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How to Decide Where Your Pets Go During Divorce
Deciding who will keep your family pets can be a very emotional part of dividing your marital property. Pet lovers often struggle with deciding who a family pet should live with during their divorce. While you might have sentimental feelings about other pieces of marital property, the attachment you feel to your belongings is likely nothing like what you feel for your pet. Spouses sometimes resolve every other issue in their divorce and then find that they cannot agree on who keeps the pets. You have a lot of different options when it comes to choosing who your pet will live with. Many spouses continue to share their dog or cat’s time after they get divorced. An experienced Houston, TX divorce lawyer can help you find the right solution for your pets.
Signs Your Spouse Is Coaching Your Child During a Custody Case
"Coaching" is a term used in family law to describe a parent telling a child what to say to the court or to a guardian ad litem, generally to gain an unfair advantage in an ongoing child custody battle. Although most divorce attorneys will caution clients against it, coaching happens nonetheless. It is often fairly obvious to professionals like guardians ad litem who are trained to work with children. Courts do not look favorably on coaching, as it suggests that the parent is putting his or her own interests above the child’s actual needs and preferences. If you suspect that your co-parent is instructing your child on what to say, you should inform your Houston, TX child custody attorney immediately.
How to Tell if Your Child is Being Coached
Coaching during a custody dispute is most commonly done by a parent, but grandparents or a parent’s new partner may also be guilty of trying to influence what a child says. Some signs that your child is being coached are:
Does Mediation Work for a High Net Worth Divorce?
Divorce is rarely an easy process, but when substantial assets are involved, things can become very difficult. High net worth divorces, which often include large properties, business interests, and valuable investments, bring unique challenges. Spouses who no longer enjoy a healthy relationship often stay together because the process of dividing property simply seems too challenging.
One option that can make the process smoother is mediation. In mediation, both spouses work with a neutral third-party mediator to reach an agreement outside of court. Not only can this save time and money, but it can also reduce the emotional strain on both parties. For many couples, mediation provides a private and efficient way to resolve issues. An experienced Houston, TX divorce attorney can guide you through the mediation process and ensure your best interests are protected.
Can Child Support Be Modified After a Major Life Change?
Divorce often disrupts the lives of those involved, including the couple’s children. Child support is a way for the state to make sure that throughout these disruptions, children’s basic needs are not forgotten or discarded. A divorce court will therefore issue a child support order which usually compels both parents to financially support their child. Once they are issued, child support orders are hard to change.
Circumstances evolve, however, and the law understands that significant life changes may affect a parent’s ability to provide child support. In some cases, a change in circumstances may be enough to justify a child support modification, though it still may take a Texas child support attorney to convince the court to do so.
This article will discuss when a life change may be grounds for child support modification. First, however, it is important to understand which factors a judge takes into account when ordering child support in the first place.
Why Should You Establish Paternity in Texas?
When a married couple has a baby, the two are automatically considered to be that baby’s parents, with all the legal implications that come with that determination. Things are less simple when parents are not married to each other at the time of birth. When a woman is pregnant and gives birth, she is legally recognized as the baby’s biological mother. However, an unmarried father will need to prove his relationship with the baby. There are several reasons why you might want to establish your paternity since it can benefit the baby, the mother, and you. If you want to make sure you are legally recognized as your baby’s father, speak with a skilled Harris County, TX paternity lawyer who can guide you through the process.
Who Benefits From Paternity in Texas?
If a man is married to a woman when she gives birth, his paternity is considered fact for all legal intents and purposes. There is no need to prove it, and it is automatically recognized. However, if you are not married when the baby is born, it suddenly becomes something you need to prove. It is a fairly straightforward process, particularly when both parents agree about their relationship to the baby. If there is disagreement, genetic testing, which can often be conducted using a swab of the inner cheek, can determine any biological relationship.
Can Adoption in Texas Be Reversed?
Most adoptions have an experienced attorney to guide the process and ensure all paperwork is properly filled out and filed and all legal procedures are followed. Yet even attorney-guided adoptions that follow all laws and rules can occasionally go very wrong, causing an adoption reversal. If you are facing such a heartbreaking situation, you need a highly skilled Texas adoption attorney to help you through this difficult time.
