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Top Five Misconceptions About Prenuptial Agreements
Prenuptial agreements are legal documents that couples can create and sign before getting married. Provisions in the document include directives regarding how property and assets will be divided in the event that the marriage ends in divorce, as well as plans for how finances will be handled during the marriage. Prenuptial agreements are often misunderstood, and there is quite a bit of misinformation circulating on the internet regarding them. The good news is that an experienced family law attorney can help you learn the truth about these potentially helpful tools.
Myth 1: Getting a Prenup is Planning for Divorce
The most commonly held false belief when it comes to any premarital agreement is that only couples who plan to divorce create these arrangements. This is simply not true. Although short-lived celebrity weddings have given prenuptial agreements a bad reputation, many couples benefit from prenups and never end up divorced.
Should I Keep Our House in Our Divorce?
Families often spend years, even decades, in the same house. Wonderful life-long memories are made in homes, and so it is understandable that if a couple decides to get divorced, it can be very difficult to decide what to do with the family home. However, because marital assets must be divided in a Texas divorce, the value of the home needs to be allocated between spouses - even if one spouse ends up deciding to keep the home. If you are wondering whether you want to keep your home in your divorce, read on and then meet with a Texas divorce attorney to examine your options.
What to Consider When Thinking About Divorce and the Family Home
Every divorce is different, so the answer to the question of whether you should keep the family home is not cut and dried. Many factors will go into the planning and execution of how marital assets are divided.
Am I Justified in Asking for a Texas Divorce?
Deciding whether or not to get a divorce can be one of the most challenging decisions a person ever has to make. It is common for people considering divorce to go back and forth, sometimes wanting to separate, and other times wanting very much to keep their family together. Considering that divorce has the potential to have negative consequences for both spouses and children, it is not a decision to take lightly; and yet, at some point, the decision must be made.
If you have been thinking about divorce and are wondering whether your reasons are “good enough,” it may be helpful to read what psychological experts say are rational reasons for divorce. Of course, no matter what the experts or anyone else says, your own judgment and intuition should guide you in this important decision before anything else. To learn about common reasons for divorce, read this blog and then contact a Texas divorce attorney to find out more about the divorce process, including issues regarding child support, alimony, custody, and property division.
How Can We Get an Uncontested Texas Divorce?
When both parties of a married couple agree that getting a divorce is the best thing for them, they may be interested in working together to pursue the most peaceful resolution possible. Often, this means getting an uncontested divorce, or a divorce in which all applicable issues have been resolved before filing a divorce petition and going to court. While an uncontested divorce is not available to every couple, it can be a great way to go your separate ways while keeping the peace. If you and your spouse think you may be interested in pursuing an uncontested divorce, read on to learn more about this process and then contact a Texas divorce attorney for help.
Do We Qualify for an Uncontested Texas Divorce?
Uncontested divorces in Texas are not available to everyone. The most commonly disqualifying issue is a couple who shares minor children. If you have minor children, but agree about everything else, you will instead need to file for an “agreed divorce.” You also cannot get an uncontested divorce if the wife is pregnant, or if you have a disabled adult dependent child.
How Can I Establish Paternity if My Child’s Father Will Not Cooperate?
While establishing paternity is not always easy or straightforward, doing so is important for a number of reasons. Every child deserves to know his or her father, and extensive research on the subject is very clear that children do better by every measurable outcome when fathers are involved in their lives. Furthermore, a mother deserves help from a child’s father, even if it is only in the form of child support. Finally, fathers deserve to be given a chance to uphold the responsibility they share for bringing a life into the world.
Despite many good reasons to establish paternity, some men resist cooperating. They may hope that the mother will eventually give up or that, by dodging DNA testing or court dates, they will not be saddled with child support payments. Fortunately for mothers, Texas courts give them options as they seek to establish paternity, even when a child’s father is trying to avoid responsibility. To learn more about proving paternity, read on and then contact a Texas paternity lawyer for help with your case.
How Do Parents Decide Custody of a Child During a Texas Divorce?
