Posted on February 13, 2018 in Child Custody

Child custody laws in Texas are a little different than in many other states. If you’re approaching a divorce and you have children, it’s helpful to understand the language — and the law — before you go into court.

This is what you should know:

Custody is called a child conservatorship

Texas uses the somewhat unique term “conservatorship” when discussing child custody. A parent can ask for either joint or sole conservatorship, just like he or she could ask for joint or sole custody.

A conservator has specific rights

If you and your spouse are awarded joint conservatorship, you’ll both have the same rights. This includes equal access to information about the child’s education and health and the right to be included on any decisions or discussions regarding those subjects. A parent with sole conservatorship doesn’t have to involve the other parent in those decisions.

The state presumes both parents should be conservators

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 Posted on February 09, 2018 in Family Law

If you’re in the middle of a child custody battle, you’re bound to have a lot of anxiety about your upcoming hearing before the family court judge.

Here are some tips that can help you get through the encounter with ease:

1. Remember that this is about the well-being of your child. That means the judge isn’t interested in anything that doesn’t directly affect your child’s welfare. Your ex may, in fact, be a terrible person — but if he or she is a good provider and a capable parent, his or her other shortcomings don’t matter. Don’t bring up any ancient history or anything that doesn’t directly pertain to your child’s welfare. You’ll only appear vindictive and risk irritating the judge.

2. Don’t exaggerate or lie. You’ll be asked to fill out a lot of paperwork for the judge to review and may be asked more questions once you’re in court. Be brief in your responses and stick to the facts. Don’t make allegations you can’t prove — otherwise, you may find yourself put on the spot when the judge demands evidence.

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 Posted on January 31, 2018 in Child Custody

A shared custody and parenting plan may sound like a nightmare when you first hear about it — after all, you’re divorcing your spouse. The last thing you probably want to think about is having to continue sharing the decision-making about your children with your spouse for the next seventeen or eighteen years.

However, shared parenting is becoming the norm. That means that it’s time to look on the bright side of divorce and see the benefits that shared parenting can bring:

1. You don’t have to always be the bad guy

You’ve heard of “Disney Dads” and “Disney Moms” who only show up for their bi-weekly visits, have a great time taking the kids to the zoo, the park or on vacation — and then stick the primary parent with all the heavy responsibilities like setting a curfew and leveling penalties for missed schoolwork and bad behavior.

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 Posted on January 29, 2018 in Blog

You and your child have maintained a close relationship since the divorce, even though you do not get to spend as much time together as you used to. Now, though, your ex is talking about moving out of Texas and taking your child with her.

Is there anything you can do about it?

File a motion opposing the relocation

A hearing before a judge is a crucial factor in preventing your child’s relocation. You want this hearing because the court system takes the best interest of your child to heart. In Texas, this typically means making sure you have adequate time to spend with your child.

Consequently, a judge will often determine that a move that takes your child out of the geographical region set in the court order should result in a custody change that favors you rather than your former spouse. The judge who oversees the hearing can make a difference, though, as her or his views on geographic restrictions can vary.

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 Posted on January 23, 2018 in Divorce

Are you splitting with your spouse?

It may not be that easy, especially if your spouse isn’t exactly happy about the prospect of dividing up the family assets — or even the idea of letting you go. You may physically leave your spouse and still remain tethered by invisible electronic ties that your spouse has installed all around you.

Feel creeped out? You and a lot of other people have good reason to be. It’s becoming increasingly common for someone to turn to technology in order to stalk or spy on a spouse that’s leaving.

The statistics tell the story. While 1.5 percent of adults in this country are victims of stalking, that figure jumps to more than double the national norm for couples in fragmented marital relationships.

If your spouse is determined to spy on you, he or she could resort to a GPS tracking device on your car. Or, he or she might just download spyware onto your smartphone. Since it probably goes where you go, your spouse can then track your location and peek into your emails, texts and phone calls all at once.

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 Posted on January 19, 2018 in Divorce

There’s a saying that, “when one door closes, another opens.” However, for someone going through a divorce, it usually feels like all the doors are slamming shut at once.

Divorce can destroy any sense of calmness or peace that you have — and it’s easy to get angry or even bitter. Unfortunately, anger and bitterness can also lead you to mistakes. Here are some important ones to avoid:

• Don’t try to interpret everything you read on the internet. There are thousands of articles out there about divorce — but each case is unique. There’s no online guideline to your divorce. By the same token, don’t listen to your relatives over your attorney, either. None of their experiences with divorce are exactly the same as yours.
• Don’t trust your divorce case to the first attorney whose name you see. Do your research and make sure that the attorney you choose is the right one for you.

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 Posted on January 12, 2018 in Family Law

There have been few periods in history as fertile as this one for an entrepreneurial seed to take hold. Those with a passion and a plan can find their fortunes through a combination of quality work, good marketing and a consumer market that’s willing to embrace the artisan, the craftsman or the unique intellectual offerings of a visionary.

Unfortunately, embracing your passions and dreams can kill your marriage.

While there isn’t a lot of research on the subject, the anecdotal evidence is high that entrepreneurs experience a lot of marital troubles. According to the experts (including some entrepreneurs who have been there), this is why:

• The business eats into family time. The entrepreneur is forced to focus on business so often that there’s little time for family vacations, family time or even family dinners.
• The amount of mental attention the business requires can leave the entrepreneur too mentally tired to engage with his or her spouse — even when there is a social occasion or some “downtime.”

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 Posted on January 04, 2018 in Child Custody

Conventional wisdom convinces a lot of people that divorce is terribly harmful to children of any age, leaving them prone to depression, anxiety, trouble with authority and poor grades.

But what if conventional wisdom isn’t so wise and divorce really isn’t that harmful to children after all?

All of the tests and studies that have been done on the “children of divorce” suffer from essentially the same fatal flaw: It’s easy to study groups of people who came from homes where the parents divorced and compare them to groups of people where the parents remained married.

It isn’t possible, however, to peep into a parallel timeline in order to compare the children of divorce to the versions of themselves that would have come into being if their parents had stayed together.

That leaves scientists pondering a much tougher set of questions. Would those children who supposedly suffered psychological trauma from their parents’ divorce have suffered even worse trauma if their parents had stayed married?

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 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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