaving this up to a judge is not a risk that I would be overly excited to take. QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR DIVORCE? CONTACT THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN TODAY Houston Divorce Attorney: No divorce is easy but the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan work tirelessly on behalf of our clients to advocate and present options and solutions to their problems. We offer free of charge consultations six days a week where our attorneys can answer your questions in a comfortable environment. Across southeast Texas, families like yours have seen the benefit or working with our office and trusting in our team. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you manage your divorce … Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Divorce Law experience, Divorce Liability Company (LLC) in Texas the great process!
Divorce Lawyer in Spring TX: If you or your spouse own a business or own a portion of a business it is possible that that business is classified as a Limited Liability Company (LLC). As opposed to operating a business as a sole proprietorship or partnership, an LLC protects the owners of a business from liability and allows the members to be in control of the business itself. There are also tax benefits associated with this classification. Suppose then that you and your spouse are moving towards a divorce. There would be a need to determine how the LLC is going to be handled as a consequence of the divorce. The relevant questions to ask yourself will be discussed in today’s blog post as well as an overview of the types of LLCs that exist. WHAT TO ASK YOURSELF IF YOU OR YOUR SPOUSE OWN AN INTEREST IN AN LLC As with any financial asset in your life you will want to figure out the value of the LLC. There are people who appraise businesses for a living that can be hired to do this or you can always submit your own estimate to your spouse and their attorney and see if it is accepted. Depending upon how the LLC was started (with what sort of money) and when it was started the LLC may be considered community property and would be subject to division in the divorce. Another less thought of consideration that I think is crucial to take at the outset of a divorce is whether or not you or your spouse’s interest in the LLC, whether it is 1% or 100%, can be transferred to another person. Sometimes in the formation of the LLC there are restrictions placed on transferring your interest. A divorce decree cannot override any prior agreements. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF LLCS? Spring TX Divorce Lawyer: If you or your spouse are the general partner in a limited partnership then you may have also placed your general partnership within the confines of an LLC in order to protect yourself from liability. The reason for this is that not only would you be the person who manages the operation of the limited partnership, but you would also be the party who is personally liable for whatever obligations that the partnership takes on. In doing so, the LLC can take on a limited percentage of ownership in the company but will take on all of the liability. The benefit of being the general partner within an LLC is being able to have a say and direct the day to day dealings of the limited partnership. The limited partner has no liability beyond what he or she contributed to the formation of the partnership, but that party has no control over the day to day operation of the company. Depending on whether or not you and your spouse share in the partnership the value of each portion will need to be analyzed prior to final mediation or trial. An operating business is another type of LLC that is commonly seen. These businesses are more often than not made up of only one or a few members. If you are the spouse that is a member of this type of LLC you owe a fiduciary duty to the community estate which means that you must put the interests of your community estate (the estate of which you and your spouse both share in) before your own interests in conducting business related to the LLC. The benefit of having only one owner is that it is easier to divide the ownership interest in a divorce case between you and your spouse. There is merit to the discussion of what is more advantageous for both parties: dividing the LLC up between each of you or allowing one spouse to retain their ownership in the LLC and then providing the other with assets or property that are equal to the ownership interest in the LLC. Maybe the most well-known sort of business that can operate as an LLC, and one that is especially appropriate to discuss in the context of a family law case, is a family business. When created, family businesses often place restrictions on who can become a member. This is done in order to make sure that only family members can actually join in the family business. Divorce is an easy way for an interest in the business to be divided up all sorts of different ways where the “purity” of ownership can get muddied. LLCs can restrict membership and keep the “bloodlines” pure in the LLC. HOW IS AN LLC FORMED? Spring Divorce Lawyer: Now that we know a few of the different types of LLCs let’s discuss how one is actually formed. The origination document is known as an operating agreement. The terms by which the LLC is operated, the manner in which debts are paid or members get paid are laid out, as well as who can actually become a member of the LLC. As we touched on earlier in these blog post restrictions on how an interest in the LLC can be transferred are gone over in the operating agreement. Usually, a transfer of an ownership interest is made to be fairly difficult in order so that membership in the LLC is controllable. Now that we’ve discussed the basics of an LLC we can get into what can happen to an LLC in your divorce. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan that will discuss exactly that. QUESTIONS ABOUT LLC DIVISION IN A TEXAS DIVORCE? CONTACT THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN TO LEARN MORE Houston Divorce Lawyer: If you are a member in an LLC or your spouse is it’s likely that you have questions regarding how this circumstance will impact your divorce… Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Child Support Law case experience, Family Law Lawyer Houston Texas the great process!