Making decisions about your children during divorce can be a confusing, frustrating, and stressful process. You may recognize and appreciate that your children need to maintain their relationship with your soon-to-be ex, but the thought of giving up time with them can feel heartbreaking. You may find that their best interests are difficult to disentangle from your own preferences. Yet a final parenting agreement must be created, and Texas law will expect both parents to play a major role in the life of each child unless there is a provable reason to do otherwise. Here is how child custody cases are typically decided in Texas.
Four Things to Know About Texas Child Custody Decisions
The first thing to know about child custody in Texas is that it is split into two separate but overlapping areas: conservatorship, which is the authority to make important decisions regarding education, healthcare, religion, and extracurricular activities; and possession and access, which determines the visitation schedule.
Do Parents of Disabled Children Pay Child Support Forever?
Parents of minor children in Texas generally stop paying child support when a child turns 18 or graduates from high school, which comes last. This is based on the assumption that a legal adult is competent to provide for themselves and that, while a parent can still help the child if he or she wishes, there is no longer a legal obligation to send child support funds to the child’s other parent.
Some children, however, are never able to become fully self-sufficient. Physical or mental disabilities can prevent an adult from functioning normally, often leaving them completely dependent on their parents for the rest of their lives. In cases like this, the Texas legislature makes an exception to the typical termination of child support payments. If you are getting divorced and have a disabled adult child, you are likely wondering what this law means for you.
Adult Child Support
According to Texas law, if a child is over 18 and the following conditions exist, child support may be ordered indefinitely:
Do I Need An Attorney For My San Antonio Divorce?
No couple begins their marriage hoping that it will eventually end in divorce, but anticipating the potential for divorce is a practical perspective in today’s age. If you suspect that divorce may be in your future, you likely have a million questions. Do you want to go through with it? Do you have to go through with it if your spouse insists? Do you really need an attorney, or can you handle the divorce issues yourselves?
The answers to these questions are complex and depend on your circumstances. However, one certainty is that you can get the answers to all your questions with the help of an attorney. Here are three more reasons that hiring an attorney for your Texas divorce could benefit you.
Have an Advocate in Protecting Your Interests
Maintaining a perspective with an eye to your current and future interests is sometimes more complex than divorcees would believe. It is easy to accidentally give up long-term benefits for short-term compromise in a way that can seriously hurt you in the long run, especially when it comes to your finances. A divorce attorney with experience and perspective can help you plan your divorce in a way that benefits you now and in the future.
What if you and your ex disagree about medical care for the kids?
Decisions about the medical treatment that people receive are deeply personal. Your sense of ethics, your religion and personal history with medical professionals may all influence what care you choose to receive. Your preferences may also have an impact on what medical care you want your children to receive.
If you and your ex have differing ideas about the right treatment for your children or even what medical professionals should provide their care, how can you resolve those issues in a shared custody scenario in Texas?
Your parenting plan will talk about medical care
Whether the Texas family courts create a parenting plan or approve one created by the parents, there will typically be a section within the document discussing decision-making authority. It is common for parents to share such authority.
For example, either parent will have the authority to make choices about emergency medical care when a child needs treatment unexpectedly during their parenting time. In non-emergency situations, parents will typically have to communicate with one another and reach an agreement about what is best for the children.
Are Parental Alienation Allegations Being Overused In Child Custody Cases?
Parental alienation is a very serious issue that does happen in divorce cases. It has been studied by experts and found to be a real phenomenon that has a detrimental impact on the child. Essentially, parental alienation has been defined as a situation in which “one parental figure has waged a psychological campaign to, baselessly, turn a child against the other parent.”
For instance, your spouse may have blamed you for the upcoming divorce and slowly tried to manipulate the child into thinking that everything was your fault or that you are fundamentally a bad person. What they’re trying to do is get the child to want to spend more time with them or to not want to spend any time with you. Parental alienation is so damaging because the child may not even realize it’s happening. This can cut them off from contact with their other parent, which can hinder their development as they grow up.
From our office in San Antonio, we provide legal help to clients throughout Central Texas, including Converse, Seguin, Selma, Windcrest, Schertz, Live Oak, New Braunfels, Alamo Heights, Balcones Heights, Castle Hills, Hollywood Park, Shavano Park, Leon Valley, Helotes, Boerne, Bexar County, Comal County, Kendall County, Guadalupe County and Medina County.
Results listed are not a guarantee or indication of future case results.
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