In order to obtain a divorce in Texas, a Court must determine that there is in fact the existence of a marriage. If the parties were not married the “traditional” way and granted a marriage license, then the only way to get a divorce is to prove to the Court that you are common law married.

Texas recognizes informal marriages and the Texas Family Code has a provision which governs the existence of such marriages. There are two ways to prove the existence of a common law marriage, by formal documentation or by evidence presented to a court.

First, the parties may sign a Declaration of Informal Marriage and file it with the County Clerk. Parties must list the date of when they considered themselves married, so a couple may be married for quite some time before they actually file this declaration. If this has been done, an informal marriage has been formed and the parties may get a divorce as if they were married in a formal ceremony and granted a marriage license without having to prove the existence of a common law marriage.

Second, a common law marriage may be proven by the following three factors: the man and woman agreed to be married, lived together in Texas as husband and wife after such an agreement was made and represented to others that they were married. These factors can be proven in a number of ways. The first factor of agreement to be married can be proven through circumstantial evidence or witness testimony. It really is looked at by the courts on a case by case basis. The second factor, living together as husband and wife, is relatively easy to prove. The final factor, holding out to others that you were married, can also be proven by a variety of evidence, including filing taxes as married, listing a party as a spouse on an emergency contact form, or covering a party as a spouse through medical insurance.

If you meet all three of the above factors, you can prove that you are common law married and are able to be granted a divorce.

A caveat to common law marriage – if you believe you are a common law married but have not commenced a divorce action before the second anniversary of the date you separated from your alleged spouse, then Texas courts reputably presume that no marriage was ever entered into. What this means is the burden is on you, the party asking for a divorce, to prove to the courts a marriage exists. You may still be able to get a divorce, but first you must prove to the court that you meet the above factors and are in fact married.

If you are the party awarded child support in Texas, you will understandably want to know when and how you will begin receiving child support payments. This is a multistep process as outlined below.

First, some basic information and terminology. The party awarded child support is known as the Obligee. The party ordered to pay child support is known as the Obligor. All child support payments must be paid to the Child Support Disbursement Unit located in San Antonio. Your final decree or order has a paragraph which states that any informal payments do not constitute as child support. If the money is not paid directly to the Disbursement Unit it is not being counted by the State as child support and the Obligor could be held in contempt for nonpayment. It is very important that all child support payments go through the State first.

The first step in the process is getting an order that awards child support. Once a Final Decree of Divorce or Order in Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship has been submitted to the Court and signed by a Judge, the child support process begins. This process can take a few days to a month from the date the order was signed, so don’t panic if you are not contacted immediately by a representative of the Office of Attorney General or the State Disbursement Unit.

The second step in the process depends on the method of payment that was ordered in the decree. If a wage withholding order was issued along with your Final Decree or Order, the Child Support Division of the Office of Attorney General will direct the Obligor’s employer to begin withholding child support payments from the obligor’s checks on a weekly/biweekly/monthly basis, depending on what was ordered in the decree. There is no need for either of the parties to do anything regarding this; a wage withholding order signed by the Court already directs any employer of the obligor to automatically deduct a certain amount a specific amount of times per month. Once the money is deducted from the paychecks it is logged by the State Disbursement Unit and then sent to the Obligee.

If there was no wage withholding order issued, the Obligor is responsible for making payments directly to the State Disbursement Unit located in San Antonio. These monthly payments are tracked so the State always has a log of whether parties are current on child support payments.

The third step in the process is contacting you, the Obligee, to arrange how you will receive the child support payments. The Office of Attorney General will contact you regarding how you would like to receive the child support payments. There are two options: you may either have the money directly deposited into your bank account or you may receive a Texas Debit Card, which does not require a bank account and child support payments are added to the balance of the card each month. You will be required to submit a form to begin the direct deposit process or to sign up for the debit card; both forms can be located at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/cs/parents. Once you have your method of receiving the child support payments established, you’ll be finished with the process and will receive your monthly payments automatically.

