Texas Family Law Courts: Divorce essentials

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Houston Family Law Lawyers – Today will be our third installment in the Law Office of Bryan Fagan’s series of blog posts on Family Law Court– what to expect from a case and how to best prepare for those situations and concepts. If you have not already done so I would highly recommend that you go back and read through parts one and two. I’ll wait until you get caught up…

Ok, now that you’ve read through parts one and two we can jump right into our third topic- divorce. Yes, divorce is probably the most widely litigated type of family law case in southeast Texas and for good reason.

Divorce encompasses the two most important areas in most people’s lives- their children and their money. With that said, what are the basic requirements of a marriage and how do those requirements tie into family law cases? Read on to find out more.

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MARRIAGE IN TEXAS

At its core, marriage in Texas is between two people who are over the age of eighteen. The reason being is that a person must be at least eighteen years of age in order to obtain a marriage license. If you are under eighteen then you will need to get your parent’s permission or a court order to get married.

Once your marriage license is obtained you must wait seventy two hours in order to actually get married. I know, I know- the wait is killing you! Don’t worry- he/she isn’t going anywhere and neither are you most likely. Your marriage ceremony must be performed by someone like a priest, rabbi, minister or a judge. These are folks who are authorized under the law to perform a marriage ceremony.

WHAT EXACTLY IS A COMMON LAW MARRIAGE?

Family Law Lawyer Houston – This is a marriage that is provided all the rights, protections and responsibilities of an official, licensed marriage like those we discussed in the previous section.

A common law marriage involves a relationship between two adult people who:

1. Have lived together as spouses
2. Represented to others that they were in fact married and
3. Have actually agreed to be married to one another.

If only two out of the three components listed above are met then there is no common law marriage.

Affidavit of Informal Marriage

An official document can be signed and registered with your county clerk stating that you are from this point forward common law married. This makes your informal marriage more formal (try to wrap your head around that).

Common Law Divorce?

If you or your spouse want to end your common law marriage there is no such thing as a common law divorce.

If you are married whether by common law or ceremonially the only way to get a divorce is the “standard” way like any other married couple. There is no separate common law divorce that you would be able to get.

If you and your spouse are in a common law marriage together and have separated and lived apart for two years there is a presumption that there is no marriage. However, this presumption can be overcome with evidence.

ANNULMENT VS. DIVORCE

An annulment is something altogether different as opposed to a divorce. A divorce is the voiding of a marriage that at one time was valid. An annulment is the declaration that a marriage was never valid and was therefore void from the get-go.

Spring Divorce Lawyers – This means that after an annulment is granted, it would be as if your marriage never actually took place. Property would still be divided in an annulment and there would be orders issued by a court regarding any children of the voided marriage.

Grounds for an annulment are as follows:

1. If you and the person you married were related by either blood or adoption
2. Either you or your spouse were previously married and that marriage had not been dissolved at the time of your marriage
3. Either you or your spouse were under the age of 18 and did not have the permission of the minor’s parent or guardian to marry
4. Either you or your spouse were under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the marriage
5. Either you or your spouse were determined to be impotent
6. Either you or your spouse were determined to be mentally incompetent
7. The marriage was brought about by fraud or duress
8. The marriage was brought about by being misled regarding a prior divorce

The law in Texas requires that as soon as you find out about one of the above circumstances that you immediately move out of the home and stop living with the other party. If not, you risk not being able to get an annulment and would instead have to get a traditional divorce.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS REGARDING DIVORCE

Texas is a “no fault state” which means that a divorce may be granted without either you or your spouse being at fault for some reason that led to the breakup of the marriage. There are fault grounds- infidelity, abandonment, abuse, etc.- that can be cited in a Divorce Petition, however, that can influence how much property each spouse is awarded in your divorce.

Finally, you must have been:

1. A resident of Texas for at least six months prior to filing for divorce here and
2. A resident of the county in which you are filing for ninety (90) days.

Spring Divorce Lawyer – Otherwise, Texas does not have jurisdiction over the case and your divorce proceed… Continue Reading