Generally, the date of a marriage is certain, but that is often not the case with an informal marriage. The date of marriage affects the characterization of property and therefore a dispute over the date of marriage can significantly impact the property division. A former husband recently appealed a divorce…
A court may grant a Texas annulment if the other party induced the petitioner into the marriage by fraud, duress or force and the petitioner did not voluntarily cohabit with the other party after learning about the fraud or being released from the force or duress. Tex. Fam. Code §…
The court in a Texas divorce case may appoint a receiver to protect and preserve the property of the parties. TEX. FAM. CODE § 6.502(a)(5). The receiver only has the powers authorized by the court. The receiver’s role is to receive and preserve the property for all interested parties’ benefit. …
Generally, either party in a Texas divorce is entitled to demand a jury trial pursuant to Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 6.703. A party seeking a jury trial must file a timely request. If the jury trial is available to a party as a matter of right, the court generally…
The Fourteenth Court of Appeals recently reversed a trial court’s order imposing restrictions on international travel for a child whose mother had ties to Russia. In another recent case, however, the Third District Court of Appeals determined there was no error in a trial court’s imposition of travel restrictions for…
Pensions and retirement accounts can complicate property division, especially in a high net worth Texas divorce. Retirement accounts often include both separate and community property. In a recent case, a former husband challenged the court’s valuation of the wife’s pension and the resulting property division. According to the appeals court’s…
Sometimes when one parent has international ties, the other parent may have concerns about international abduction. There is a two-step statutory process to assess and mitigate risk of parental international abduction. The court must consider certain factors to determine if there is credible evidence of a potential risk. If the…
Division of a business in a Texas divorce can complicate a Texas divorce. As with other property, a business interest possessed during the marriage is presumed to be community property, but that presumption can be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence that it is separate property. In a recent case,…
The Supreme Court of Texas recently considered the property division in a Texas divorce case involving a complex estate, including an outstanding employee bonus, claims of separate property, and a retirement plan. The parties got married in 2020 and were divorced in late 2019, with litigation regarding the property division…
A court may award Texas spousal maintenance in a divorce case if the spouse seeking maintenance meets the statutory requirements. Generally, a spouse seeking maintenance must show that they lack sufficient property to provide for their own minimum reasonable needs and meet one of the other statutory conditions, including being…