Posted on December 28, 2017 in Divorce

Have you been struggling with the question of divorce? How do you know when it’s time to give it up and move on with your life instead of trying harder?

There are several different signs that can give you that answer:

You understand the consequences and are ready for them

Divorce doesn’t mean just accepting the end of your marriage, it means accepting the end of your life as you currently know it. Your entire lifestyle — from your relationship with your friends to where you live — will likely change as a result of the split. If you can’t see yourself “making it” on your own, you aren’t ready for a divorce. On the other hand, if you have a clear exit strategy and prefer a clean slate rather than staying stuck as you are, you’re ready.

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 Posted on December 27, 2017 in Blog

There may not be a perfect time to divorce, but there is a popular time to do so. Divorce rates surge upward significantly between January and March, reports CNN. Why do so many people file for divorce at the beginning of a new year?

The reasons are many, and understanding them can help you determine when the right time can be for you to divorce.

Holding off until after the holidays

Relationships do not suddenly head south at the beginning of the year. Often, they get rocky before then. With the holidays in the way, couples may wait until after the celebrations are over so as not to ruin the season for their children and families, or even for themselves. It may be easier to go through the motions for a couple months than to figure out child custody and/or new holiday arrangements right away. Couples may even have the hopes that the holiday festivities will help heal their marriages so divorce goes off the table.

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 Posted on December 21, 2017 in Family Law

DNA kits like those from Ancestry and 23 and Me are becoming commonplace everywhere. What was mostly a cottage industry has seen tremendous growth thanks to aggressive advertising in the last year or two.

That’s creating all sorts of unexpected complications for adoptees, their adoptive parents and even some birth parents. It also suggests that the law may have to eventually take new steps if it wants to keep up with the science of the times.

DNA kits are a huge hit. However, they also stand the potential for disrupting lives in numerous ways. For example, someone who hasn’t been told he or she was adopted may find out the hard way after doing a DNA test without mentioning it to his or her family in advance.

Similarly, DNA kits also sometimes unexpectedly turn up something — or someone — else: A birth parent or even siblings that might otherwise have remained a mystery. It can even uncover details that were placed under court-ordered seals and designed to stay that way in bygone years before the science was possible.

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 Posted on December 15, 2017 in Child Custody

The Ghost of Christmas Past can wield a lot of power over a family. The small, homely rituals of each previous year combine to create a certain excitement and expectation for the current year’s holiday season.

Divorce disrupts all of that — and your children may feel that disruption even more strongly than you do. So how do you help your kids regain their sense of family when it hasn’t even been a year since your divorce?

1. Talk about everyone’s feelings.

You may be afraid to bring up the subject of grief over the way things were — especially if your child hasn’t mentioned it.

However, children may just not know where to start or they may be afraid of upsetting you if they don’t seem happy. Never equate silence with the idea that everything’s okay.

Let your kids know that it’s okay to feel sad or nostalgic about the good times when your family was still intact.

Reassure them know that even though things are different, you can still have a good time over the holidays.

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 Posted on December 08, 2017 in Divorce

Are you ready for a divorce but not ready to upset the kids, your in-laws, your parents or even your spouse over the holidays?

If so, you aren’t alone. There’s something about the season that either gives people renewed hope about their marriage or makes it utterly clear that the romance is finally over.

That’s why lawyers have come to call the first Monday following the Christmas break as “Divorce Day.” According to many attorneys, Divorce Day isn’t strictly an American custom — it’s a phenomenon seen in several different countries where Christmas is an important tradition. Come the following Monday, however, appointments to file for divorce nearly triple the usual number.

Some relationship gurus even think that there’s a combination of factors at play:

• People don’t want to associate the holidays with their divorce or set that image up in their children’s minds (if they have any).

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 Posted on November 30, 2017 in Family Law

Domestic violence is a very real hazard when it comes time for couples to split up. The sad truth is that domestic violence can spill over from just the two people involved in the relationship into the lives of others in tragic ways.

