Family and Criminal Law Blog

Should I Move Out of the Marital Home During My Divorce?

With a divorce looming, it can be tense to remain living in the marital home with your spouse.  Understandably, one of the spouses will often want to leave the home before the divorce is finalized.  However, moving out of the marital home before the divorce is complete could potentially have implications for your legal rights to the home in the long run.  OurRead more . . .

Texas pretrial jailing practices have recently come under fire. There have been a string of critical federal court rulings. Additionally, there have been multiple jail deaths and the murder of a state trooper drawing attention to Texas bail and pretrial jailing practices. Two of the most largely populated counties in Texas have bail practices that have been deemed unconstitutional by federal judges. The federal court rulings held that the bail practices were discriminatory against poor criminal defendants who did not have the means to pay for their release from jail.
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How do I make joint custody work when I have a contentious relationship with my ex?

 

Effective co-parenting can be quite challenging, especially following an acrimonious divorce.  Despite the challenges, in most cases having both parents play an ongoing and active role in the lives of the children will be beneficial for all involved.  For the sake of your children, it is important to find a way to work with your ex to develop a working co-parenting arrangement.  Our Read more . . .

Going through a marital break-up is never easy, and the highly charged emotions associated with divorce can cloud a person’s judgment. This can make resolving the key issues in a divorce (e.g. property division, child custody, child support), more complicated and add to the tension. One way to avoid a contentious, protracted legal battle, however, is an alternative to litigation known as
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What is a bifurcated divorce?

Celebrity power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are now officially split, despite ongoing divorce proceedings.  More than two year ago, the Mr. & Mrs. Smith costars, who share six children together, announced their estrangement.  The couple’s divorce has been contentious from the start, with a fierce custody battle and unresolved financial matters.
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In March of 2016, Austin’s City Council passed the Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance. This ordinance is referred to as the “Ban the Box” Ordinance because it removes the check box that asks if a job applicant has a criminal record. It prohibits most employers from asking questions about an applicant’s criminal history until after a conditional offer of employment is made. The ordinance applied to private employers with 15 or more employees. Once a conditional employment offer is made, an employer may ask about criminal history.
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What documents will I want to gather before filing for divorce?

Seeking a divorce can be a challenging and emotional time.  Along with the stress surrounding the divorce, preparing your paperwork for the divorce itself can be complex and time consuming.  If you are starting off on the path towards divorce, now is the time to engage in some advance preparations so that you will be in a stronger position legally when the time comes to file your divorce petition.  Our Midland, Texas divorce lawyers outline some steps you should take as you prepare for divorce below.

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Will evidence of adultery impact my alimony award in Texas?

Adultery is one of the most common causes of divorce.  It is believed that somewhere between ten and 30 percent of all divorces occur due to adultery by one or both of the spouses.  Before the advent of the “no-fault” divorce, adultery used to serve as one of the major grounds for divorce between couples.  Today, Texas, along with most other states, allows for no-fault divorces in which the couple does not have to list a reason for the breakdown of the marriage.  Nonetheless, Texas still allows for the filing offault based divorces and adultery can have a tremendous financial impact on a divorce in the state.

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After a child support order is put in place, life goes on and that means changes can happen. You may have been ordered to pay child support, but recently lost a job and cannot afford the payments. You may be receiving child support payments, but your child’s needs have changed and put an increased burden on your finances. Whatever the change, you may be able to have the original child support order modified due to your change in circumstances. You must, however, make this change official by going through the court system.
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Why is January 7 known as divorce day?

Every year, there is a certain day following the holidays that becomes dubbed among those in the divorce industry as “Divorce Day.”  According to a report in Evening Standard, divorce attorneys receive the highest number of calls by prospective clients seeking divorce on the first Monday back at work after the holidays.  This year, Divorce Day fell on January 7th.  Our Read more . . .

How might posting on social media cost you in a divorce?

Divorce is an often messy and complicated process.  There are certain actions you could inadvertently take, however, that could turn a routine divorce into a far more complex and costly one.  If you are contemplating divorce, review this list of things not to do compiled by our Midland, Texas divorce lawyer so that you do not accidentally hinder your finances even further.

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