If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, What you need to know about how your Parental Rights can be Terminated Texas with the great process!
Houston Divorce Lawyer: Simply put, terminating your parental rights occurs when your rights to your child are taken away. This means that you are no longer your child’s parent and have no duty to support him or her and have no rights to make decisions regarding their well being. Any legal relationship between you and the child has been dissolved completely. Specifically, you do not have the right to talk to your child or visit with him or her. Any decision-making capabilities that you formerly held regarding how the child is raised and how the child is taken care of are also taken away. Finally, your child can be adopted if he or she is taken into the care of the State of Texas. Why would a court decide to terminate your parental rights? Parental rights are terminated infrequently in order to protect your child’s safety and well being. If it determined that your child is in a situation that is dangerous and that you are not taking steps to prevent harm from occurring to your child then it is likely your child will be removed from your care and your rights terminated as to that child. This is done over a period of time and you are given multiple opportunities to prevent this from happening. Voluntary vs. Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights Divorce Lawyer in Houston: When you agree with the request to have your parental rights terminated this means that you voluntarily relinquished your parental rights. There is a wide range of circumstances that could lead to you voluntarily terminating your parental rights. A judge will have to make the decision that the termination of your parental rights is in the best interests of your child before signing an order doing so. When you do not agree to have your parental rights terminated in relation to your child then this is what is known as an involuntary termination of your parental rights. A court, at the request of your child’s other parent, or the State, can agree to terminate your parental rights despite your objections. When your rights are involuntarily terminated you run the risk of losing your rights to your future children as well. Child Protective Services (CPS) can investigate you in the future and again ask a court to terminate your rights to any children you parent in the years ahead. What sort of contact can you have with your former child after your parental rights are terminated? If your child is to be adopted by another person or family then you and that family can discuss together what, if any, contact you can have with that child moving forward. Sometimes you and the family can come to an agreement on this subject. If you cannot you will not be able to see the child. No court order terminating your parental rights will have a section that details future contact between you and the child. Any agreements reached in writing with foster agencies or the State of Texas should be filed with the court. In what ways can your parental rights be terminated? Divorce Attorney Houston: Perhaps the most common means by which your parental rights can be terminated is if CPS files a petition to do so after conducting an investigation into a report of abuse or neglect of your child by you or your spouse. Depending on the outcome of that investigation, their attorneys may file a petition in court requesting a hearing on whether or not there is sufficient cause to terminate your parental rights. It is a high hurdle to clear for the State but it does happen that parental rights are terminated against the wishes of the parent. A judge will take into consideration the evidence presented and will usually allow you an opportunity to better yourself and your home in order to have your child returned to your care. This can mean things like removing adults who pose a threat to your child’s well being, remedying a household hazard that can cause your child harm or attending counseling or outreach programs to better yourself. It is crucial that you follow the plan outlined by CPS. The plan will become the orders of the judge and you are obligated to follow those orders to live up to the terms of your plan. If you fail to do so the consequences can be dire, including the termination of your parental rights. An attorney of CPS would need to provide evidence to the court that they attempted to have your child return to your home and that you did not live up to your end of the orders. If your parental rights are terminated then your child will be placed into the care of the State or an adoption agency. In the event that your child’s other parent has their rights still intact your child will be placed with that parent. What can the State of Texas base a termination lawsuit on? Houston Divorce Lawyers: There are a number of grounds that the State of Texas (through the county attorneys where your child resides) can cite as to why your parental rights need to be terminated. Let’s discuss a few of those here in this space: Abandoning your child is one such reason. If you have not had contact with your child for the past six months, or have generally shown an unwillingness to care for their wellbeing for at least six months then you run the risk of having your parental rights terminated. Neglect of a child is a reason why a report can be made to CPS. If you place a child into a situation where there is a foreseeable risk of harm or fail to remove your child from a situation where there is a foreseeable risk of harm you have neglected him or her. No physical or emotional harm has to actually have occurred, though it often times does. You need only have failed to act to protect your child. Abuse is another reason why the State of Texas can ask to terminate your parental rights. Abuse comes in many different varieties including physical, mental or sexual abuse. Many different scenarios can lead to abuse but you as the parent are ultimately responsible for the well being of your child. If your child is abused by you and criminal charges are filed you will be fighting an uphill battle to maintain your parental rights. Does the court take into consideration difficult life circumstances when deciding whether or not to terminate your parental rights? To an extent, no, your parental rights cannot be terminated due to your poor life circumstances. Mental health issues, poverty, and financial difficulties are all circumstances that can potentially harm a child but are not always within the control of parents. If you find yourself in this type of situation, however, you cannot sit idly by and expect that your life circumstances will justify your exposing your child to dangerous situations. The State of Texas through CPS offers assistance to parents who face extreme life situations that otherwise would risk your parental rights being terminated. It is your responsibility to identify problem areas in your life and reach out for assistance and help. Your failure to do so coupled with your child being abused or neglected as a result is a recipe for parental rights termination. Will you need to hire a lawyer to defend you in a termination suit? Come back tomorrow to read more Family Law Attorney Houston: Deciding whether or not to hire an attorney, or to request one from the State, can be the most important decision you make in a termination case. Be sure to return to our blog tomorrow to read more on this and other topics associated with termination cases If you have any questions in the meantime about Texas family law matters please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC. We offer free of charge consultations six days a week with a licensed family law attorney. It would be our honor to consult with you on your situation and to discuss your questions in a comfortable, pressure-free environment ... Continue Reading
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If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, What is reality and what is myth regarding divorce in Texas? Texas with the great process!
