13
Jan
2012

Preparing for a Texas Divorce

Preparing for a Texas Divorce - Part 1: Assets 
 
Preparing for a divorce is painful no matter the circumstance.  Before you get into the tangle of the divorce process, you can reduce the expense, stress and conflict many people face by making sure you are prepared.  Planning ahead allows you to make sound decisions and start preparing for your life post-divorce, and may also help you avoid post-divorce pitfalls. Below is a list of items you may want to gather before counseling with an attorney.

Documents

  1. A Listing of all Real Property, address and location, including (include time-shares and vacation properties):
    1. Deeds of Trust
    2. Notes
    3. Legal Description
    4. Mortgage Companies (Name, Address, Telephone Number, Account Number, Balance of Note, Monthly Payments)
    5. Current fair market value
  2. Mineral Interests (include any property in which you own the mineral estate, separate and apart from the surface estate, such as oil and gas leases; also include royalty interests, work interests, and producing and non-producing oil and gas wells.
    1. Name of mineral interest
    2. Type of interest
    3. County of location
    4. Legal description
    5. Name of producer/operator
    6. Current market value
  3. Cash and accounts with financial institutions (checking, savings, commercial bank accounts, credit union funds, IRA’s, CD’s, 401K’s, pension plans and any other form of retirement accounts):
    1. Name of institution, address and telephone number
    2. Amount in institution on date of marriage
    3. Amount in institution currently
    4. Account Number
    5. Names on Account
  4. Publicly traded stock, bonds and other securities (include securities not in a brokerage, mutual fund, or retirement account):
    1. Number of shares
    2. Type of securities
    3. Certificate numbers
    4. In possession of
    5. Name of exchange which listed
    6. Pledged as collateral?
    7. Date acquired
    8. Tax basis
    9. Current market value
    10. If stock (date option granted, number of shares and value per share)
  5. Closely held business interests:
    1. Name of business
    2. Address
    3. Type of business
    4. % of ownership
    5. Number of shares owned if applicable
    6. Value of shares
    7. Balance of accounts receivables
    8. Cash flow reports
    9. Balance of liabilities
    10. List of company assets
  6. Retirement Benefits
    1. Exact name of plan
    2. Address of plan administrator
    3. Employer
    4. Employee
    5. Starting date of contributions
    6. Amount in account on date of marriage
    7. Amount currently in account
    8. Balance of any loan against plan
  7. Insurance and Annuities
    1. Name of insurance company
    2. Policy Number
    3. Insured
    4. Type of insurance (whole/term/universal)
    5. Amount of monthly premiums
    6. Date of Issue
    7. Face amount
    8. Cash surrender value
    9. Current surrender value
    10. Designated beneficiary
  8. Motor Vehicles (including mobile homes, boats, trailers, motorcycles, recreational vehicles; exclude company owned)
    1. Year
    2. Make
    3. Model
    4. Value
    5. Name on title
    6. VIN Number
    7. Fair Market Value
    8. Name of creditor (if any), address and telephone
    9. Persons listed on debt
    10. Account number
    11. Balance of any loan and monthly payment
    12. Net Equity in vehicle
  9. Money owed by spouse (including any expected federal or state income tax refund but not including receivables connected with any business)

10.  Household furniture, furnishings and Fixtures

11.  Electronics and computers

12.  Antiques, artwork and collectibles (including works of art, paintings, tapestry, rugs, crystal, coin or stamp collections)

13.  Miscellaneous sporting goods and firearms

14.  Jewelry

15.  Animals and livestock

16.  Farming equipment

17.  Club Memberships

18.  Travel Award Benefits (including frequent flyer miles)

19.  Safe deposit box items

20.  Burial plots

21.  Items in any storage facility

22.  A listing of separate property (property prior to marriage, family heir looms, property gifted)

  1. 23.  Listing of all liabilities (including mortgages, credit card debt, personal loans, automobile loans, etc.):
          1.  Name of entity, address and telephone number
          2.  Account number
          3.  Amount owed     
          4.  Monthly payment
          5.  Property securing payment (if any)
          6.  Persons listed as liable for debt
12
Jan
2012

Step Parent Conflict – Put Your Kids First!

Thirty seven percent of families in the United States are blended families. Sixty percent of second marriages end in divorce. A biological parent has his hands full, but as most step-parents will tell you, their job is even more complicated.

