Divorce laws in Texas

Texas divorce laws are found in the Texas statutes in the section titled Family Code. The family code consists of 266 chapters, numerous subchapters per chapter and each subchapter contains multiple sections.

The districts court, located in each county in Texas, has exclusive jurisdiction to process and rule on divorce cases. In addition to the Family Code there a numerous rules of procedure that applies to how a divorce case is processed through the court and what actions and deadlines apply to the divorcing spouses. In addition, each individual court may have local rules and procedures relevant only to that court. These local rules are in addition to the standard rules of procedure that applies to all district courts in Texas.

Divorce is not only an emotional progression but a very real and serious legal event. A divorce decree legally and permanently ends a marriage. The final divorce decree indicates how property and debts are to be divided and sets out child support, custody and visitation should the spouses have children together. Having knowledge of the law and your rights are imperative as the decisions and agreements you reach with your spouse have long term consequences.

In order to aid you in improving your knowledge of divorce law in Texas we have extracted certain sections of the Texas Family Code for you. We organized these sections of law into common areas wherein couples generally have the most questions. These areas include (1) Texas Divorce Requirements, (2) Property Division in Texas Divorces, (3) Texas Child Custody and Visitation, as well as (4) Texas Child Support, and (5) Spousal Maintenance - Alimony in Texas.