The Woodlands Divorce Attorney: We all have a friend, neighbor, coworker or family member who is more than happy to give us their opinion on every subject under the son. Unfortunately for us, that person is normally wrong more often than they are right. It’s one thing if that person is a mere annoyance, it’s another when that person’s bad information caused us to make a bad decision that impacts our children and ourselves. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC would like to share with you some information regarding popular family law topics that we are asked questions about on a regular basis. Specifically, these are topics that I believe many people in our community have been provided bad information. Let’s examine a few more of these before we move on to a different subject in tomorrow’s blog post. Postnuptial agreements are possible to divide property between spouses This is absolutely true. Once you and your spouse get married you can come together to agree how community property is to be divided as well as to determine what is a part of each of your separate estates. A postnuptial agreement can go into effect in the event that you and your spouse divorce or when one of you pass away. A postnuptial agreement must be in writing and can take into account any property that is currently owned by you and your spouse or any property that it is anticipated to be purchased. The agreement can even take property that would normally be considered part of the community estate and place into the column of separate property. Future income from that property can also be designated as separate property. I would recommend that if you and your spouse want to get a postnuptial agreement that you each hire an attorney to do so. If and when that postnuptial agreement is disputed by one of you in a future divorce the likelihood that the agreement will be upheld by a judge increases if both parties were represented by an attorney during the negotiation process. Your wages could be garnished in order to pay your spousal maintenance obligation Spring Divorce Lawyers: Spousal maintenance is what many people refer to as “alimony”. These are payments made to your ex-spouse after your divorce in order to help him or her meet their minimal, basic living needs. In Texas if a court orders spousal maintenance to be paid there are limits to how much and for how long those payments are to be made. The law in Texas is that your wages can be garnished in order to meet your spousal maintenance obligation. This is true whether your obligation stems from an agreement between you and your ex-spouse or through the order of a judge. This works out similarly to how child support may for other divorced persons. A wage withholding order can be filled out stating the specific amount that needs to be withheld by the employer on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis. The money would then be taken out of your check before you have an opportunity to spend it or save it yourself. A Mediated Settlement Agreement (MSA) can be revoked at any time, for any reason Divorce Lawyer in Spring TX: This is a false statement. Mediation is a formalized settlement conference between you and your attorney, your spouse and their attorney and a licensed mediator. The mediator acts like a ping pong ball bouncing back and forth between you and your spouse, usually in the mediator’s office. Settlement offers are exchanged and the end result is typically an agreement of some sort that settles your divorce. The end product is a Mediated Settlement Agreement. It will encapsulate all the agreements made in the mediation and allows the attorneys to draft an order that takes into account those agreements. In bold letting in the MSA, the mediator usually includes a line or two that notes the agreement is binding and cannot be revoked unless fraud or duress is proven. This means that you cannot wake up the morning after your mediation and call your attorney to tell him or her that you’ve made a huge mistake and that the agreement needs to be torn up. Unless you can work with your spouse on modifying the order in writing you cannot alter its contents. This may sound harsh but the State wants to give these MSAs the full effect that a court order would be given. Very soon that MSA will become an order so this shouldn’t be all that surprising. Child support does not have to be paid when an obligor loses his or her job Spring TX Divorce Lawyer: An obligor is a parent who is responsible for making child support payments out of their income. It is not true that if you lose your job your obligation to pay child support ceases until you can find work. The fact is that you must pay child support as long as your order states that you must. What you can do in the event that you lose your job or your rate of pay decreases? If you find yourself in a tough spot financially your best bet is to take steps to help your situation, rather than to sit idly by and hope that things work out for you. For example, you can contact the Office of the Attorney General and let them know that you are having problems paying your child support. Secondly, you can file a motion to modify your child support obligation based on a decrease in your income. If you are filing your modification based on your having lost your job then a court can order your child support obligation to stop as of the date you filed your petition. One thing to note: there is such a thing is underemployment or being purposefully unemployed. These are situations where you have either chosen to not work or have purposefully chosen a position that pays you less money than you might ordinarily be able to earn in order to pay less in child support. If this is found to be the case then a judge can apply the percentages associated with your earning potential and apply that to you regardless of what your current pay status is. You can sue your spouse in civil court for a tort committed against you during the course of your marriage This is true. If your spouse committed an intentional act against you intended to harm you in some way (physically, financially, etc.) you can sue your spouse for the damages associated with that bad act. The law in Texas for decades was that a spouse is immune from these type of lawsuits but that is no longer the case. An award of damages can result from one of these civil suits or the judge may just take a liability finding against your spouse when determining how to divide up the marital estate of you and your spouse. Divorce leaves you asking a lot of questions. It’s up to you to get answers Spring Divorce Lawyer: There is no magic tree that grows apples of knowledge when it comes to divorce. As much as we might think the internet, our friends or some other source provides the unlimited access to information and opinion that we may seek that is simply not the case. The best thing for you to do if you have questions regarding divorce is to seek the advice of those who have experience in family law and are suited to give advice with your best interests in mind. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC stand ready to assist you and your family if you have questions regarding divorce or any other topic in family law. We offer free of charge consultations six days a week with a licensed family law attorney. Please consider contacting us today to set up a consultation where we can answer your questions, address any issues you have and provide you with peace of mind during a difficult time in your life. Thank you for showing an interest in the subject matter we’ve been discussing the past three days and we hope you will return to our blog to gain information on a variety of Texas family law topics ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, Getting More Money In Your Pockets After a Car Accident Texas with the great process!