DFPS reports that 4,586 children were adopted across Texas during 2021—a number that is down from 2020 when 5,270 found loving homes with adoptive parents. The number of children being adopted from Texas foster care has steadily increased from 2016 through 2022, although older children are still not as likely to be adopted as toddlers and babies.
More than half of all children and teens in the state are adopted by relatives—usually grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Most adoptive parents find their lives are significantly enriched by their newly adopted children and cannot imagine life without them. On rare occasions, however, there are unusual situations where Texas adoptions are reversed.
What Are Parenting Classes and Do I Need Them?
You and your spouse have decided to get divorced. Both of you are now preparing for the divorce process and getting your affairs in order. You have signed the papers, prepared your financial disclosures, and decided who will take custody of the family pet.
But there is something your divorce lawyer failed to prepare you for: parenting classes. Some courts require parents of minor children to attend parenting classes before the judge makes a final verdict on child custody, or what Texas law calls “possession.”
Being ordered to attend parenting classes can be an unpleasant surprise, and may even feel embarrassing, as if your parenting decisions are being unfairly judged. Hiring the right Illinois divorce attorney, however, can help you avoid any surprises and make the overall divorce process smoother.
What Are Parenting Classes?
Judges sometimes order parents who are getting divorced to complete what Texas law calls a Parent Education and Family Stabilization Course. This is a course taught by court-approved licensed professionals and is designed to prepare you for parenting after divorce. The course is usually broken into several parts and can last a total of between four to 12 hours.
3 Apps to Help You Co-Parent in Texas
Co-parenting after a divorce can be tense, especially if the divorce was due to a breakdown in communication. For many parents who struggle to communicate with each other, co-parenting can stir up hostility. This can cause legal issues if the parents cannot agree on things like:
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Parenting time
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Child support
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The child’s educational and developmental needs
If you are a new co-parent or are concerned that your co-parenting arrangement might be breaking down, it is best to consult a Texas attorney who is experienced in family law.
In addition to legal assistance, many parents use mobile apps that are designed to make co-parenting easier for parents and children.
Here are three co-parenting apps that newly divorced parents may find useful.
What Role Does an Attorney Play in an Uncontested Divorce in Texas?
Some couples going through divorce have hurt feelings that leave them incapable of working together, making it extremely difficult to reach a settlement. Some couples manage to maintain healthy communication despite wishing to end the marriage. For the second category, an uncontested divorce can be an excellent option because the couple can work together to draft a divorce settlement. If their settlement addresses every issue necessary, the judge can approve it and grant the divorce without the need for drawn-out divorce proceedings in court.
Since this means that the couple is the driving force behind the settlement, they will likely be negotiating and compromising with one another. People might mistakenly think that a lawyer is unnecessary for such a divorce. However, uncontested divorce is still a legal procedure, and anyone who has not studied the law thoroughly will require the legal guidance and expertise that a lawyer can offer. If you and your spouse are likely headed toward an uncontested divorce, speak with a Harris County, TX divorce attorney to make sure you are including all necessary aspects in your settlement.
Is It Possible to Modify a Divorce Decree in Texas?
One of the most difficult aspects of negotiating a divorce settlement is that you need to act as if you can predict the future. You generally go on the assumption that the conditions as they are will remain the same later on. However, conditions can always change. Someone unstable can go through therapy and work on themselves. Someone who has a lucrative career can get laid off and lose their income. Since things can change and have a significant impact on your future, it is reasonable that people who agreed to a divorce settlement might find later on that it no longer suits them. If you are interested in seeing whether modifications can be made to your divorce decree, a knowledgeable Houston, TX divorce lawyer can provide insight.
Can Any Part of a Divorce Decree Be Modified?
The short answer is no. Not all parts of a decree can be modified. The sections related to the division of marital assets and debts will need to remain as they are unless you discover that your ex was hiding assets or information or you can prove that the settlement was unjust according to the law.
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