iStock-1215119911A trial court must divide community property in a “just and right” manner in a Texas divorce.  The court must properly characterize the property before it in order to achieve a just and right division. Characterization can be complex when the parties have significant assets acquired through various means.  It can get even more complicated when the parties have ownership interests in business entities that also own property.

A husband recently appealed the property division in his divorce decree, arguing the court had improperly awarded him property owned by business entities as his separate property. The parties got married in 1993.  They lived in Connecticut, but the wife moved to Texas in 2018 for a job.  The husband remained in Connecticut where his construction businesses were located. He told the wife, however, that he would move to Texas in a year to a year and a half, but ultimately did not do so.

Wife Files for Divorce

The wife petitioned for divorce in 2019.  The husband’s father and his company filed suit against three of the husband’s businesses a few days before the divorce trial. The lawsuit alleged the husband’s companies owed his father’s company $770,644 for equipment rental.

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iStock-531351317Texas family law considers Social Security disability benefits to be a substitute for the parent’s earnings. Pursuant to Tex. Fam. Code § 157.009, when a child receives a lump-sum payment due to the parent’s disability, the parent is entitled to a credit applied to any arrearage and interest. Additionally, when a trial court applies the child support guidelines to a parent who receives disability benefits, the court must determine how much child support would be ordered under the guidelines then subtract the value of any benefits paid to the child as a result of the parent’s disability.  Tex. Fam. Code § 154.132.

The Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) recently appealed a trial court order applying a lump sum disability payment as a credit to future child support. The trial court signed the parents’ divorce decree in 2016.  The court ordered the father to pay $603.25 in monthly child support.  He filed a petition for modification in 2018, asking the court to modify his child support obligations. The OAG intervened, stating he owed back child support and asking the court to enter judgment for the arrearages and accrued interest.

Father Argues He is Entitled to Future Credit for Disability Payment

The OAG stated in its brief that the father had started receiving Social Security Disability benefits and the children had received a lump sum benefit payment. The OAG contended that amount could only be used as a credit against the father’s arrearage and not for future child support.  The father, however, asked the court to give him a credit against his future obligation.

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iStock-1270267953Texas is one of the few states that still recognizes “informal marriage,” also sometimes known as “common law marriage.” A party who petitions for divorce from an informal marriage  often must  prove the existence of the informal marriage in the first place. To prove there was an informal marriage, the party must show the couple had an agreement to be married, subsequently lived as spouses together in Texas, and represented themselves as married. Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 2.401. Furthermore, all of these elements must occur at the same time.  Evidence of an informal marriage may include evidence the parties addressed each other as spouses, conducted themselves as married people, or lived together. Evidence that the parties lived together and represented themselves as married is not alone sufficient to establish the existence  of an agreement to be married.

In a recent case, an alleged husband challenged the court’s finding of the existence of an informal marriage. The parties moved to Texas from Colorado with the alleged wife’s two children in 1985. They separated in early 2012.  In 2015, the alleged wife filed a trespass to try title suit, claiming joint ownership in real property due to an informal marriage.  That lawsuit was consolidated with her subsequent divorce action.

The trial court ultimately found the parties had been in an informal marriage.  The court granted a divorce and divided their property.  The husband appealed, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support the existence of an informal marriage.

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iStock-483613578In a Texas divorce, a jury may decide issues regarding the characterization and valuation of property, but the judge is responsible for actually dividing the community property in a just and right manner.  The court may consider a number of factors, including fault, education, ages and physical conditions, financial conditions, and the amount of separate property.  Generally, the court must hold an evidentiary hearing or trial, unless the parties agree on the property division.

Wife Argues Trial Court Did Not Hear Property Issues

In a recent case, a wife appealed a property division, arguing the court failed to hold a hearing on the property division.

The parties married in 2003 and the husband filed for divorce in 2017. The jury did not hear the property division issues, which were reserved for the trial court.  The court stated that it would try those issues during the jury deliberations if there was time or would otherwise schedule a date after the verdict on the issues related to the children.