Houston Family Law Lawyers: Getting in an auto accident is no fun. There are many long-lasting consequences that people don’t realize. I have been involved in a few accidents myself and to this day, I have a fear to get on the road and get rear-ended while at a light, or simply driving the speed limit and getting rear-ended, or another driver changing lanes and hitting me on the side because he/she didn’t see me. It gets scary. Aside from the psychological aspect, there is the most obvious damage to your car getting ruined (hopefully that’s the only serious damage). Most insurance companies pay for your car’s damage without any issues, and they try to get you to get things done fast so that you don’t get an attorney involved. There is a reason for that. Insurance companies know that if they deal with non-attorneys, they will almost certainly not have to pay nearly as much, because non-attorneys don’t know their rights or simply don’t know how to exercise those rights properly. A common question that many people after an accident have in their mind is: How Do I Get More Money (some don’t even know they can)? A Good Attorney Can Not Only Get You Free Medical Treatment, But Will Also Put Extra Money In Your Pocket For Pain and Suffering After an accident, there are so many people who think they are fine and will be satisfied simply by receiving a check in the mail from the insurance company for their car damages; Do Not Simply Settle For That. What people don’t realize in an auto accident is that the body is a unique physical being. Many things happen in there that we do not immediately see or feel; this is why doctors exist. Just like lawyers are there to guide you in your legal needs, accountant and CPAs are there to help you and determine your financial needs, builders are there to determine your construction needs, and so-forth, doctors are there to help you determine your medical needs. Therefore, seeing a doctor after an accident is a must. I know what you are thinking, many or most of you are thinking: “well, that’s great, but I don’t have the money for that” “my insurance deductible is too high”, “I don’t have insurance”, etc… Well, I have good news, the insurance will pay for it! And if you have an attorney, in most cases you will not have to pay the doctor any money until the case is settled. How does my attorney help me so that I do not have to pay the doctors I see before my car accident case is settled? Family Law Lawyer Houston: In order to achieve this, what the lawyer does is send a letter to your treating physician informing them of the pending claim on the insurance policy, and that the doctor will get paid once the claim is settled. This allows the doctor to treat you with some comfort that they will get paid at some point. The letter is commonly referred to as a “letter of protection”. Most doctors and lawyers have a good working relationship. It is rare that a doctor does not accept a letter of protection, but if they don’t, there is always the next doctor. How does my attorney help me to get more money from the insurance company for my pain and suffering? Other than the most obvious answer which is to fight and negotiate for you, and to make sure all your legal arguments are properly made, there are also more practical answers that are more easily understandable for clients. For example, when the doctor sends his/her bill to the lawyer to send for collection from the insurance company when it’s time for payment, the lawyer is often able to negotiate with the doctor a significant reduction in the bill which means more money from the insurance company in your pockets. Can the lawyer get paid more than me out of the settlement? Kingwood Divorce Attorney: While it is not a practice in my firm, and I make it a rule that no matter how much money is made on a case, I NEVER take more than a client, there are many lawyers who take more money out of the settlement than the client. The most common practice is that each of the parties involved, the client, the lawyer, and the doctors, get 1/3 of the settlement each. Contact Us If you have been involved in an accident, or simply have some questions, and you are looking for a car accident attorney in North Houston, car accident attorney in the Woodlands, car accident attorney in Tomball, Cypress, FM 1960, Galveston, and surrounding areas, call the A.T. Law Firm for a free consultation. We also handle cases in different counties including but not limited to Harris County, Montgomery County, Liberty County, Chambers County, Galveston County, Ford Bend County, Waller County, and Brazoria County. Contact the A.T. Law Firm by calling (832) 800-5590 for a free consultation ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Family Law experience, What to believe (and not believe) about family law cases in Texas with the great process!
If you are awarded alimony then you get it for the rest of your life after divorce Family Lawyers Houston: There are only limited instances in a which spouse can be awarded spousal maintenance (the Texas term for alimony). You must first have been married to a person for ten years or more. Next, you must be able to show a judge that you are unable to provide for your minimum, basic needs on your own. The other option is to show a court that you are the parent of a child who requires constant supervision due to their being disabled either physically or mentally. After reading the previous paragraph you should realize that it not as easy to win spousal maintenance. The next thing I believe you need to know is that you may also be awarded spousal maintenance in the event that your spouse has been convicted of spousal violence charges in criminal court. Obviously, this is not the way that you want to earn the right to receive spousal maintenance but it is available to you if you have had the misfortunate of being the victim of domestic abuse. Here is the part that addresses the length of spousal maintenance awards in Texas. If you qualify for spousal maintenance then the term is limited based on how many years you have been married to your spouse. Furthermore, the spousal maintenance you receive cannot exceed 20 percent of your spouse’s gross monthly income. Finally, the amount of spousal maintenance that you are awarded can always be adjusted if you or your ex-spouse experience a material and substantial change in your circumstances. In short, yes, you can be awarded spousal maintenance in a Texas divorce. In somewhat more detailed language, no, that spousal maintenance award cannot be indefinite (unless you and your spouse agree to your own arrangement in mediation). If you and your spouse mix your separate property with community property then your separate property becomes part of the community estate Family Lawyer in Houston: This is not true. Separate property is the property that you owned prior to your marriage or acquired during the marriage by gift or inheritance. If you own separate property it will remain separate property no matter what happens to it after that. An exception to this rule would be if you gift that property to your spouse. In all other circumstances, your separate property will remain separate. An example of commingling of separate and community property occurs in situations where you and your spouse combine incomes. If you have $50,000 cash and deposit that cash into a community bank account owned by you and your spouse that $50,000 will remain separate property no matter what happens after that. Now, you may have to hire a forensic accountant to prove that the property is separate but that’s an entirely different topic. Keep in mind that the law in Texas is that all property owned by you and your spouse is presumed to be community property absent evidence to the contrary. If you own separate property it is your responsibility to prove that the property is separate and not part of the community estate. Be prepared to present title to property or the source of a sum of money in order to do so. Finally, there is no such thing in Texas as legal separation Houston Family Law Lawyer: I mention that because I have been asked by some folks in the past whether or not they are moving out of the home with no intention of returning means that they are legally separated and able to acquire property as a separate individual. With no ability to be legally separated there would, therefore, be no ability to acquire property on a separate basis from your marriage other than by the methods we discussed above. Your income and most forms of property acquired after leaving