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What Are The Barriers to Adoption in Texas?
Adopting a child is one of the most noble things a parent can do. However, there are rules and regulations in place in Texas with children’s safety in mind, making sure that a potential parent is the best fit. Before you look into adoption, it is important to know what barriers may stand in your way, and how you might address them if at all possible. A knowledgeable Bexar County, TX family law attorney can help you overcome obstacles in the adoption system, and advocate for you in court.
Age
In Texas, you must be at least 21 years old to adopt a child. This applies when parents want to adopt as well as when there is a request to adopt within a family, for example, when an older sibling wants to adopt a younger one. Unfortunately, there is no way around this regulation but to wait.
Health Conditions
When determining your fitness to be a parent, adoption agencies will take a thorough look at your medical history, including physical and mental conditions. The mere presence of a health condition will not disqualify you; the agency will only make a judgment against you if your health would inhibit your ability to provide for the child’s needs.
Paternity Tests and Divorce
Infidelity is a common cause of divorce. If you know that your spouse has been unfaithful, it might raise questions about whether you are the father of her children. In Texas, when a child is born to a married woman, her husband is legally presumed to be the child’s father. However, the presumption of paternity is rebuttable. This means that you have an opportunity to prove that you are not the father and have the law recognize that the children in question are not your responsibility. If you suspect that you are not the father of your spouse’s children, it is generally best to determine paternity during your divorce. An experienced San Antonio, TX divorce lawyer can help you with this complex situation.
Paternity Must be Established Before Child Custody is Decided
Issues that concern the children cannot be decided until paternity is established. If you suspect that the children born into your marriage are not biologically yours, it makes sense to wait until you are sure to start discussing child custody and child support. The court will likely order a paternity test and wait for the results before moving on to other issues since the paternity issue can affect every aspect of your divorce.
Tips for Negotiating Child Support
Unless you and your co-parent will be dividing your children’s time 50/50 and are on roughly equal economic footing, one of you will likely need to pay child support. If you are planning for an uncontested divorce, you will have the opportunity to negotiate child support yourself, with a few caveats. Because it is the child, rather than the parent, who is entitled to child support, a court will need to approve your agreement. The court will only approve a child support agreement that is in the child’s best interests. You should be represented by an experienced San Antonio, TX child support lawyer while negotiating child custody and support.
Know the Law
A good starting point for negotiations is what the judge would probably order if you and your co-parent went to court on this issue. Texas law considers factors like how much time each parent spends caring for the child, each parent’s relative income, and the specific needs of the children when determining who should pay child support and how much. Skilled attorneys can make an educated guess about what the payor’s child support obligation would look like if it were strictly up to a court.
Should We Consider a Postnuptial Agreement in Texas?
When it comes to marriage, there are many aspects most people are familiar with: a couple generally exchanges vows and rings, they say "I do," and then someone else says: "you may not kiss the bride." Many marriages also include a prenuptial agreement that was signed before the wedding. What a lot of people do not realize is that even if you do not sign it "pre" (before) the "nuptial" (wedding), you still have an option as a couple to draft an agreement that outlines your financial situation, assets, property, obligations, and how you will divide everything if you ever get a divorce. This article will examine the Texas postnuptial agreement. If you and your spouse think this might be a good idea for you, contact a knowledgeable Bexar County, TX marriage lawyer to learn more.
Is a Postnuptial Agreement the Right Move for Us?
Postnuptial agreements are used by married couples in Texas for many reasons, even if they are not planning on getting divorced:
Can I Appeal the Property Division in My Texas Divorce?
The way a couple’s property is divided in a divorce can have a serious impact on the spouses’ financial stability for many years in the future. Sometimes, one spouse might be pleased with how the marital estate was divided but the other feels the arrangement is grossly unfair or was done in contradiction of Texas divorce law.
Although it can be a major challenge, it is possible to appeal the decision in some cases. If you are uncomfortable with how your marital estate was divided, speak with a skilled San Antonio, TX divorce lawyer to understand your options for appealing the divorce ruling. You have a very limited amount of time to file an appeal, so contact us right away.
What Makes a Property Division Unfair?
