Texas Family Law FAQ

At an absolute minimum, 60 days from the date the petition is filed, because Texas Family Code § 6.702 bars the court from granting a divorce before the 60th day. Agreed cases often finish shortly after that. Contested cases — particularly ones involving custody, a business, or a spouse who will not produce records — commonly run several months to well over a year, and the county's docket has as much to do with it as the facts.

No. Texas Family Code § 6.001 allows divorce on the ground of insupportability, which requires no proof of wrongdoing by either spouse. Fault grounds such as cruelty or adultery still exist, and they can affect how a judge divides the community estate, but they are not required to obtain a divorce.

No. Texas Family Code § 7.001 directs the court to divide the community estate in a manner that is just and right, having due regard for the rights of each party and any children. Judges routinely award more than half to one spouse based on earning capacity, fault, health, custody of children, or the size of each spouse's separate estate.

Separate property is what a spouse owned before marriage, plus anything acquired during marriage by gift, devise or descent (Texas Family Code § 3.001). Everything else acquired during the marriage is presumed community property (§ 3.002). The presumption favors community, so the spouse claiming separate property carries the burden of proving it — usually with records tracing the asset back to its source.

Yes. Texas does not require both spouses to agree to the divorce. One spouse's assertion of insupportability is enough. A spouse who refuses to participate can slow the case down through service and discovery problems, but cannot prevent the divorce from being granted.

Usually far less than people expect. Most Texas divorces resolve at mediation, and many counties require mediation before granting a trial setting. In an agreed case the only courtroom appearance may be a short prove-up hearing, and some courts allow that to be handled by affidavit or remotely.

No. Texas Family Code § 153.003 prohibits the court from considering the sex of a parent or the child in determining conservatorship. The governing standard is the best interest of the child under § 153.002, and § 153.131 creates a rebuttable presumption that appointing both parents joint managing conservators serves that interest.

No. Joint managing conservatorship under Texas Family Code § 153.131 allocates decision-making rights and duties between the parents. It is separate from the possession schedule. Parents are commonly named joint managing conservators while one holds the exclusive right to determine the child's primary residence and the other exercises a possession order.

A child cannot decide, but a child 12 or older has a right to be heard. Under Texas Family Code § 153.009, on a party's application the judge must interview a child 12 or older in chambers about conservatorship or about who determines primary residence. The judge weighs the child's wishes alongside every other best-interest factor and is not bound by them.

No, and doing so puts you in violation of the order. Texas Family Code § 153.001(b) forbids a court from conditioning a conservator's right to possession or access on the payment of child support. The two obligations are enforced separately. Unpaid support is addressed through an enforcement action, not by withholding the child.

Under Texas Family Code § 156.101, modification requires that the change be in the child's best interest plus one of several grounds: a material and substantial change in circumstances since the order was rendered, a child 12 or older telling the court in chambers who they want to determine primary residence, or the conservator with that right having voluntarily relinquished primary care for at least six months.

It is the possession schedule set out in Subchapter F of Chapter 153. Texas Family Code § 153.252 creates a rebuttable presumption that it provides reasonable minimum possession for a parent named possessory conservator or joint managing conservator and is in the child's best interest. Section 153.316 sets general terms that apply regardless of how far apart the parents live.

Texas Family Code § 154.125 applies percentage guidelines to the paying parent's monthly net resources, with the percentage rising with the number of children before the court. The guidelines apply up to a maximum amount of net resources that is set and periodically republished by the Texas Attorney General rather than fixed in the statute.

Net resources includes wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, overtime, self-employment income, rental income, severance, retirement and pension income, interest and dividends. It is reduced only by a specific list of deductions — social security or equivalent taxes, federal income tax for a single person claiming one personal exemption, union dues, and the cost of the child's health and dental insurance. Household debts such as a mortgage or car payment are not deductible.

Yes. Above the cap on net resources, a court may order additional support, but the parent requesting it must prove the proven needs of the child rather than simply pointing to the other parent's income. Courts may also vary from the guidelines where applying them would be unjust or inappropriate under the circumstances.

Texas Family Code § 156.401 provides two routes. Either the circumstances of the child or a person affected by the order have materially and substantially changed since the order was rendered or since a mediated or collaborative settlement agreement it was based on, or three years have passed since the order was rendered or last modified and the current monthly amount differs from the guideline amount by 20 percent or $100.

Not necessarily. Support generally continues until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later, so a child who turns 18 in a senior year continues to be supported through graduation. Support for a child with a disability that requires substantial care can be ordered for an indefinite period.

Unpaid support is enforced through a separate enforcement action, which can result in a judgment for arrearages, wage withholding, license suspension, interception of tax refunds, liens, attorney's fees and in serious cases contempt. What it does not permit is withholding the child — Texas Family Code § 153.001(b) forbids conditioning possession or access on payment of support.

No. Texas is a community property state, which is not the same thing as an equal-division state. Texas Family Code § 7.001 directs the court to divide the community estate in a manner that is just and right, having due regard for the rights of each party and any children. Disproportionate divisions are common and legal.

Under Texas Family Code § 3.001, separate property is property owned or claimed by a spouse before marriage, property acquired during marriage by gift, devise or descent, and recovery for personal injuries sustained during marriage except for lost earning capacity. A court cannot divest a spouse of separate property in a divorce.

By tracing it back to its separate source with documentary evidence, to a clear and convincing standard. Texas Family Code § 3.003 presumes property possessed by either spouse during or on dissolution of marriage is community property. An asset kept in its own account is straightforward to trace; one commingled with community funds over years may not be traceable at all, in which case it is treated as community.

The portion earned during the marriage is community property even if only one spouse's name is on the account. Dividing a qualified retirement plan generally requires a qualified domestic relations order entered along with the decree. Without that separate order, the plan administrator will not pay a share to the other spouse.

It depends on how the house is characterized and on what else is in the estate. Common outcomes are sale with the proceeds divided, one spouse buying out the other's interest, or one spouse keeping it. Where separate-property funds paid for a community home or community funds paid down a separate-property mortgage, a reimbursement claim may be owed between the estates.

Formal discovery is the answer — sworn inventories and appraisements, requests for production, subpoenas directly to banks and employers, and depositions under oath. Where community property has been concealed, given away or wasted, Texas recognizes a claim for fraud on the community, and a court may reconstitute the estate and award a disproportionate share to the wronged spouse.