your marital home are still considered community property until you and your spouse are legally divorced. If you purchase property in your name only during your marriage it is considered separate property. This too is a false statement. Know that no matter how you name property, or how you position the property in your “portfolio” of assets if you acquired the property during your marriage it is presumed to be community property until proven otherwise. Opening up a bank account in your name only and depositing only your paychecks in there does not make the bank account your separate property. Buying a home and titling the home in your name does not make it separate property if you do so while you are married. Debts and assets are always divided 50/50 in a divorce Despite what you may have heard about how community property works in Texas, this statement is also not true. Yes, your property and debts may be split pretty much 50/50 in your divorce. However, this is not the law and your case may not work out this way. A “just and right” division of community property will occur in your divorce which means a judge will take into the circumstances and facts of your case and divide the property in your community estate up according to his or her findings. The debts and property incurred by you and your spouse will be considered. If your spouse took out a great deal of debt during the marriage that primarily benefitted him then it is unlikely that you will be asked to pay a portion of that debt. A majority of divorces see the debts in your name awarded to you and likewise the debts awarded in your spouse’s name awarded to him or her. Child Support will be paid until your child graduates from college or reaches age 21 Family Lawyers in Houston: This is not a true statement. The vast majority of child custody or divorce orders in Texas have a provision included that orders child support to no longer be paid after the graduation of your child from high school or their eighteenth birthday, whichever comes later in time. You and your child’s other parent could have agreed to something different so I would recommend that you pay close attention to this when you arrive at that stage in your case. You or your spouse can ask a court to allow for child support to be paid beyond the child’s 18th birthday or their graduation from high school if it is shown that your child cannot be expected to provide for himself after this time due to a disability of some sort. If you find yourself in a situation where it is necessary to ask the court for this type of assistance make sure your attorney requests it not only in your trial but also in your petition for divorce or in the Suit Affecting Parent-Child Relationship if yours is a child custody case. It must be raised early in your case or you will not be eligible to receive additional child support. In most situations, if you are the primary conservator of a child who will require assistance beyond their high school years you and your child’s other parent will agree on a set amount of child support to be paid after this stage. If there is no agreement in place you may need to present an expert witness (a doctor, for instance) who can testify about the anticipated need for future support and how long the support will likely need to be paid. The conclusion of our series of blog posts on commonly held family law beliefs will be posted tomorrow Family Law Attorneys Houston: Please return to our website tomorrow to read more about popular topics in family law and whether or not what you believe about them is actually true. In the meantime, if you have questions on these or any other topics in family law please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC. We offer free of charge consultations six days a week to people in our community with questions for our attorneys. It would be our honor to address your concerns and answer your questions ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Family Law experience, Parental Relationships of LGBT persons and their children with the great process!
Divorce Attorneys Houston: If you are the non biological parent to a child you should want to look for ways to legalize your relationship with your child in order to protect your rights. As a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) parent an adoption is the most logical and straightforward method of doing so. If you are able to adopt your child you will be recognized as the child’s legal parent and have all of the same rights and responsibilities as to that child as any biological parent. Second Parent Adoption for a LGBT parent If you are in a marriage or other relationship with a person who is the adoptive parent of a child, and you yourself are LGBT, you can establish those legal rights and responsibilities for yourself by getting a second parent adoption. As the partner of a legal parent, you can adopt the child without actually having to affect your partner’s already established legal rights and responsibilities to that child. There currently are no appellate cases (higher court) that directly comment or rule on this issue, but there are counties in Texas that have found that the Texas statutes that cover adoptions authorize this sort of arrangement and process for LGBT parents and their partners. To give yourself the best opportunity to have a court find that this is appropriate and warranted in your situation you should consult with an experienced family law attorney who understands and is knowledgeable of the law and this process of second parent adoption. It is not a widely known procedure so interview attorneys until you can find one that is aware of your rights under the law. Those attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan would be a good place to start. Examples of adoption cases that have worked successfully for LGBT families Divorce Attorney in Houston: In Travis county (Goodson v. Castellanos), a female same sex couple wanted to adopt a child together. One partner adopted a child and the second partner later did a second parent adoption as we outlined above. A year later when the couple went their separate ways and ended the relationship, the first partner attempted to challenge the legitimacy of the second adoption. A Travis County judge ruled that the second parent adoption was not void. The fact was that the court that approved the adoption had jurisdiction over the case and that once an adoption is finalized there cannot be an attack on that adoption afterwards. A second case that may be of interest to you all comes from here in Harris County. A Houston judge in Hobbs v. Van Stavern, ruled similarly that a child’s biological mother could not attack a second parent adoption three years after the adoption took place. These rulings should show you that an adoption, once approved by a judge who has jurisdiction over the case, is very difficult to overturn. A Suit Affecting the Parent Child Relationship as a means to establish legal paternity of a child There are other options besides an adoption that can allow you to have limited rights to a child that you are not the legal parent of. A Suit Affecting the Parent Child Relationship (SAPCR) is one such option. If you are able to gain custody rights to a child through a SAPCR case then you gain the ability to request custody and visitation rights to your child even if you and the child’s legally recognized parent cease to be in a relationship. Despite the advantages that a SAPCR order does provide, it does not grant all rights and responsibilities of parentage to you. Your child would not be able to inherit from you if you were to pass away or be able to take advantage of Social Security Survivor’s insurance. If you are interested in making sure a child has the ability to inherit from you after you pass away an adoption is the preferred method to do so. Texas case law related to SAPCR cases Houston Family Attorney: A case in Beaumont, In re Smith, saw a same sex couple have twins via artificial insemination. When the children reached the age of four months both parents asked a court to become conservators of the children. The biological mother of the children later challenged an order that granted both parents the rights of managing conservators. On appeal, the court ruled that the non biological mother did not have the ability to initiate the initial SAPCR case because she had not yet had control, care and custody of the children for the requisite six month period that Texas law requires. What other options are available to non-legal parents