While you might not like the division arrangement in your divorce, that does not make it objectively unfair. Factors that can demonstrate an unfair division include:
Political Disagreements Leading to Divorce in Texas
In the current political landscape, political views are beginning to cause more relationship problems. With political disagreements being increasingly mentioned as a reason couples want a divorce, it is becoming clear that this trend deserves attention. If you and your spouse are frequently involved in tense and heated political debates, contact a qualified Bexar County, TX divorce lawyer to learn more.
How Do Political Arguments Lead to Divorce?
As surprising as it might seem, disputes over politics sometimes reveal other underlying issues between a couple. Healthy couples with productive communication are often able to disagree with each other, even heatedly, and still maintain their strong bond. When a couple is already unstable, disagreements over political issues can seem like the straw that breaks the camel’s back. According to a 2017 study, 10% of American couples stated political differences as the reason for their divorce. This can be explained in several ways:
What Happens to Embryos in a Texas Divorce?
When a couple decides to get a divorce, there are many things they need to sort out, from dividing their property to arranging child custody. If you and your spouse have embryos stored from fertility treatments, how would they be handled in a divorce? This can add another layer to the complexity of divorce proceedings. In Texas, the law doesn’t have a specific rule about what happens to embryos during a divorce, so if this is something you are considering, speak with a knowledgeable San Antonio, TX divorce lawyer to find out more.
How are Embryos Treated in a Texas Divorce?
When a couple gets divorced, the various parts of their life get characterized. If they have children, the parents have to reach a parenting arrangement. Even if one gets the majority of custody, Texas courts generally prefer granting both parents at least some amount of parenting time. Texas also follows a "community property" model for dividing property in a divorce. That means that all property and assets acquired by the couple during their marriage are considered under the equal ownership of both spouses and will be split down the middle in a 50/50 division in a divorce. But where do embryos fall?
What Is Community and Separate Property in a TX Divorce?
If you are considering divorce in Texas, you know you and your soon-to-be ex will need to divide your property. Although Texas is not a 50/50 state, where each spouse would receive equal assets during a divorce property division, courts consider many factors to make these distributions "just and right." One of these factors is whether a specific asset is community or separate property.
Understanding the differences between separate and community property in Texas will get you started on understanding how property division in your divorce will work. Working with an experienced San Antonio, TX divorce lawyer from Brandon Wong & Associates can help you protect your rights and best interests.
Community vs. Separate Property: What Is the Difference?
Texas is a community property state, meaning that courts consider assets you and your spouse obtain during your marriage to be jointly owned. This is true no matter whose name is on the deed, title, or other forms of owner documentation. Courts will divide this property during a divorce. Examples include:
Do I Have to Pay Child Support If I Quit My Job?
Child support is a legal obligation imposed by courts to make sure children’s needs are met after divorce. The provisions of a child support order are based on certain factors, like the child’s developmental and educational needs and the financial situation of each parent.
Circumstances change, however, and employment changes happen all the time. When parents lose or quit their jobs, they understandably want to know if they can reduce or stop their child support payments. This is called child support modification and it must be approved by a judge, so any requests for modification should be brought by a Texas child support modification attorney.
It is not easy to get a judge to modify a child support order, however. Courts are reluctant to make changes, particularly within the first couple of years following a divorce. This article will explore whether you still have to pay child support if you quit your job.
Can I Legally Separate From My Spouse in Texas?
Divorce is a big decision that changes the lives of everyone involved. Some couples, therefore, prefer to separate from each other rather than commit to dissolving the marriage. In many states, these couples can enter into a legal separation, which is like divorce. Spouses who are legally separated live apart for a minimum amount of time and work out legal arrangements like child custody and child support. If a couple files for legal separation, a judge may issue a judgment recognizing their new marital status.
Legal separation, however, is not an option in Texas. Couples are of course free to separate from each other if they want to, but the only marital statuses recognized in the Lone Star State are married, divorced, or widowed.
However, couples who do not want to take the big step of getting a divorce have an alternative option available to them. If they wish, they can hire a Texas separation agreement attorney to draft a separation agreement.
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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