San Antonio Family Lawyer

        Divorce & Annulment


      With years of experience handling family law cases, the attorneys of Carroll & Hinojosa are familiar with the conflict and turmoil our clients so commonly experience during the pendency of their cases.  Our mission is to be sensitive counselors, while also being zealous advocates.  In family law, as in our other practice areas, our multiple attorneys allow our clients to have access to a team strategy that simply isn't available for most law firms.

Termination of Marriage

Divorce is the legal termination of a marriage. A marriage is dissolved by a divorce decree issued by a Texas county court. Some divorces are called agreed divorces, if the parties reach agreement on all issues. The court simply approves the parties' agreement. If the parties cannot agree on custody, visitation, child support, alimony, and division of property, the court will decide these issues also.

At the time of filing the petition for divorce, at least one of the parties must have been a resident of Texas for six months and a resident of the county where the action is filed for 90 days. Once one spouse files the divorce papers, the petition for divorce and the summons to appear in court must be served on the other spouse. After the papers are served, the parties must wait 60 days until the hearing at which the marriage is terminated legally.

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Grounds for Divorce

In Texas, a divorce may be granted on any one of seven grounds. Usually divorces are granted under the no-fault divorce law. Under this law, the parties only must show that the marriage is insupportable because there is discord or conflict, and there is no reasonable expectation that the parties will reconcile. This means that the spouses cannot work out their problems, even with counseling. Because divorce is no-fault, a court cannot consider either spouse's fault in causing the divorce when making its determinations of custody, visitation, or other issues.

Other grounds for divorce under Texas law are:

Abandonment
Adultery
Confinement in a mental institution
Conviction for a felony
Cruelty
Imprisonment

Effects of a Dissolving of Marriage

People who are going through a divorce may agree with one another how to handle many of the issues that arise. Matters on which the parties disagree, however, must be decided by a court. Court-ordered guidelines generally include instructions on child custody, visitation rights, child support, alimony, and division of marital property.

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Child Custody

Child custody is determined by a court based on the best interests of the children. There are two different types of child custody: sole custody and joint custody. Sole custody gives one parent primary responsibility for raising the children. Under a sole custody arrangement, the person with custody is called the "managing conservator" and the parent who does not have custody but has visitation rights is called the "possessory conservator." In joint custody, both parents share the parental responsibilities. If the parents have joint legal custody the children reside mostly with one parent who is responsible for the routine decisions affecting the children, but both parents share the responsibility for making important decisions regarding the children. If they have joint physical custody, both parents are involved even in the day-to-day decisions affecting their children, and the children spend time with both parents, although not necessarily an equal amount of time with each.

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Visitation

Typically, the possessory conservator, or non-custodial parent, is granted visitation rights unless the court feels that such visits would be detrimental to the children. Parents may make child visitation agreements themselves, but if a friendly agreement cannot be reached, the court sets a schedule for visitation, or it orders that the possessory conservator be allowed reasonable visitation. Although the visitation schedule depends on the circumstances of the children and the parents, a typical schedule may include alternating weekends, alternating holidays, and a portion of the children's summer vacation months. Certain other people who have close relationships with the children, such as grandparents, also may be allowed some form of visitation.

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Child Support

Child support is financial assistance provided by Modification & Enforcement Mattersthe possessory conservator to help support the children. Factors affecting the amount of child support a court orders include the needs and income levels of the parents, the children's needs, and the number of children. Child support is an independent obligation and must be maintained despite any other problems between the parents, such as disagreements about visitation. A recently enacted federal law requires employers to withhold wages from employees who are under a court order to provide child support after January 1, 1994. Texas courts also are authorized to garnish wages to collect child support payments. Some courts have ordered the employer of a parent who is required to pay child support to take the child support amount out of the employee's salary, if the child support has gone unpaid for one month.

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Alimony

Alimony is financial support provided by one ex-spouse to the other. Either spouse may seek alimony. Factors that a court evaluates in setting alimony include the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage, the relative incomes or earning potentials of the parties, and the needs of each party. Alimony may be either temporary or permanent. If the parties do not need alimony at the time the marriage is dissolved, they will not have the opportunity to request it later, unless the parties both agree to an alimony arrangement. After they are divorced, the court no longer has authority to award alimony payments.

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Division of Property

Courts attempt to divide marital property on a fair, although not always equal, basis. Most property acquired by either spouse during the marriage is community property, including real estate, furniture, appliances, vehicles, cash, life insurance policies, retirement accounts, stocks, and businesses, as well as debts. One-half of all community property is owned by each spouse. At the time of dissolution, this property is divided equally, unless both parties agree in writing to divide it unequally. In the case of a business or another kind of property that cannot be split, the court will award the property to one spouse and order that party to pay the other for the lost interest in the property. Community debts must be divided equally between the parties as well. Property belonging solely to one spouse prior to the marriage, or a gift or an inheritance given to only one spouse during marriage, is separate property. Separate property stays with the party who had it originally and is not included in the division of marital assets.