A trial court has plenary jurisdiction (complete control) over a case for 30 days after the judge signs the final judgment in a divorce decree. During those 30 days, one of the parties may file a motion for a new trial or a motion to modify, correct, or reform a…
What is a Discovery Control Plan? Three levels of “Discovery Plans” are found under Texas Rules of Civil Procedure Rules 190.2-190.4. Each section has its own requirements for who falls under what level and how discovery will be organized and completed. In order to get a better understanding of what…
Usually, it is in the best interest of a child to live with their parent. This is not always the case though, and there are times that a court may need to terminate the rights of a parent. The court will terminate a parent-child relationship if it finds it to…
As a general rule in Texas, all property that you acquire during marriage is community property. There are some exceptions in which property can be deemed one spouse’s separate property. These are pretty basic concepts but the issues arise when property is commingled or wasted by another spouse and how…
If you have a current pending divorce or suit affecting the parent-child relationship then you most likely have temporary orders in place. If not, in most family law cases you do want to ensure that you have temporary orders granted by the Court so that you know what you should…
What is the law in Texas on marriage fraud? The first step in determining whether or not you qualify for an annulment based upon fraud is to ensure that you fit within the parameters of the law on this issue. Specifically, Texas Family Code Section 6.107 states that, “a trial…
In Texas, if a mediated settlement agreement is properly executed you cannot challenge it. Texas Family Code Section 153.0071(d) and (e) mandate that courts shall issue an order in compliance with a mediated settlement agreement. This is why it is so important to have an attorney attend mediation with you. …
If you have a final decree or final order in a family law case with an obvious mistake from what the trial court ordered or the parties agreed, you can get it fixed through what is called a Nunc Pro Tunc. The key is that this mistake has to be…
Your spouse has filed for divorce but tells you that you guys can agree on everything and that you do not need an attorney. They also tell you that you do not even have to be served by process server but instead that you can sign a “waiver”. This means…
Are you facing a divorce with your spouse and you are concerned that you are not the father of your child? You have probably always had that feeling (given your spouse’s cheating history) that you are not the child’s biological father but you just have never acted on that feeling. …