Following a divorce, it is not uncommon for a new step-parent to become the target of unprovoked spite or anger. In many cases, the previous-spouse harbors unfounded fears that their child will look to a new step-parent as a mother or father replacement figure. This can engender resentment to what may already be an uncomfortable situation between parties. Regretfully, these issues often escalate very quickly. Such resentments place the children squarely in the middle of a bitter fight between the people they love the most and are not healthy for anyone involved. The pain of conflicting loyalties to each parent and a child’s feeling of being “caught in the middle” of such disputes exacts an enormous emotional toll on a child. When a parent is in a rage, it is not uncommon for a child to withdraw. The child’s behavior towards the non-primary parent may abruptly change. This change in behavior may have more to do with keeping the primary parent happy than it does with how they really feel about the non-primary parent or step-parent. It is essential that you make it clear to your child that you love them and will always be there for them, regardless of the emotional or less than rosy current circumstances.

It is crucial to a child’s self-esteem and emotional growth that parents avoid putting children in the middle of such disputes. This can be incredibly difficult, however, when a selfish or manipulative parent does not think twice about wrongfully placing his or her child in the middle of conflict. Children are very perceptive and as they grow older they will ultimately realize when a parent has lied to them and used them for their own emotional or financial gain. Though they may temporarily identify with the aggressors, in time they will deeply resent the parent who has manipulated them.

Regardless of the circumstances, it is critical that biological parents avoid arguments or conflicts in the presence of the children. Such conduct is conducive to parental alienation goals of the misguided previous spouse. If the child sees that you maintain a calm and collected demeanor, it gives them reason to pause and feel safe.

If a previous spouse is making statements to the child regarding issues that should only be discussed between adults, tell the child that such discussions are inappropriate and you will take them up with the other parent at another time.

It is ok to tell your child “I am sorry,” if they are upset, even if you are not the parent upsetting them. This validates that they are hurting and relieves any false guilt they may have over things that are being said and done when you are not present. It is sometimes helpful to use everyday situations to explain conflict to your child. As an example, when dealing with conflict explain that “brothers and sisters fight, but they still love each other. Families have to work through conflict in order to stay together. I would not leave you if you made a mistake, I would not want you to leave me.” Such statements reinforces that reasonable conflict is ok and assures the child that you will remain a constant force in their life regardless of the situation.

If you feel that the conflict has escalated to a point of becoming emotionally abusive and/or destructive to the child, consult a Family Law / divorce attorney. It may be in the best interest of the child that he or she be removed from the primary parent and placed with the non-primary parent so that he or she is allowed to love all parental figures, parents and step-parents alike, unconditionally.

18
Nov
2011

Texas Divorce – How Long Will It Take to Get Divorced and Other Important Facts

To file for a divorce in Texas, you must be a Texas Resident for 6 months, and you must have lived within the county you plan to file in for at least 90 days immediately prior to filing of your divorce petition. Time spent by a Texas resident outside of Texas, while in the military, satisfies the residency requirement in Texas for a divorce.

Texas does not recognize legal separations.

It is possible to get a divorce even though the other party does not want the divorce to take place. Texas is a “no fault divorce state.” “No fault” means that one spouse does not have to prove the other spouse has done anything wrong in order to obtain a divorce. You cannot be held to a marriage because your spouse does not want to sign or refuses to participate in the divorce process. The court will enter divorce orders even if the other party refuses to sign them.

Texas requires a minimum 60 day waiting period before any divorce can be finalized. The 60 day period begins to run from the time the Original Petition for Divorce is actually filed with the court. In other words, the shortest time it will take to finalize a divorced in Texas is 61 days. On occasion, in domestic violence cases, there is an exception to the 60 day rule. If the parties are in agreement, a divorce proceeding can be finalized immediately following the sixty-day waiting period. On average, however, the time period is more likely to run 90 to 120 days in an uncontested divorce due to the crowding of court dockets and the time necessary for counsel to draft necessary legal documents and obtain the agreement of both parties regarding the wording of the final documents. If the parties are not in agreement, the time necessary to finalize the divorce will depend on the conduct of both parties and their attorneys, the court’s schedule, the matters in controversy and the complexity of the contested issues. From start to finish, the divorce process may go through a number of phases which might include temporary orders, exchange of financial information, psychological evaluations (in child custody cases), alternative dispute resolution, trial, and appeal. A divorce in which the parties are deeply in opposition to an agreement on some or all of the core issues may take anywhere from several months to several years to complete.

As to the division of marital assets, Texas is a community property state. For more information on community and separate property, see our blog, Divorce: What is separate property and what is community property.

It is important to remember that, although the statutory waiting period to finalize a divorced is 60 days, it is more likely than not that your divorce will “not” be finalized on the 61st day following the filing of your petition for divorce.

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