of children in LGBT families? While adoption and SAPCR proceedings are the two most common methods to protect your rights as a LGBT parent towards children to whom you are not a legal parent. It is important to note that while I have stated that second parent adoptions are possible in Texas, and have even pointed out courts that have honored these processes on appeal, it is not a given that your second parent adoption will go as smoothly. The Texas Family Code has not addressed this issue as of yet which means that judges only have precedent from other courts to base decisions on. This means that your judge could theoretically not allow a second parent adoption in your situation. With that in mind, a parenting agreement is another option that you can realistically pursue in order to establish yourself as a person with custody rights to a child. While a parenting agreement would not create legal rights in yourself a parent to the child in question this is an option that can be pursued as a last ditch effort to formalize your relationship to a child if you are a LGBT individual. In so far as parenting agreements are concerned there are no cases as of yet in Texas (that I am aware of) that relate to this subject. This means that a court would look at an agreement as an attempt and intent to parent a child together instead of initiated a lawsuit to do so. The more specific you can be the better. If you and your partner can include language regarding rights, duties, child support, future plans for adoption, etc. a court is likely to be more willing to honor a parenting agreement like this. Finally, you may have already found that because you are not the legally recognized parent to a child that you cannot access their medical records or even consent to medical care. Your partner as the legally recognized parent to your child can authorize you to make medical decisions for your child. If your parent is unavailable to give consent for emergency medical care it is crucial that you have the authorization from him or her to direct the medical care for your child. Keeping a copy of this authorization handy is a great idea for future reference. Seek assistance when you have questions about how to proceed Houston Family Law Attorneys: The last thing you should do if you find yourself in a LGBT relationship and need to assert your parental rights and responsibilities to a child is to do nothing. The second to last thing you should do is to proceed into a family law case without any knowledge of the law, the legal system and what outcomes you are likely to encounter. Hiring an experienced family law attorney can eliminate many concerns that you may have and can greatly improve your chances at achieving whatever goals you have set out for yourself. Questions about your rights as a LGBT parent? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan The attorneys and staff of the Law Office of Bryan Fagan take great pride in providing the best legal services possible to our clients. If you find yourself asking questions about the subject matter contained in today’s blog post or in any area of Texas family law please do not hesitate to contact our office today. We offer free of charge consultations where we can answer your questions and help you plan for a potential case ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Family Law experience, Why mediation may not be appropriate in your divorce from an abusive spouse with the great process!
Divorce Lawyers Houston: If you are a consistent reader of the blog posts from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan then you know that your attorneys are big fans of mediation. Mediation is a process by which two parties to a legal case can attend a formal negotiation session using a mediator to coordinate and communicate settlement offers. The purpose of mediation is to settle any outstanding issues in your case and to avoid having to spend the time, money and resources that it takes to go to trial. While not every divorce can be settled in mediation the majority are. In southeast Texas, courts in many counties mandate that you attend mediation prior to requesting a hearing or trial. I have even seen judges who do not believe that enough progress was made in the first mediation session and as a result a second was ordered. It’s amazing what getting people into a controlled environment can do for the ability of a case to settle. What may have seemed like insurmountable issues before may now seem within reach of settling. Mediation may not be appropriate when the other party to your divorce has exerted an inappropriate level of force towards you that has led to an uneven balance of power. For instance, it may not be safe for you to attend a mediation session where your abusive spouse will also be present. While protections can be put into place to keep you and your spouse separated there are no safeguards that can be 100% effective. Today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan will discuss why mediation may not be appropriate or effective in your divorce. The reasons why your attorney may advise you against mediating Family Attorney Houston: A condition that pretty much has to be in place prior to the mediation session beginning is the ability of you and your spouse to communicate about the big issues in your case. It is normal for divorcing spouses’ to have strained lines of communication and for you to not see eye to eye on every subject associated with your case. It is also normal to be skeptical of you and your spouse’s abilities to come together to settle your case given your personal history and the circumstances associated with your case. However, what is also normal in a divorce is to have your spouse and you make progress on those communication skills in mediation. While you will not be communicating with one another directly, you will be communicating your values and positions to your spouse through settlement offers and counter-offers. The mediator will help you to see where your spouse is coming from and will add an additional perspective as to how to approach the offer/counter-offer. If you and your spouse are absolutely not in a position where you can be expected to develop or enhance your communication skills (even indirectly) then mediation may not be a worthwhile endeavor to pursue in your divorce. This goes above and beyond any personal safety concerns that you have in regard to being physically close to your spouse. Intimidation: If you have been the victim of abuse at the hands of your spouse then he or she likely has some degree of physical, emotional and relational control over you. As such, you run the risk of agreeing to settlement terms due to a fear and intimidation. Your attorney should understand this and decline any invitation from your spouse’s attorney to attend a mediation session. If your judge typically mandates that mediation be attended a motion should be filed to waive this requirement based on your particular circumstances. Inability to discuss the issues prior to mediation: As a family law attorney I can tell you that some opposing attorneys in divorce cases I have handled are extremely difficult to pin down on their client’s positions on a range of subjects. My job is to identify the important issues for you as my client and to attempt to open a dialogue on those with the opposing attorney prior to attending mediation. This is doubly true if there is abuse involved in the divorce. I would be wary to schedule mediation if I could not learn what your spouse’s intentions and opinions on a wide range of subjects are before the mediation begins. If their attorney will not discuss these subjects with us prior to mediation I would not feel like the mediation session would be worthwhile and productive for you. In that scenario moving forward would not be practical. A note on joint decision making in determining rights and duties regarding your child Divorce Attorneys in Houston: If your spouse has a history of abuse against you or your child it is probably not reasonable to have him or her be on par with you in regard to the ability to make parenting decisions. Joint decision making means that you and your spouse will need to be able to communicate any important parenting decisions together in hopes of reaching a resolution together. The often used term of “co-parenting” is especially important here. Frequent contact with an abusive ex-spouse sounds like an opportunity for that spouse to continue to engage with you in the bad behaviors that led to the breakdown of your