Both obligees and obligors are given a Customer Information Number once they enroll with the Office of Attorney General so that they may keep track of the status of all payments and account activity. That website is https://childsupport.oag.state.tx.us/wps/portal/csi.

If you have questions or concerns you may contact the Office of Attorney General with inquiries about your case at either the websites listed above or at your local field office.

NOTE: Just because Harris or Fort Bend county accepts jurisdiction for the divorce, it doesn’t mean that it has jurisdiction over a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR) and in some cases it may not have the power to divide marital property.

The second reason it is important to respond to discovery is that the court may take action against a nonresponsive party. A court may grant the opposing party’s motion to compel discovery and attorneys fees, which does not help your case in the eyes of the court. If a party again fails to respond to discovery after a motion to compel is granted, the court may impose sanctions. For those reasons it is very important to respond to discovery in a timely manner and to the best of your abilities.

SAFE enables parents to establish a good visitation history with their children, which can be reported to the court through unbiased reports. These reports contain information taken from staff members’ observations during the visits. SAFE makes no recommendations to the court and has no control over the length of time parents participate in the program. There are several SAFE Program locations throughout Harris County. There is an enrollment fee of $75 and the visiting parent is responsible for the $60 per visitation fee.

For more information and requirement please visit the Victim Assistance Centre web site by clicking on the link below:

Victim Assistance Centre – Main home page.
Safe Supervised Visitation – SAFE program information page.

Contact Information:

Victim Assistance Centre
Safe Supervised Visitation, Suite 1030
Houston, Texas 77002

Phone: 713-755-5625
Fax: 713-755-8824

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The practice of family law and divorce can be a fairly complicated and challenging process. The attorney must not only know the law but must also have a strong understanding of the family court system in the counties in which they practice. Each county has it’s own set of rules and within those counties each court has it’s own subset of varying rules and processes. A family law attorney must be able to determine if it’s in their client best interest to settle out of court or take the issue to the judge or jury based on their experience with the court’s previous rulings. Keep in mind, some courts have a track record for ruling in a certain direction based on specific issues. For this reason, it is very beneficial to hire a family law attorney with intimate knowledge and experience with the county in question.

Consequently, we limit our practice to family law and only in Harris and Fort Bend counties.

CAUTION: Don’t be lured in by the neighborhood general practitioner. Yes they tend to be very friendly but in the end they cost their clients large sums money in attorney fees and a stake in the community estate.

Justice Kerry P. Fitzgerald wrote in an August 2010 5th Court of Appeals decision, “Texas law, as embodied in our constitution and statutes, requires that a valid marriage must be a union of one man and one woman, and only when a union comprises one man and one woman can there be a divorce under Texas law.” Because of the ongoing legislation regarding this matter, legislation could change in the future. But for now, no same-sex couple may receive a divorce in Texas, even if their marriage was legally obtained in another state.

Should the court render judgment for attorney’s fees, the party will be ordered to pay directly to the attorney. A judgment for attorney’s fees may be enforced in the attorney’s own name by any means available for the enforcement of judgment for debt.

To quality for an uncontested divorce both parties must be in agreement with all of the following terms:

• Agree to be divorced
• Have a solid agreement on all issues
  • Child custody, Visitation and Access
  • Child support
  • Division of community assets
  • Division of retirement funds
  • Agree to use one attorney
  • Voluntarily sign all legal documents without service on any party

Simply put, a Contested Divorce situation exists when one or more requirements listed above are absent.  Furthermore, an uncontested divorce can be finalized on the 61^st day after filing the original petition for divorce.   This time includes the required 60 day cooling off period required by the state of Texas.

In most cases, the uncontested divorce process is completed at a fraction of the cost of a contested case.  An uncontested case without children, real estate and retirement can be accomplished with our law firm for as little at $800.