Posted on October 09, 2018 in Divorce

You’ve probably never heard of a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) — but it could become very important to understand more about QDROs if you’re getting divorced.

Divorce involves a lot of financial negotiations, particularly if there are a lot of assets involved. Here are some basics you need to know about QDROs to get started:

What is a QDRO?

Qualified domestic relations orders are legal documents that are presented to the court as part of a divorce settlement. They’re independent of the rest of a couple’s divorce paperwork. Once the court accepts a QDRO and signs off on it, that order allows the administrator of a pension fund or retirement plan to disburse part of that money to someone other than the plan’s official payee.

In other words, it’s the physical piece of paper that makes it possible for you to obtain any money out of your spouse’s retirement funds or pension.

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 Posted on October 05, 2018 in Family Law

In Texas, mediation is often a necessity before the court will agree to hear a divorce case. Naturally, you want to make the most out of your mediation time and increase your chances of walking away with a favorable agreement.

So, how do you do it?

Here are the basic questions you need to ask yourself before you get to the mediation table:

1. What do you need to do to control your reactions to your spouse?

You may have to struggle to let go of blame and focus only on the important issues that have to be decided. Be realistic about how you expect your spouse to behave and prepare yourself to react in a calm, controlled manner — even if your spouse goes off the rails. You’ll spend less time on an emotional roller coaster if you anticipate what’s likely to happen and just plan for it.

Keep in mind that you can take breaks whenever things get heated and even ask for private sessions with the mediator if that’s what it takes to keep everyone focused.

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 Posted on September 30, 2018 in Firm News

Few parts of a marriage hold more importance than the communication you share with your spouse. Whether married for 20 years or two, it is vital that you and your partner take time to discuss important issues and share your feelings. Too often, though, this habit deteriorates, and the foundation of a marriage falls apart with it.

Sometimes partners simply grow apart and develop different communicative needs in the process. Other times, stress and busy schedules impede communication. Regardless of the context, if you struggle to communicate with your spouse, consider the following three tips for improvement:

Identify the problem

An easily identifiable problem causing communication issues does not always exist. Sometimes you immediately know what the issue is, and other times, it requires reflection and space to better understand the situation. If you want to improve your communication, you need to identify what needs improvement. If you ever consider divorce, it is useful to start here and discuss the issues at hand.

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 Posted on September 28, 2018 in Divorce

While people often feel like divorce comes on suddenly, the reality is that many people simply overlook red flags that could have shown them something was wrong well in advance. Understanding what your future holds helps you plan for that future, so here are a few common red flags to keep in mind.

• You always compare yourselves to other couples that you know. You wonder if you are as happy as they are or if you have as much fun as they do. These endless comparisons indicate that you’re missing things in your own relationship.
• You keep telling friends and family just how well the two of you are doing, as if you’re trying to convince them. Are you really just trying to convince yourself?
• You start spending far more time doing things without your spouse. Maybe you begin working late or spending extra time with friends. Maybe you spend your evenings on your phone, scrolling through social media sites to see what everyone else is doing. The real problem is that you are not spending time with your spouse — and perhaps you don’t want to.

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 Posted on September 21, 2018 in Family Law

Grandparents enjoy a special relationship with their grandchildren — and it is usually beneficial for everyone involved.

What happens, however, if the relationship with your grandchild’s parents sours for some reason? Do you have any legal rights to visitation with your grandchildren over their parents’ objections?

It depends.

Unlike many other states, Texas does allow grandparents some legal recourse that will keep the doors to visitation open — but only under certain circumstances.

If you’re seeking a visitation order as a grandparent, at least one of these conditions must be met:

• The parents are divorced
• One parent (usually the grandparent’s own child) is deceased, incompetent or incarcerated
• The parent or parents neglected or abused the child

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 Posted on September 14, 2018 in Child Custody

Substance abuse can ultimately destroy even the best marriage — especially when your spouse’s addiction begins to take its toll on your children.

Unfortunately, the problems that you face with your spouse don’t end with divorce. You still have to find a way to manage the issues that their addiction present when it comes to custody or visitation.

What can you do to protect your children when their other parent is an addict?

Tell your attorney

Make sure that you advise your attorney early about your spouse’s drug addiction. That way, your attorney can raise the issue during the child custody hearing.

You should expect the judge to view your allegation somewhat skeptically. Some parents make false allegations of drug abuse or alcoholism to try to gain an edge during a custody battle.

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 Posted on September 06, 2018 in Divorce

One of the most common questions that parents ask when they’re thinking about a divorce is, “Will the children be okay?”

The emotional welfare of the children is such a big concern that many parents delay divorce for years, even when the marriage has clearly decayed beyond repair. If you’re putting off a divorce because you’re worried about the effect it will have on your kids, you should familiarize yourself with what psychologists have to say about the matter.

Yes, divorce will have an impact

Divorce does have a traumatic impact on the children. Most children experience all the things you would typically expect after the announcement of their parent’s impending divorce, including shock, anger and anxiety. However, those feelings tend to be limited. After about a year, most kids will have moved past their initial reactions.

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 Posted on August 31, 2018 in Child Custody

A lot of people move after a divorce — for all kinds of reasons. Maybe you want to go back to your hometown to be closer to friends and family, or maybe you want to move away from your hometown to start over.

Unfortunately, if you have custody of your children, moving before you have the consent of the court can throw you into a legal nightmare. Learn more about child relocation laws before you start.

You need to review your custody agreement

Before you can even think about relocating, you need to look at your custody agreement to see what geographical limitations are imposed. In rare cases, the court may leave it unstated — but it isn’t unusual to see a custody agreement that specifically limits your geographical range with the child to a specific area, number of miles or county.

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 Posted on August 26, 2018 in Firm News

If you and your spouse are a high net worth Texas couple whose marriage appears to be headed to divorce court, you may have suspicions that (s)he is starting to hide assets from you. Unfortunately, many spouses do this prior to a divorce in an attempt to reduce marital assets so as to have this “stash” in addition to the assets they receive in the property settlement agreement.

Due to the nearly infinite number of ways a spouse can hide assets, including electronically, finding and tracking the ones your spouse is hiding can become an almost impossible task. Your best strategy may be to add a forensic accountant to your legal team.

What you should look for

While you might expect that a CPA can find hidden assets, that is not always so. A true forensic accountant, CPA or otherwise, has advanced training that makes him or her an expert in ferreting out hidden assets as part of a court case.

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 Posted on August 22, 2018 in Divorce

Money trouble is one of the biggest reasons that couples end up saying, “I’m done,” shortly after they say, “I do.”

If you want to avoid ending up divorce within a few years of your nuptials, it’s important to establish some major rules about money between you and your spouse long before a problem has time to develop.

What big money mistakes do you need to avoid?

1. Hiding your debts

Maybe you’re embarrassed that you have so much credit card debt. Maybe you’re nervous that your student loans will scare off your mate. However, pretending all that debt doesn’t exist won’t make it go away — and you’re depriving your partner of the opportunity to go into the relationship with open eyes. That may come back to haunt you if your spouse starts planning to purchase a house or start a family when you know you’re not financially ready. The sense of betrayal could be huge — and lead straight to a divorce.

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