marriage. Your child is a subject that is near and dear to your heart and gives your spouse an opportunity to exert the control that he or she loves to hold over you. Whereas their behavior was not approved by anyone during your marriage, if your spouse has joint decision making as a part of your divorce decree, it could give him or her the impression that their tactics and attitudes are approved of by the judge. Due to your spouse’s inability to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner during the course of your marriage, I would argue against agreeing to the sharing of parental rights on a joint level. It may end up that your spouse does have a fair amount of independently held rights when it comes to your child. However, you should do what you can to retain whatever autonomy over your child and yourself that you can as a result of your divorce. The Divorce Decree as it pertains to a case involving an abusive spouse- tomorrow’s blog post topic Houston Divorce Attorneys: We will conclude our series of blog posts on abuse and divorce by discussing some topics related to the final orders of a divorce in Texas- the Final Decree of Divorce. In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding today’s blog post or any other topic in family law please do not hesitate to contact the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. We offer free of charge consultations with one of our licensed family law attorneys six days a week. We can answer your questions and talk with you about the services we can provide to you and your family as clients of ours ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Family Law experience, Emergency and Temporary Orders in divorce cases involving family violence with the great process!
Houston Divorce: Probably the most frantic people that I come into contact with as a family law attorney are spouses that are needing to not only file for divorce but are victims of violent actions at the hands of their spouse. In these situations we not have time to wait a few weeks for a temporary orders hearing. If there are concerns for a spouse or their child’s safety an emergency hearing will need to be sought. The process of requesting an emergency temporary orders hearing will be the topic of today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. To begin, an affidavit (or statement made under oath) will need to be submitted to the coach that makes him or her aware of the situation that you are alleging requires an emergency hearing. The judge will utilize this emergency hearing as an opportunity to learn about your case, learn about you and your spouse and to collect information and evidence. If your case needs to be treated as a high risk/high conflict case where court and community involvement is necessary that sort of determination can be made at the emergency hearing. What sort of allegations will normally justify a request for an emergency temporary orders hearing? Houston Family Lawyers: If in your sworn statement you allege that your child is not safe in the home environment because of your spouse’s actions then your request for a temporary orders hearing should be approved. Obviously if your child is the victim of the family violence than that should be more than sufficient to approach a judge as quickly as possible. A difficult part of making allegations against your spouse in a divorce case is that you have no history with the court and this judge. You will need to establish the initial facts and circumstances for the judge so that he or she can begin to form an opinion about the situation. Remember that even though your family’s situation is well known to you, it will not be that way with a judge. You and your attorney will need to methodically present evidence of the dangerous situation in your home in order to achieve the results you have requested. Judges are usually pretty adept at identifying behaviors from your spouse that are outwardly controlling or harmful to you. Do not be intimidated by your spouse if he or she displays behavior like this. Keep in mind that you will want to share all aspects of your case with your attorney prior to filing your divorce petition or requesting a emergency temporary orders hearing. The reason for this is that as quickly as you are moving in attempting to file your case, you will not want to get to the hearing date only to have your attorney blindsided by information that can harm your case. To avoid this, be clear about any instances of violence that have occurred between you and your spouse. Even if some of these situations you describe do not cast you in the best light be sure to share them with your attorney. It is better to have time to prepare with your attorney before a hearing rather than to learn about them at the hearing with no time to prepare. Again, you are attempting to make a lasting and positive first impression on the judge in this hearing. How a judge can see that your spouse controls your actions financially Houston Family Law Attorney: It isn’t only physical violence that leads to abuse. Financial control is another powerful way that your spouse may be exerting force towards how you act. You may not be able to take care of your household, parent your child the way that you want or even buy necessities for yourself if your spouse gives you no access to credit cards, bank accounts or other financial outlets. Allegations of physical violence coupled with extreme financial control are telltale signs of an overbearing and possibly abusive spouse. Judges are trained to be able to see this and take note of it. Appointing ad litem or amicus attorneys to your case Divorce Lawyers in Houston: Even after an emergency hearing or temporary orders hearing a judge may not feel like they have all of the information that he or she needs in order to issue a ruling in your case on the larger issues of conservatorship, visitation, possession and access. You may be able to receive some orders that will ensure that you and your child are safe but bigger picture items may not be dealt with at that initial hearing. Often times judges will appoint attorney ad litem or amicus attorneys to your case in order to conduct research on you and your spouse and to do home visits and interviews. The judge is hoping to gain more information about your home life and these persons will help act as the eyes and ears of the court when there is not a hearing in session. These folks can report on the condition of your home, the nature of your and your spouse’s relationship to your child and can see if they have a feeling about to what extent domestic violence has occurred in the home. Ultimately a risk assessment can be given to the judge where he or she can make recommendations regarding where your child ought to be living on a temporary or permanent basis. Treatment programs and counseling for an abusive spouse Ultimately if you meet the burden and prove to a judge that your spouse has been abusive it could be ordered that he or she attend anger management or similar therapy sessions on a regular basis. Their attendance will be checked and their ability to visit with your child will be dependent in large part on your spouse’s ability to regularly attend class. While there is no guarantee that your spouse attending these classes will ensure that he or she stops their violent behavior, I would argue that the failure to attend indicates a lack of respect for the judge and their orders. If you have evidence to present to a judge that your spouse acts with violence towards you or your child, even on a sporadic basis, you should speak to your attorney about how to present this evidence in court. Doing so now will ensure that you are prepared to do what it takes to get this powerful evidence in front of the judge. Questions on emergency and temporary orders hearings? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan Family Lawyer Houston: To learn more about the process of requesting temporary orders and emergency temporary orders hearings please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our office has experience in representing clients who have violent spouses and are in need of protection and strong representation. For a free of charge consultation with one of our licensed family law attorneys please do not hesitate to contact our office today. We offer consultations six days per week ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, Is it possible for Child Protective Services gives temporary conservatorship to your child's grandparents? with the great process!