For example, the recent shooting in a Texas church that took the lives of 26 people and inflicted injuries on another 20 people as they were praying stemmed entirely from complicated family issues.

Among the victims were several relatives of the gunman’s estranged wife. He and his mother-in-law had been exchanging text messages and his had taken a threatening tone. It’s believed that he felt that his wife’s family was to blame for the couple’s estrangement.

In the past, the shooter had been violent with his wife. According to records that were recently made public, the gunman had previously hit and choked his wife. He also stuck his wife’s child hard enough that he could have either seriously injured or killed the girl.

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 Posted on November 28, 2017 in Blog

Child experts, parenting experts, many lawyers and judges agree that children generally benefit when both of their parents are involved in their lives. Of course, exceptions sometimes exist in cases of abuse and in a few other situations.

If you are an older parent, say, close to retirement age or even in retirement, with a co-parent who is significantly younger, you might wonder if your age affects your chances of gaining joint custody of your children or of getting liberal visitation. The answer is that it probably will not.

Cooperation goes a long way

In any co-parenting situation, cooperation between both parents is critical for a smooth process to occur, and this is true no matter the parents’ age. It could be that, due to your age, you are not as able to chase around a young child like your co-parent would, but that does not make you any less capable of a parent. The mobility of parents of any age can be restricted due to disability, for example. As long as your co-parent recognizes what you have to offer and is willing to grant you the access to your children that you deserve, a judge is unlikely to disqualify a parenting plan just because of your age.

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 Posted on November 24, 2017 in Divorce

Divorce attorneys are starting to meet more clients from the Millennial generation as the older members of the generation reach the age where they find themselves married and considering divorce.

Divorce attorneys are finding that Millennials are not exactly what they expect.

As a group, Millennials are stereotyped to be less loyal and less traditional. However, attorneys find that their clients in that generation may have less combined property and debt — but deeply intertwined emotions and lives. As a whole, they seem genuinely committed to their relationships — but also pragmatic and unwilling to hang onto a long-term relationship that isn’t working.

If you’re a member of that generation and this is an attitude that you share with others of your generation, a divorce attorney can help you craft an “exit plan” that’s practical and agreeable to both you and your life partner in case things don’t work out:

1. A cohabitation agreement — Texas still acknowledges common law marriages. While it takes more than just cohabitation to create a common law marriage, cohabitation agreements can provide protection in the event that a common law marriage develops (either by accident or design).

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 Posted on November 17, 2017 in Child Custody

Once a divorce decree is in hand, most parents in Texas are afraid to rock the boat. They have survived numerous negotiations, overcome life-changing obstacles and entered into the best possible child custody plan for their kids. However, what if something happens down the road to upset this plan? Should parents face this challenge on their own or should they seek help from the court?

We want you to know that any legal issues have their ups and their downs, including a request for child custody modifications. At the same time, seeking a modification does not mean that you and your ex are bad parents. Many things can happen that make it hard for parents to adhere to the original arrangement.

For example, if one spouse’s work schedule changes, it may make the original visitation agreement difficult — if not impossible — to maintain. One or both parents must work to care for their kids, so this could be a viable reason to seek a child custody order modification.

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 Posted on November 09, 2017 in Divorce

To many, the marriage landscape in America looks grim. Depending upon the source you use, some estimate that half of all marriages end in divorce while others believe the divorce rate is falling across the nation. Regardless, it is a fact that too many marriages fail in the U.S.

People get a divorce for many reasons, some of them unique to the couple and to the relationship. Still, a pattern does exist that helps identify the main causes of divorce in the nation and in Texas. Some of these reasons are listed below.

• Financial problems: Whether it is constant disagreements about how to spend money or simply not having enough of it, money can drive a life-changing wedge between spouses.
• Cheating: Betrayal of any kind is difficult to overcome and can wreak havoc on a relationship. Cheating physically and emotionally is a major reason couples turn to divorce.

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