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retireRetirement benefits can be a complex and contentious issue in a Texas divorce case.  Generally, any income earned during marriage is considered community property unless proven to be separate property, including funds contributed to a retirement account or earned as pension benefits.  In a recent case, a husband challenged a court’s order awarding a portion of his military retirement benefits to his ex-wife.

According to the appeals court’s opinion, the wife petitioned for enforcement of property division by contempt, alleging the husband had not paid her the retirement benefits awarded to her in their divorce decree.  The husband argued the military benefits had either been awarded to him or had not been divided at the time of the divorce.

The wife filed an amended motion to clarify, asking the court to enter a clarifying order if it found any part of the previous order was not specific enough for enforcement through contempt.  She specifically asked the court to clarify the order to reflect the length of the marriage and the husband’s dates of military service.  She also asked the court to sign a Military Qualified Domestic Relations Order.

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Premarital agreement

Some Texas premarital agreements may include a binding arbitration clause. A party may compel arbitration when the claims at issue are within the scope of a valid and enforceable agreement to arbitrate.  If the claim falls within the agreement’s scope and there is no defense to enforcing it, the court must compel arbitration. Fraud may be a defense against compelled arbitration, but the party must show that the fraud was specifically related to the arbitration provision.

A husband recently appealed a denial of his motion for arbitration in his divorce proceeding.  The parties signed a premarital agreement that included an arbitration clause. The wife filed a petition for divorce in July 2014.  In 2016, she filed an amended petition.  Neither petition mentioned the premarital agreement.  The husband filed an answer in 2016, but did not mention the premarital agreement either.

In a second amended petition, the wife stated there was a premarital agreement and requested it be set aside and vacated.  She alleged she entered into it involuntarily and that it was unconscionable.

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iStock-902725964-scaledIn Texas custody cases, it can be very difficult for a non-parent to obtain custody or visitation of a child over the objection of a parent.  In some circumstances, however, a non-parent (such as a grandparent) has the right to file suit seeking custody or visitation.  One such circumstance is when the person has recently had care, custody, and control of the child for at least six months.

In a recent case, a grandmother sought custody of her son’s child after her son’s death.  According to the appeals court’s opinion, the child was born in 2014.  From 2014 to 2020, the child and parents lived in various places, including the paternal grandmother’s home in Wilson County.  From 2017 to 2019, the child went to daycare in Wilson County.  From August 2019 to January 22, 2020, the parents and child lived with the paternal grandmother.

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In some Texas divorce cases, a party fails to file an answer to the divorce petition or otherwise participate in the divorce proceedings in any way.  When a court divides property in a Texas divorce, it must do so in a “just and right” manner. TEX. FAM. CODE ANN. § 7.001.  However, to do so, the court must have sufficient evidence of the value of the community estate, even if one of the parties does not participate in the proceedings.  Even if their spouse fails to file an answer, the petitioner in a divorce case must present evidence supporting the material allegations in the petition.  If a trial court divides the property without sufficient evidence of the value of the assets to make a just and right division, the division may be subject to reversal on appeal, even if the appealing spouse failed to respond and the court issued a default judgment.

In a recent case, a husband challenged a default judgment granting his wife a divorce and dividing their property, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support the property division.

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In Texas custody cases, a court may only issue an order denying possession of a child or imposing restrictions or limitations on a parent’s right to possession to the extent necessary to protect the child’s best interest.  Tex. Fam. Code § 153.193. Thus, a court may only order that a parent’s visitation with a child be supervised if doing so is in the child’s best interest.

A father recently challenged a court’s denial of his request for supervised visitation and drug testing of the mother.

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iStock-1147846829Sometimes parents disagree about whose surname a child should have.  Texas family law allows a court to order a name change for a child if the change is in the child’s best interest.  Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 45.004.  Additionally, when a court adjudicates parentage, it may order a name change if a parent requests it and “for good cause shown.”  Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 160.636.  Some appeals courts have held that those are two distinct tests, while others have held that the child’s best interest is necessarily good cause and simply determine if the change would be in the child’s best interest even when the name change is requested pursuant to § 160.636.

A mother recently appealed a court order changing her son’s surname to that of his father.

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