Dallas Divorce Lawyer Blog
We never encourage people to get divorced who aren’t ready. Divorce is not something to go into lightly and it can be a very expensive endeavor. With that being said, putting off an inevitable divorce can be much more expensive in the long run. In Texas, we are a community property state. That means that all property that is acquired during the marriage is considered a part of the “community estate.” All property that is part of the community estate is subject to being divided by the judge when the divorce is finalized. What this means practically is that in Texas once you are married to someone everything you buy and all debt you incur is basically equally the property of both spouses. This can be good or bad depending on where you are situated in a particular relationship. However, the risk with waiting to get a divorce is that your current spouse is incurring a large amount of debt that you can be on the hook for or that anything you buy and any income you get is going to be subject to being divided in your divorce.
Up to one in four couples who choose to divorce choose to do so in January according to some sources. This is often attributed to the fact that people are choosing to stay together during the holidays for the sake of their families, usually their children. Some say that the stress of the holidays is actually what causes the uptick of divorces after the new year. Whatever the cause, if you are thinking of putting off an inevitable divorce it is important to understand that waiting to get a divorce finalized can cost you. Texas has a mandatory sixty day waiting period once a divorce is filed that is rarely waived. So, even if you think you are only waiting until the beginning of the year to get divorced and then everything will be done, the reality is you still have at least sixty days left of being married, with the majority of cases taking much longer than sixty days to actually be finalized.
Additionally, there is nothing that says just because you file for divorce that you cannot still celebrate the holidays together for the sake of the kids. There is no reason to let children in on your adult problems over the holidays unnecessarily. Obviously at some point the children are going to figure out that you are no longer married, but if you are already not cohabitating as spouses, filing a divorce petition is not going to be something that you have to reveal to your children.
If you have a question about filing for divorce or any family law matter contact Guest and Gray and we can schedule a time to talk to you about your options.