Divorce Lawyer in Spring TX: Family law cases that involve Child Protective Services (CPS) involve some of the more difficult and frustrating subject matter of any sort of case that the Law Office of Bryan Fagan helps clients with. When CPS becomes involved in a family’s life it may just be for a few weeks but it can feel like so much longer. Being told that you need to improve an aspect or your parenting and the consequences of the failure to show improvement being that your children may be removed from your home is something that causes the hair to stand up on the back of many parent’s necks. While having your children removed from your home is certainly not the norm when it comes to a CPS case, it can happen given the right circumstances. When CPS does remove a child from their home they will first look for a family member to place the child with. Often times a grandparent is an obvious and safe choice to place the child while they work with parents to sort of any issues in the home that may present a risk of harm to the child. This occurs when CPS receives a report of abuse or neglect by you, your spouse or another adult living in your home with your children. What CPS does to investigate allegations of abuse or neglect of your child Spring TX Divorce Lawyer: A caseworker from CPS will be assigned to investigate any allegations of abuse or neglect of your child by you or your spouse. While CPS seeks to be as non-invasive as possible it can happen that their actions in your situation result in their becoming over-involved. The investigation has a certain amount of time with which it will need to turn up evidence to continue to have your child reside outside of your home. If the investigation is fruitless and no evidence is turned up to substantiate the allegations of abuse or neglect the case is supposed to be closed and your child returned to live with you and your spouse in your home. If evidence is found, and a court agrees with the removal of your child then you are likely to be given periods of visitation at a CPS facility with your child during the pendency of the investigation. A parenting plan that dictates steps that you must take in order to secure your home will be agreed to by you, your spouse and the CPS caseworker. It is important that you abide by the parenting plan and report problems and updates to CPS as they arise. Your case worker will be present at any court hearing where he or she will testify to the any updates in your case- good or bad. If you are cooperating with the investigation and participating as agreed in the parenting plan then it is likely that a court will be more willing to allow your children to return to your home once certain steps are met. How do the courts factor in to this process? Spring Divorce Lawyer: If your child has been removed from your home and is placed with either your or your spouse’s parents a family law court that approved the removal must provide you and your spouse with a hearing within fourteen days of your child being removed. This hearing’s purpose will be to determine whether or not the removal was justified based on the factual evidence available to determine if a risk of harm was present in your home at that time. If the court does determine that the removal was justified this initial hearing will also be utilized in order to determine where your child is going to live for the duration of the case. Keep in mind that the total length of a CPS case can be up to 18 months, though it is likely that the length will not be nearly that long. If you are reading this as a grandparent, you should consider hiring an attorney as soon as you can once your grandchild is placed into your care after being removed from your home if you want your grandchild to remain in your home. What can happen at the initial removal hearing Houston Divorce Lawyer: Much of what will happen at this hearing will depend upon what is being alleged as far as the abuse or neglect of you or your spouse towards your child. Also important is the relationship that both of you have with whichever set of grandparents your child was placed with. If grandparents support the return of your child to your home they can try to win temporary conservatorship of your child while at the same time not file a lawsuit of their own seeking a more permanent conservatorship over your child. This way they can be available as a home for your child but can also be supportive of you in your attempts to regain conservatorship of your child. On the other hand, if the allegations made against you are substantial and the grandparents do not wish to testify on your behalf then it is likely that they would hire an attorney to represent their interests and then proceed to file a motion to intervene into the CPS lawsuit. The lawsuit would petition the court to award them a permanent conservatorship over your child rather than just temporary placement for the duration of the CPS case. The crux of their argument would be that if your child is returned to you and your spouse that their emotional development or physical health could be potentially harmed. The intervention is key because without it, grandparents do not have standing to win conservatorship over their grandchild. How a court will view the involvement of grandparents in a CPS case Divorce Lawyer in Houston: Most judges like to see family members, grandparents included, get involved with a CPS case. The foster care system in Texas has its problems (you need only perform a quick Google search to see that for yourself) and a judge will be much more content to remove a child if their landing spot is a grandparent’s home. Grandparents do have rights in Texas when it comes to attempting to win conservatorship over their grandchild. Though it must be said that their rights pale in comparison to you as a parent of your child. The sort of lawsuit that I mentioned earlier can be brought by a grandparent if: 1. At least one biological or adoptive parent of the child has not had that parents' rights terminated; 2. Denial of possession of the child by the grandparent will significantly impair the child's physical health or emotional well-being; and 3. The grandparent seeking possession of the child is a parent of a parent of the child, and that parent of the child: a. Has been incarcerated for the three months preceding the filing of the suit; b. Has been found incompetent by a Court; c. Is dead; or d. Does not have actual or Court-ordered possession of the child. If these circumstances are in play in your case, the allegations of abuse or neglect are significant and the grandparents want to step in as conservators on more than a temporary basis you may find yourself with a custody battle to fight in addition to a CPS case to manage. Questions about CPS cases and a grandparent’s rights? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan Divorce Attorney Houston: It can feel like the end of the world when CPS becomes involved with your family. However, this does not have to be the case. If you are facing a CPS case and do not know where to turn next please consider contacting the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our attorneys represent clients across southeast Texas in CPS matters and would be honored to do the same for you. A free of charge consultation with one of our licensed family law attorneys is only a phone call away ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, Frequently asked questions regarding child support in Texas with the great process!
