Texas Divorce Attorney BlogThe Texas legislature has taken a strong stance against family violence. Title IV of the Texas Family Code codifies the injunctive remedy of Family Violence Protective Orders. In Texas, an Applicant for a Title IV Protective Order must first satisfy the venue requirements and have a qualifying relationship with the Respondent. In limited situations, an Applicant may be afforded the opportunity to apply for a Title IV Protective Order on behalf of another. Continue Reading ›
Articles Posted in Divorce
With Child Support Off the Table, Celebrity Asks for “Pet Support”
Nearly a year after separating, Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams are still trying to negotiate a settlement for divorce. The reason for the drawn out divorce? Alimony. Continue Reading ›
How Sexually Transmitted Diseases Affect Divorces in Texas
By now we are sure everyone has heard the headlines about Charlie Sheen having HIV after he announced it on the Today show last week. Being a divorce attorney, the first thought that came into my head was how mortified his ex-wives Brooke Mueller and Denise Richards must have been after his revelation. In his interview on the Today show, Sheen mentioned that people had been blackmailing him for years threatening to leak the information. Since he couldn’t afford to keep his disease a lie anymore, he disclosed it on live T.V. so the threats would stop.
Now the new threats have arrived- his ex-girlfriends (some who happen to be prostitutes) are claiming they want to see criminal charges brought against him for failing to disclose that he was HIV positive prior to having intercourse with them. Sheen claims he was diagnosed four years ago, but his former girlfriends claim he had symptoms of HIV prior to that time and therefore must have known. According to certain ex-girlfriends, he only used lambskin condoms which only prevent against pregnancy and not STDs. Since these women were not married to Sheen, their relief will come in criminal or civil suits, but what if you’re married and living in Texas and your husband/wife gives you a sexually transmitted disease? Is it grounds for divorce?
The Dallas County Standing Order – Recent Updates
In light of the specific issues that are faced by litigants in family law cases, the District Courts of Dallas County have promulgated a series of orders (collectively the “Dallas County Standing Order Regarding Children, Pets, Property and Conduct of the Parties”) that applies in every divorce suit and every suit affecting the parent-child relationship that is filed in Dallas County. The Courts have determined that the Standing Order is necessary “because the parties, their children, and the family pets should be protected and their property preserved while the lawsuit is pending before the Court.”
iClouded Judgment
Cloud-based software, such as iCloud from Apple, has made sharing information like pictures, text messages, and communication a breeze. Families often link accounts to share music, pictures, and other media. Apple explains, “Set up iCloud on all your devices. The rest is automatic.” And when Apple says everything, it means everything. Lately, iCloud has provided a new way for spouses to learn about infidelity–when it pops up automatically on their screens.
Monique Honaman, a writer at the Huffington post, recently brought up some of the issues that accompany the automatic sharing of all of the data on your phone. In a column titled “iCaught on iCloud,” the author posts stories of people who found out about infidelity on iCloud. Continue Reading ›
Same-Sex Couples and Common Law Marriage
The legalization of same-sex marriage may only be a few months old, but Texas’ informal marriage laws may provide for marriage recognition dating back decades. On June 26, 2015 the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, legalizing same-sex marriage in every state of the Union. Since the rendering of the Court’s ruling, counties across the state of Texas have issued thousands of marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Upon receipt of a marriage license, these couples become eligible to enter into formal marriage. However, Texas also recognizes informal marriage, frequently referred to as common law marriage. Texas allows parties to an informal marriage to hold, as their legal wedding date, the earliest date at which all statutory requirements of an informal marriage were satisfied. What does this mean for same-sex couples who satisfied the statutory requirements before the legalization of same-sex marriage in Texas?
Under the Texas Family Code, an informal marriage may be proved by evidence that: (1) a declaration of marriage has been signed; or (2) by showing that the parties agreed to be married and after the agreement they cohabited together, in Texas, as a married couple, and represented themselves to others, in Texas, to be married. (see Texas Family Code 2.401). Upon satisfaction of the second prong, the couple may file a declaration of marriage and list, as their date of marriage, the earliest date at which all requirements were concurrently satisfied. Of course, same-sex couples are now afforded the ability to enter into informal marriage. The question is, however, will same-sex couples who satisfied all requirements of the law be allowed to declare their marriages to a date prior to June 16, 2015?
Initially, it was believed that state officials would hold that same-sex common law marriages could not be dated before June 26, 2015, as same-sex marriages were void ab initio under the law. However, with respect to a recent declaration of marriage filed by a same-sex couple in Tarrant County, Texas, the Texas Department of State Health Services stated that “Applicants, regardless of gender, may apply for an informal marriage license using any date applicable to their relationship.” Accordingly, this Tarrant County couple was allowed to date their informal marriage to 1992.
Kaley Cuoco and Ryan Sweeting Split, Short Term Marriage
If you’ve read the gossip tabloids today, you probably know now that Kaley Cuoco, actress from The Big Bang Theory and Ryan Sweeting, a pro tennis player, have recently decided to end their 21- month marriage. Apparently things were getting rough for the couple who had only dated 3 months before tying the knot. To read more about the split on Glamour Magazine, click here.
This short-term marriage is not uncommon. The Atlantic recently wrote an article entitled The Divorce-Proof Marriage, which discussed how factors such as income, length of dating and even how many people attend your wedding affect your likelihood for divorce. They discuss that “a strong marriage, is an intentional one,” not one that is done without thinking beforehand. The article deconstructs a study conducted at Emory University demonstrating that couples who date more than a year before marriage are 20% less likely to end in divorce, and marriages after three years of dating, 39% more likely. Of course, we have to think that age is also a huge factor among other circumstances, but length of dating before marriage is definitely key. It is very common for our clients to mention that a lack of ‘getting to know’ their partner before marriage led to many surprises after marriage –which ultimately brings them to our doors.
What’s Mine Is Mine – Understand Separate Property
Understanding separate property laws is crucial for divorcing spouses. If a spouse can prove certain property as his or her separate property, then the Constitution of State of Texas prohibits that spouse from being divested of his or her separate property. As such, separate property is “off the table,” so to speak, when it comes to division of the estate either by a court or through a settlement agreement. Therefore, if a spouse is able to prove certain property as his or her separate property, then such characterization can dramatically influence the framework for settlement negotiations and/or relief sought from the Court. Continue Reading ›
In Light of Obergefell v. Hodges Decision, State of Texas Now Ordered to License and Recognize Same-Sex Marriage
Friday, June 26, 2015, was unquestionably a historic day in the realm of family law, constitutional law, and for the country as a whole. On this day, a majority of the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-State. Justice Kennedy, who delivered the majority opinion of the Court, was joined by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan in this momentous decision. Continue Reading ›
I’ve filed for divorce….so what happens next?
Perhaps the most frequent questions we encounter from clients shortly after filing for divorce are “How long is this going to take?” and “What happens next?” Of course the answer to these questions depend upon Continue Reading ›