Posted on November 02, 2018 in Child Custody

If you’re in a battle for the custody of your child, it’s perfectly understandable if you’re feeling pretty emotional. Unfortunately, you can’t afford to let your emotions dictate your actions because that could be fatal to your case.

Here are several rules you need to follow that are designed to keep your emotions in check and your custody case on track:

1. Don’t focus on your relationship with your ex

No matter how clearly you see the connection between your ex’s failings as a spouse and your ex’s failings as a parent, keep it to yourself. Otherwise, you’ll sound bitter and vindictive — and you don’t want the judge to think that your custody battle is just an attempt to punish your ex’s bad behavior.

Focus only on your ex’s inability to be a good parent and leave your relationship out of it.

2. Don’t give your ex any warning about your strategy

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 Posted on October 25, 2018 in Family Law

If Child Protective Services (CPS) in Texas ends up at your door on a tip from a relative or neighbor saying that your children are abused or neglected, what are the odds that CPS will remove your children from your home?

It turns out that the answer isn’t the same for everyone. The answer may depend largely on where you live — and the color of your skin.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services issued a report that shows a sharp divergence between the way that families of color and white families are treated by the system. Throughout the state, it’s far more probable that African-American and Latino families will be reported for suspected abuse or neglect than Anglo families in the first place. Once CPS becomes involved in a case, nonwhite parents are also far more likely to see their children pulled into foster care than Anglo parents — even when there is substantially less reason to be concerned.

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 Posted on October 22, 2018 in Firm News

Child custody matters following a divorce can put your nerves to the test. As a newly single parent, you want to do your best to help your child adjust to post-divorce life.

You must also work with the other parent, which can be challenging, especially if the divorce was less than amicable. Here are four tips to help you manage custody issues in the best interests of your child.

1. Explain the custody arrangement

To relieve feelings of anxiety, let your son or daughter know what to expect of the custody arrangement. Once the visitation schedule is in place, stick to it. For example, both you and the other parent should adhere to the agreed-upon drop-off and pick-up times. Do not be casual about it, and do not fail to show up when your child expects you to, because this could cause feelings of anxiety or fear.

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 Posted on October 19, 2018 in Child Support

It can be challenging to plan ahead for a child with special needs. One additional challenge faced by divorced parents of a special needs child is how to make sure that child support payments don’t impair the child’s eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.

Supplemental Security Income — and the Medicaid entitlement that goes along with it — is a needs-based governmental program for the disabled. As a minor, your disabled child may not be eligible for SSI and Medicaid while your marriage is intact due to the way that a portion of the parent’s income is "deemed" to the child. However, divorce often changes that situation. In many cases, the parent who takes custody of the disabled child is unable to work full time due to the child’s needs. With the other parent no longer in the household, that reduces the child’s deemed income considerably.

However, child support can become an issue. While the child is a minor, child support isn’t considered income paid to the custodial parent but income paid to the child. Supplemental Security Income will exclude one-third of the payment, but the rest is counted against the child’s eligibility for benefits. For a lot of parents and their disabled children, this is a huge burden since it can reduce or eliminate the child’s eligibility for important programs.

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 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 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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