The Woodlands Divorce Attorney: The fact that you are reading this blog post tells me that you have questions about child support. I know, I know: way to go out on a limb there, Mr. Lawyer. In all seriousness, the topic of child support is one that gets the attention of people no matter if he or she is the parent who stands to pay or receive child support. I think it has to do with the fact that it involves everyone’s favorite topic (money) and every spouse’s least favorite person (their ex-spouse). Combine the two and we have a combustible situation that will lead you to take your free time and devote it to reading blog posts on a family law attorney’s website. With all of that said, today I would like to devote some time to going through some questions that I feel are particularly relevant when discussing the subject of child support. While I may not be able to answer a question that you have the following questions are ones that I have been asked so frequently that I feel the need to lay them out for all to see. If I don’t happen to answer your question please contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. We do not charge you a penny for a consultation and one of our licensed family law attorneys will be happy to address and answer your questions on this important topic. Can I and my child’s other parent come up with our own child support order? Spring Divorce Lawyers: The answer to this question is yes in most situations. A judge has to issue orders that are in the best interests of your child. However, most any judge would defer to the judgment of a child’s parents when it comes to most subjects including child support. As long as there is some basis for the agreed upon child support obligation a judge is apt to accept it and make it the law in your case. Situations that involve disabled children or children that will require support after age 18 are situations that I can think of that would cause a judge to question a relatively low child support obligation. If I can’t settle the issue of child support outside of court, will a judge order guideline levels of support? The default answer for a family law attorney is to tell you that if push comes to shove that a judge will issue an order that pretty closely mimics the guidelines levels of support as stated in the Texas Family Code. The guideline levels of support begin at 20% of an obligor’s net monthly income (the parent who is obligated to pay child support) and then can go up as high as 50% of net monthly income. A cap is applied to the first $8,550 of an obligor’s net monthly income for calculating child support. However, if you are able to present evidence to a judge that your situation merits a higher than guidelines level of support it can be ordered. We’ve already discussed a situation where your child may have a disability or other condition that requires an above guidelines level of support or even support past the age of 18. It would be unjust for a judge to award a “standard” child support amount in this situation bearing in mind the circumstances. Finally, if your ex-spouse is a high income earner and your child’s needs justify it, a higher percentage of your ex-spouse’s monthly income may be considered when determining an amount of child support to order. Your spouse the professional football player will not get away from the child support court having to pay only an amount of support based on their first $8,550. How will child support be determined if my ex-spouse and I basically split custody? Divorce Lawyer in Spring TX: It seems to me that the term “split custody” must be showing up in the media more and more because I have heard people use that term frequently in the past year. It seems like all the rage for one parent or the other in a divorce will want to have the children be shared equally in terms of time spent with each parent. These are the sort of parents that typically get along very well with one another and encourage the child to have a relationship with each of them. Some parents have it in their mind that if he or she is awarded split custody that he or she will not be responsible for paying child support. The thought is that if time is split pretty much equally between the parents why should one have to pay any support to the other. Is this actually how the situation plays out? It can be, at least if you and the other parent earn about the same as far as monthly income is concerned. If this is true the need for child support is reduced dramatically. In many situations what a judge will do is run an calculation of what each parent would pay in child support based on their monthly income and then have the parent who earns more pay the difference to the parent who earns less. You typically see this sort of scenario play out when the difference in income is dramatic. What if I am underemployed or unemployed? Do I still have to pay child support? Spring TX Divorce Lawyer: If you are the non custodial parent (i.e., your child does not live with you full time) you will likely be expected to pay child support to the custodial parent. It happens every so often that a person in your position either is not working a full time job or is not working at all for whatever reason. In a situation like this would you still have to pay child support? Yes. If you are not working a judge would calculate your monthly child support obligation based on what you would earn working a minimum wage job for forty hours a week. Likewise, if it is determined that you are not earning an income that is comparable to your potential a judge could based your support obligation on what you could potentially earn. Let me just say that the above paragraph should not lead you to worry that a judge is going to say that you should be earning $65,000 when you are “only” earning $55,000. The analysis does not get that nitty gritty. More often it is when a non custodial parent has a work history where he or she has earned substantially more in the past that this sort of analysis occurs. Help, I’m in jail! Will a judge order me to pay child support? A non custodial parent who finds him or herself without an income due to their being in jail or prison at the time an order is issue will not be ordered to pay child support. The main thing to keep in mind, however, is that you must serve time of at least ninety days for the preceding sentence to apply to you. Keep in mind that once you are out of jail the custodial parent can file a modification request with the court to have child support ordered now that you are out of jail and able to earn an income. If we didn’t answer your particular question contact us to ask one of our attorneys Spring Divorce Lawyer: I hope that many of these questions were relevant for you (maybe all of them except for the one about being in jail). However, if I didn’t touch on a subject that pertains to you please contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. One of our attorneys can sit down with you at no charge and answer your questions in person. While there, we can discuss the services our office can provide you with as a client of ours ... Continue Reading |
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