What Are Your Divorce Rights in Texas - All You Should Know

Getting divorced can be highly stressful, costly, and time-consuming. That is why you must gather all insights to make this process as smooth as possible. If you need some information about divorce rights in Texas, this article will be of much help. We will cover some of the frequently asked questions and usual pain points people who are getting divorced must face. Here's everything you needed to know.

Learn everything about your rights before getting divorced.

Learning About the Divorce Rights in Texas

Firstly, let's take a look at some statistics. According to the data gathered nation-wide, almost 40% of married couples across the United States end up divorced. As for the Lone Star State, Statista shows how the rates have decreased since the early 90s. The figures pointed out at 5.5 divorces per one thousand inhabitants. And now, these rates show that 2.6 out of thousand Texan couples end up splitting up. In this article, we will tackle Texas law and some hot topics like property division, as well as child custody and alimony, and other crucial matters.

Get to know about the family law before you file the petition.

Is Texas a 50 50 State When it Comes to Divorce Law?

How is property divided in a divorce in Texas? The Lone Star State is one of the community property states, meaning all earnings and belongings acquired throughout the marriage belong evenly to both spouses. There are nine states in the US that have a community property law. They are called 50 50 states. Nevertheless, if the case gets more complicated, the court will have the final say regarding this matter.

The court can overturn the 50/50 rule in some cases.

What is the Wife Entitled to in a Divorce in Texas?

Any income and any personal property acquired by either party during a marriage are considered community property. This means that everything belongs to both partners. The only exceptions to this are gifts and assets acquired before getting married, as well as the division of property in the case of a contested divorce.

Getting divorced with children makes the entire situation more delicate, and not only in terms of child support. Their well-being should be the top priority. In most cases, a child's mother is automatically seen as the legal parent. However, if any parent is unfit or unable to support and take care of the children, there could be exceptions to these women's rights in a divorce in Texas. The father’s rights in a Texas divorce are bigger nowadays than they used to be a few decades ago. Every family court usually encourages equal involvement in a child's life, regardless of who the legal custodian is.

The law here grants the wife rights in a divorce the same way as in other community property states.

How Long Do You Have to Be Separated Before You Can File for Divorce in Texas?

How long do you have to be separated before getting divorced? The Texas divorce process isn't conditioned by any specific separation period. The only rules are that at least one of the spouses must have been a resident of the state for at least six months with no interruptions. In addition to that, they must be a resident of the county where the petition is filed for 90 days or more.

Proof of Residency and Public Service

When filing for a divorce, it is required to provide proof of residency. Another thing you should know about is absence due to public service. If either party has been out of the state and the petition was filed during their absence, it still counts as a residence in the county where they usually live. The requirement is met if the reason for being away from home is military or other public services.

Texas Divorce and Separation: Temporary Order

Acquiring a legal separation is not an option in the Lone Star State. However, there are other possibilities you can consider. For instance, you can explore temporary orders that normally include clauses regarding child support and maintenance. If these are the crucial issues you and your spouse can't seem to agree on, contact an attorney or hire mediation services.

Here, you can get a temporary order instead of the legal separation agreement.

Marital Fault and Legal Grounds to Get Divorced from Your Spouse

If there was some foul play in your marriage, you can add it to the list of your reasons to get divorced. You can prove marital fault in court by providing evidence that points to adultery, unreasonable behavior, cruelty, felony conviction, or abandonment.

Legal Grounds for a Divorce: Criminal Conviction and Abandonment

If your husband or wife left you to end your relationship without having an agreement or a valid reason, you could use the legal ground of abandonment when filing the petition. In that case, your spouse must have abandoned you for over two years within the last two and a half years. You must have lived together for no more than six months throughout this period.

The criminal conviction and imprisonment of a spouse can be taken into account as grounds for a divorce. In order to get divorced on the grounds of a criminal conviction, the filing party must prove that their partner has been convicted of a crime.

Abandonment and criminal conviction are among the legally acceptable grounds to get divorced.

No-Fault Divorce

Getting divorced in a peaceful manner implies that the couple won't blame each other and file the petition based on marital fault. Unions that end quite smoothly take less time and burn less cash. More importantly, helping children cope with divorce will be much easier.

If you can have no-fault divorce, you can also file for divorce online. This way is almost always the best, and now the safest and simplest, option. Those who are getting divorced during Covid should seriously consider this alternative, especially because you’ll get to avoid hefty attorney fees.

If both parties are on the same page, they can easily divorce online.

Contact an Attorney to Learn More

Now that we have covered some basic ground regarding the women's and men's rights in a divorce in Texas and other important steps you need to know of, we hope you will understand how the system works. Moreover, we'd like to offer one final piece of advice - strive to reach a mutual understanding and file for an uncontested divorce. That way, you can file for divorce online and save yourself (and your soon-to-be-ex-spouse) a lot of time and trouble. Find the best legal service and get more helpful tips.