Divorce Filing (13)
You can file for divorce in Texas if you or your spouse has lived:
- in Texas for at least the last 6 months, and in the county where you file for divorce for at least the last 90 days.
If you happen to be serving in the military or other government service outside of Texas, you may still file for divorce in Texas if:
- Texas has been the home state of either you or your spouse for at least 6 months and the county where you plan to file the divorce has been the home county of either spouse for at least 90 days.
- The identical rule applies if you accompanied your spouse the one is serving in the military or other government service outside of Texas. If Texas is your home state, time spent outside of Texas with your military spouse counts as time spent in Texas.
Divorce can be a very complicated process, especially if there are minor children involved or if the parties cannot agree on major issues like child custody, support, and property division. In Texas, divorce proceedings begin with the filing of a divorce petition by one spouse and end with a final divorce decree. In contested cases, there are many other steps in between. Below is an overview of the Texas divorce process in contested cases:
- Filing the Divorce Petition
- Providing Your Spouse with Notice
- Respondent’s Answer and Counter-petition
- Temporary Orders
- Discovery
- Negotiations/Mediation
- Trial
- Divorce Decree
As long as you meet the residency requirements for divorce, you can get divorced in Texas even if your spouse lives in another state.
Your spouse cannot stop you from getting a divorce. Texas is a “no-fault” divorce state. This means that a divorce maybe granted without either spouse being at fault. As long as one spouse believes that the relationship cannot be fixed, the judge may grant the divorce.
If you cannot find your spouse (after looking really hard) you may serve your spouse by publication in a local newspaper or posting by constable.
At the outset, you should be absolutely sure that your marriage is beyond saving. If you are uncertain or if there is any chance you and your spouse may get back together, go see a marriage counselor – not a lawyer.
A counselor can help you and your spouse work through emotional and marital issues. That is not the role of your divorce lawyer. I’ve heard that if your marriage is genuinely ended, you’ll know. Then, and only then, contact a divorce lawyer.
Texas divorce records are public. Anyone can visit a clerk’s office in the county in which the divorce was handled and request a copy of the divorce filings and other records. Texas clerk of court websites in all counties also provide many divorce records online.
A no-fault divorce in Texas can be faster and less expensive than a “fault” divorce because there are no allegations of marital wrongdoing to resolve. In Texas, there are two types of no-fault divorce:
- a divorce based on insupportability and
- a divorce based on living apart for at least three years.
You must still provide notice to your spouse about the divorce if he or she is in jail or prison.
If your divorce is agreed, your spouse can sign the necessary court forms in jail or prison and return them to you.
If your divorce is not agreed (or you don’t want to have contact with your spouse), you must have a constable or sheriff serve your spouse with the initial divorce papers in jail or prison.
Every divorce is different, and some are more expensive than others. Some divorces may be resolved in just a few months and cost the parties a few thousand dollars at most. Other divorces may drag on for much longer and cost each party five figures. See what the Average Attorney Fees are.
In general, the more contested the issues are, the more expensive the divorce will be. It is difficult to give a precise dollar amount on how much a divorce will cost, because the answer largely depends on how long it takes to finalize the case. If several hearings, mediation, and a trial are necessary, it is much more expensive than a divorce in which the parties agree on all of the issues in their case.
Although divorce and annulment both end a relationship, these two processes have significant differences.
With a divorce, the couple’s marriage was valid. The couple may seek a divorce on no-fault or fault-based grounds. Fault-based grounds for divorce in Texas are:
• Adultery
• Cruelty
• One spouse’s commission of a felony that requires imprisonment of at least one year.
• Abandonment by one spouse for a period of at least one year.
• Admission of one spouse to a mental hospital.
• Living separately and apart for three years.
In an annulment, the argument is that the marriage was never valid in the first place–it is null and void. Grounds for annulment in Texas include:
• One party was intoxicated at the time of the marriage and could not consent to the marriage.
• Duress, fraud, or force was used to induce one party into getting married.
• One of the parties was already married at the time of the marriage.
• The parties are related.
• One of the parties did not disclose that a divorce had been granted in the 30 days prior to the marriage.
• The marriage took place less than 72 hours after a marriage license was issued.
• One of the parties did not have the mental capacity to get married.
• One of the parties is impotent and did not disclose this fact to the other party.
• One of the parties was underage at the time of the marriage.
After both a divorce and an annulment, a judge may order child support and child custody. Parents are still under an obligation to support their children, even if the marriage was never valid in the first place.
Texas allows you or your spouse to file a divorce if the wife is pregnant. However, the divorce will not be completed until the baby is born. This is because the court will not have jurisdiction over a child until it is born and cannot make final decisions on issues such as child support, custody or paternity.