Posted on April 12, 2018 in Child Custody

A lot of people in the nation are struggling with drug addiction — and parents aren’t immune to the problem. The problem can be bad enough when only one parent suffers from an addiction. When both parents are addicted, however, other family members can be forced to seek custody of the minor children.

If you think that you may soon have to ask a court to grant you custody of a family member’s children, you need to take some steps to strengthen your case. Otherwise, custody may go to someone else — and that can compound your sense of frustration and grief.

Get involved now

Judges tend to favor relatives who have a pre-existing relationship with the children before they pursue custody. Get involved with your relatives’ lives and make sure that you’re staying connected with the kids. Take them overnight, if possible. Familiarize yourself with their school routine and social activities. This helps cement your case as the right person for custody later.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on April 05, 2018 in Family Law

A Texas man has been convicted of perjury after he signed his wife’s name to the completed divorce paperwork and filed it. The divorce wasn’t contested and the couple still had an amicable relationship, so his ex-wife is unsure why he took such an unusual step. She was perfectly willing to sign.

There are, however, a few clues to his reasons. For one thing, his social media accounts indicated that he’d already remarried — before his divorce was actually filed and finalized. He may have been concerned that one or both wives would find out about the issue.

Some adjustments he made to the paperwork before he filed it also give some clues to his motives. He changed the paperwork on the divorce settlement to show that he owed only $700 in child support each month, instead of the $1,000 a month that was agreed. He also took the liberty of giving himself an extra three weeks of visitation with his children in the summer.

As a result of the deception, the Texan ended up being the focus of a criminal investigation and he ended up losing his military career in the navy. The original divorce was voided because of the fraud — an action that’s highly unusual — and the new divorce’s terms give him no visitation rights at all and require $1,300 per month of child support. For the perjury conviction, he received a sentence of home detention for six months.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 27, 2018 in Child Custody

Even though religious freedom is a cherished constitutional right, disputes between parents over religion can put the issue into play when it comes to a custody fight.

What generally happens is that one parent tells the court that the other parent’s religious pursuits are somehow harmful to the children. At that point, the court is obligated to balance the rights of the parent against the children’s interests.

For example, imagine that a Jewish mother and Christian father had agreed to raise the children in the mother’s faith. After their divorce, however, the father returns to the church of his youth — which has a decidedly evangelical nature. The Sunday sermons — to which the father takes the children during his time with them — preach that all nonChristians are doomed to spend eternity tortured in a flaming pit.

The mother, responding to her children’s alarm that they could end up that way, is naturally upset and takes the issue to court. She may simply ask the judge to bar the father from taking their children to services and preaching to them.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 25, 2018 in Blog

The default position of courts in Texas is that both parents should be involved in their child’s life to the greatest extent possible. Often, this translates to joint custody, legally called joint conservatorship in Texas.

Does that mean you are basically restricted to living out the next X years in the city where you live? For example, could you accept job offers several hours away or move across the country for a few years to take care of an ailing parent?

Geographic restrictions

Visitation orders and child custody orders have geographic restrictions that explain where the parents may live under the terms of the current agreement. So, yes, if you want to relocate, your child’s other parent could make a case that doing so is not in the child’s best interests. You may have to choose between the relocation and custody of your child.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 22, 2018 in Divorce

What really predicts whether your marriage will last or not?

As it turns out, there are a lot of small predictors that can tell you if a marriage is more likely than not to end in divorce.

If you want your marriage to last, this is what you should do:

Date at least three years

Dating for three years or more can drop your chances of getting a divorce by 39 percent over couples that are only together under a year. Even dating for a year or two will reduce your chances of divorcing later by 20 percent.

Buy a moderately priced engagement ring

If you spend less than $2,000 on your engagement ring, your odds of staying together are higher than if you splurge.

Look at your combined income before you leap

Wealth isn’t everything, but a comfortable combined income can make the bumps in life easier to endure. Those with the least income (under $25,000 a year are the most likely to divorce). Those couples making just $25,000 – $50,000 per year are 31 percent less inclined to split. Bump the income up to $125,000 per year and you’re 51 percent less likely to need a divorce attorney.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 14, 2018 in Family Law

How do you protect an adult child with autism or another intellectual disability from the dangers of the world?

It isn’t easy.

Once your child passes his or her 18th birthday, the law no longer grants you the automatic right to go to doctors visits, make housing decisions, prevent him or her from being influenced by the wrong people or handle his or her finances. That can quickly leave your adult disabled child floundering in a rough world.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 07, 2018 in Divorce

If you’re in the middle of a divorce, you may be tempted to build a blanket fort and hide until it’s all over — but you can’t. It’s time to deal with the situation like a grownup.

What does that mean? Experts suggest taking the following approach to life during divorce:

1. Learn to exert impulse control.

This idea covers a lot of problem behaviors that people fall into during tough times — behaviors that can only end up hurting you. Put any self-destructive impulses you have in check for the duration and avoid the following things:

• Don’t go wild with your credit cards. That debt will haunt you long after the divorce itself is over.
• Don’t ignore your bills. You will need all that credit in the future as you start over. Make yourself deal with the bills in a timely fashion.
• Don’t quit your job. This could destroy your chance at child custody because you can’t supply a stable home without a stable income.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on February 28, 2018 in Child Custody

International custody battles are heartbreaking affairs. They often pit parents against foreign governmental systems they don’t quite understand as they fight for the return of children illegally taken overseas during custody fights.

However, a Texas resident has hope that his ordeal may soon be over. The man has been in a brutal custody battle with his former wife over their young son for five long years.

The Texan granted his consent for his ex to travel to Brazil, her native country, with their son for a wedding in 2013. She was supposed to return with the boy less than three weeks later. She didn’t.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which overseas cases involving international child abductions, has since determined that the child’s mother never intended to return — and that her parents assisted with the kidnapping.

Despite a Texas court’s order that the child’s residence couldn’t be changed without the court’s consent and a shared custody order, the mother enrolled her child in a Brazilian school two months before she left this country for the alleged wedding. She then found employment with the same school, which her own mother has ties to, a month later.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on February 22, 2018 in Blog

If you are a married Texas resident contemplating divorce, both you and your spouse, regardless of your issues and disagreements, no doubt dread the prospect of having to go through a lengthy, costly and possibly ugly court battle. You will be pleased and relieved to know that this is not necessary, and you have other divorce options open to you. Mediation is one of them.

As a matter of fact, most Texas courts will require you and your spouse to attempt mediation, especially if you have children, before you can go to court and obtain your divorce. While mediation does not work for all divorcing couples, it entails a much more amicable approach to divorce and costs substantially less than a litigated divorce. The American Bar Association says that a mediated divorce typically costs 40-60 percent less than a traditional divorce.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on February 21, 2018 in Family Law

Are you still considering whether or not you want to ask your spouse for a prenuptial agreement? Most prenuptial agreements are focused on what happens if you divorce. That makes the process simpler.

However, some are partially focused on what happens inside the marriage itself. If you’re concerned about preserving the tenor of your current relationship with your intended, a lifestyle clause might do it.

All marriages can be said to be a contract. Each person enters into the relationship with an idea about what his or her role will be, what rules make the foundation of the relationship and what behavior is expected. Essentially, lifestyle clauses help set those expectations in writing.

They’re controversial. Some people see lifestyle clauses as being too controlling, but they can also make it clear what would make your spouse start to think about divorce.

What do lifestyle clauses include? Fidelity clauses are common, but there’s really no limit. Some of those used by the rich and famous include things like what religion the children will be raised in, how much a partner is allowed to weigh and how often the in-laws can visit.

Continue Reading ››