Spring Divorce Lawyers – Yesterday we spent a great deal of our blog post discussing the subject of how to modify a prior child support order in Texas. I can tell you from experience meeting with many clients of the Law Office of Bryan Fagan at their initial consultation that this is a subject that is very relevant in the lives of many of our neighbors here in southeast Texas. If you too are here to learn more about just how you can adjust the level of support that you are either receiving or paying this too will be a blog post with you in mind. The standard that we introduced yesterday is that of a “material and substantial” change in circumstances for either party or any child since the last order was signed. It is the responsibility and the burden of the party that files the modification lawsuit to prove that a material and substantial change has in fact occurred. For instance, if you are the parent who has filed a modification with the idea that your child support obligation should be decreased you will need to show a court that a different financial condition was in place for yourself at the time the current order was signed into place and where you currently stand in terms of your finances. While it is necessary to show a change in your circumstances in this instance, it is not necessary to do so for your child. A court is looking for something substantial, not something minute or trivial if it is ultimately going to modify a prior court order. If your income has decreased by $100 a month since the prior order was signed it is not going to be a fruitful lawsuit for you if you seek to have your child support obligation modified downward. Additionally, a court will consider whether or not you purposefully reduced your income level (intentional unemployment or underemployment) and if the change in income is temporary or permanent. For example, if you were laid off from your old job due to downsizing within the company but quickly found new employment that will pay you the same as your old job after a ninety-day probationary period, a modification is likely not in the cards for you. The reason is that although your income has decreased, it will be for a relatively short period of time. It is unlikely that this hiccup in your income will materially and substantially represent a change in your circumstances. FINANCIAL STATUS VS. INCOME AT THE TIME OF A MODIFICATION ATTEMPT Kingwood Divorce Attorney – If you are attempting to show a judge that there are material and substantial changes in your financial life it is not sufficient to just show that you are living in a smaller house, behind on bills or otherwise suffering from a lack of resources. The income that you earn is the most important factor that a judge will consider when deciding whether or not to decrease your child support obligation. Your previous income will be compared to your current income This is not to say that your current financial circumstances are irrelevant to the evaluation. If your circumstances have become materially and substantially different than they were previously then this is a factor that the judge can consider in addition to any changes in your actual income. That’s not to say that your peripheral circumstances can win you a child support modification case but it is possible that they can have a positive impact. THE BURDEN IS ON THE PARTY WHO FILES A MODIFICATION TO PROVE A MATERIAL AND SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE It does not matter if the ordered amount of child support is so out of whack with your current financial circumstances and income that is obvious that a change needs to be made. The burden is still on you as the filing party to prove this material and substantial change. A judge will not save you from poor representation or a poor presentation of evidence in your hearing. PROVING A CASE IN WHICH YOU WANT AN AWARD OF CHILD SUPPORT TO BE INCREASED The Woodlands Divorce Attorney – Suppose that you are the parent who is receiving child support on behalf of a child. At the time of your divorce, your daughter was four years old. Not quite in school full time and not yet involved in any extracurricular activities that cost additional sums of money. The child support ordered at the time of your divorce worked well for you and there have been no issues with you receiving the child support on time from your ex-spouse. However, now your child is twelve and in middle school. She has no medical issues but needs to see her doctor more regularly as she has grown older and needs an annual physical as a result of playing sports. As the costs associated with raising your daughter has increased, as well as the passing of eight years, the amount of child support that you are receiving has become insufficient. Will these sort of circumstances lead to an increase in child support if argued to a judge? The answer is yes. A child’s growth in addition to an increase in your spouse’s income and the passage of a lengthy period of time has been shown to be enough to have a judge agree to increase a child support obligation for your child’s other parent. Again, it is not enough just to show that your current amount of child support is out of whack with the present financial circumstances of a party or your child. You must prove your case and present sufficient evidence to meet your burden of proof in order to be successful. THE LAW OFFICE OF BRYAN FAGAN- ADVOCATES FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS FAMILIES Thank you for the opportunity to share with you this information regarding child support laws in Texas. For more information or to schedule a free of charge consultation with one of our licensed family law attorneys please contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. … Continue Reading |
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