Q. Tell us about yourself and your practice.
A. The best way to learn about me and my practice is through our web site: www.texasdivorcelaw.com. I grew up in a stable happy home.
My father was a family law attorney and I started following him to work and the courthouse when I was 5. I worked in his office through high school and served the process in law school. So, when I started practicing 15 years ago, I already knew quite a bit about family law.
Q. Do you offer a free initial consultation?
A. My consultation fee is $250.00 for the first hour and my normal hourly rate is $450.00 after that.
Q. How long do you take to process a divorce?
A. Processing the origination paperwork to begin a lawsuit is often done within 24 hours. However, if the case requires complex paperwork it can take somewhat longer. I’ ll never be able to tell how long the entire case will take. Every case is different and I never know how much the other side is going to fight, before we get to the end.
Q. Will you accompany a party to court yourself or send a representative?
A. We have more than one attorney in our office. The client chooses the lawyer, they want to be the lead attorney on their case. That attorney will go to court with the client. If I am the lead attorney, then I’ ll be going to court with the client.
Q. How does one begin the divorce process?
A. The first step in the divorce process is finding an attorney that the client has confidence in. Without that, an emotionally challenging experience can become far worse than it might be, if the right attorney was hired from the beginning. Officially every divorce begins with the filing of an Original Petition for Divorce.
Texas State law provides that a divorce cannot be completed for at least 60 days following the filing of that petition. In our office, we begin by getting information from the client, which will be used in part to prepare the Original Petition.
Q. How much will it cost to file for divorce?
A. The counties charge different amounts for filing fees, but are generally around $285.00. There are costs of having the other side served, if necessary. As for the retainer fee it depends upon, which attorney the client chooses for the representation and whether the case will be contested or agreed.
Q. What happens if one party refuses to sign the papers?
A. In order to establish any deadlines or set any hearings the responding party must be served with process. If the parties have an agreed divorce such that they are both willing to sign off on a Decree, which contains their agreement, then nobody has to be served and the parties save the cost of that service.
However, if the parties are not agreeing to something or everything then the respondent should be served. Once served, the process of divorce is in action for both parties. At the end of the lawsuit, if no settlement has been reached or in this case one of the parties refuses to sign off on the divorc, a trial will be conducted. At the end of the trial the judge (or in some cases a jury) will render a decision. That decision gets memorialized in a Final Decree of Divorce which is then signed by the Judge, which completes the divorce whether the party still refuses to sign or not. In Texas as a practical matter, if one spouse wants a divorce they do not need the agreement of the other spouse to get it.
Q. Must fault be proven to obtain a divorce?
A. Texas is a no fault divorce state, meaning that the parties may get divorced without proving fault. However, either or both sides are still free to allege fault in the breakup of the marriage and the divorce may also be granted on that fault.
Q. Who receives custody of the children in a divorce?
A. Texas law does not favor one parent over the other, though a parent is favored over a non-parent. The person who ultimately has primary possession or custody of the children is dependant upon the facts of the case and the presentation of the evidence.
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