Adoption of Adults. An adoption of an adult is a fairly simple process under the Texas Family Code as long as all of the adults involved agree to the adoption. Call me if you have questions about this.
Adoption of Children (including Step-parent adoptions)
Annulments. Suits for annulment are much less common in most states than suits for divorce. A suit for annulment, as opposed to a suit for divorce, is brought when there has been some legal impediment to the creation of a valid marriage. A legal petition requesting an annulment is based on premarital causes rather than post-marital causes. For example, if the marriage was entered into by a spouse who was underage, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or mentally incapacitated, the marriage can be annulled. A marriage that is subject to annulment is considered voidable--it is a valid marriage until a party is granted an annulment. Once an annulment is granted, the marriage becomes void and is considered never to have happened. If an annulment is not granted, the marriage will be considered valid indefinitely unless you file for divorce and end the marriage through divorce. Texas law specifies several grounds for requesting an annulment. Please call me to discuss the legal annulment of a marriage if you think you need one.
Child Custody and Visitation Problems. Call me if you need to update or modify the provisions for child custody/visitation that were in the original Divorce Decree. If one or both parents have moved or if there is another good reason, you can request that the child visitation schedule be modified.
Child Support Increases and Decreases. If you are the parent who is paying child support, you may want to try to get the child support reduced to reflect a currently reduced income due to a job change or other reduction in income or because you are now legally responsible for supporting additional children that were not born when the original child support order was created. If you are the parent who is receiving child support, you may wish to request an increase in child support to reflect the other parent's increased income due to a pay raise, a promotion, or a job change.
You should be aware that the parties cannot legally change the amount of required child support by their own agreement without seeking the Court's approval and getting a judge to sign a revised child support order. Sometimes the child support withholding order that should be served on the obligor's employer needs to be changed or updated. Call me to see if I can help.
Common Law Marriage Issues. Click on the link to the left for information on common law marriage in Texas. There are a lot of myths and misconceptions out there about common law marriage in Texas. One common misconception is that a specific time period is required for a Texas couple who is living together to be considered to be common law married. That is simply not true. Call me if you think you might be in a common law marriage relationship (with or without children) and you are interested in getting a divorce. I can help you make sure that you are treated fairly in dividing your property and help you make sure your children (if any) are properly cared for.
Divorce Decree Modifications. It is fairly common to need to change a divorce decree that included orders for child custody, child visitation details, child support, children's health insurance details, or a geographic residential restriction for the children. Sometimes the original Divorce Decree does not include something that should have been included. Sometimes you need to try to change the specifics of the Divorce Decree to reflect changed circumstances. Call me for help if you think something in your Divorce Decree should be updated or changed to benefit you and/or your children.
Geographic Restrictions for the Children. Most divorce decrees in Texas now contain a restriction on where the children can reside. Without such a restriction, it would be possible for the parent with custody to move far away from the local area with the children so as to deny meaningful, reasonable regular visitation to the other parent. It is common for decrees to restrict the custodial parent to residence within a particular county or to residence within a particular school district. Most judges will strictly enforce a geographic restriction unless there is a real good reason not to. Perhaps the noncustodial parent is not exercising regular visitation, thereby eliminating the very reason for the geographic restriction in the first place. In that case, a court may be persuaded to eliminate or amend the geographic restriction for the children. Call me if you need to add, remove, or modify a geographic restriction in your divorce decree, or if you need to enforce a previously ordered geographic restriction for the children.
Health Insurance Issues (while the Divorce is Pending and Post-Divorce). While a divorce is pending, generally neither parent is allowed to make any changes to the health insurance coverage for either party or for the children without the consent of both of the parties. Before the divorce decree is finalized, it is very important to make sure that the Final Decree ensures that the children are provided with reasonable post-divorce health insurance coverage. In Texas, normally the parent who pays child support is also required to provide post-divorce health insurance coverage for the children.
If your spouse is not providing court-ordered health insurance for the children, then we can correct that by filing a motion to enforce the court order. If your spouse was not court-ordered to provide post-divorce health insurance for the children along with child support, then we can do something about that also by asking the Court to modify the existing court order.
If your spouse is not complying with the court order to pay his/her share of the uninsured health expenses for the children, we can do something about that also by filing a motion to enforce the court order. If it now makes sense to change which spouse will provide health insurance for the children based on which parent's employer has a better or cheaper plan for the children, we can request the Court to make that change as well.
Call me at 512-869-0131 if you are having problems with health insurance issues, either while your divorce is pending or after the divorce has been finalized.
Name Changes (for Adults and for Children). Name changes for adults are fairly simple, especially if you want to change your name back to your maiden name as part of the divorce process. Name changes for children under the age of 18 are much easier to accomplish if both biological parents agree to the proposed name change. Call me if you have questions about name changes for adults and children.
Paternity Issues. If you have doubts that you are the biological father of a child, then you should get those doubts resolved as soon as possible by participating in DNA paternity testing with the child and the child's mother. Remember, DNA paternity testing is a lot cheaper than paying child support. It will usually remove any doubts about whether you are the father of a particular child. Texas law may require that you address those concerns as part of the divorce process or forever lose the right to raise that issue. Call me if you have paternity questions.
Prenuptial Agreements/Postnuptial Agreements. Texas law allows you and a potential spouse to enter into a prenuptial agreement that will control how your property is divided in the event that the marriage later fails. Similarly, Texas law allows a husband and wife who are already married to enter into an enforceable agreement that will control how their property is divided in the event the marriage later fails. Call me if you are interested in learning more.
Spousal Support (Alimony). Texas law provides for spousal support under some circumstances, short term and long term. You can request temporary spousal support until the decree is finalized and/or post-divorce spousal support to help you get on your feet financially once the divorce is granted. Call me for details.
If you have a Divorce or Family Law problem that is not listed above, please contact me at 512-869-0131 to discuss your case. I have handled a wide variety of divorce and family law problems during my 27 year legal career. I am here to help.
Ken is a Former Williamson County Misdemeanor Prosecutor as an Assistant County Attorney in Georgetown.
Licensed to Practice Law in Texas by the Texas Supreme Court since 1984.
Serving Williamson, Travis, Bell, Burnet, Milam and other central Texas Counties.
Free Telephone Consultations. Office Consultations for Divorce and Family Law Matters for only $100, which includes up to one hour of a face-to-face discussion of your legal problem in my Georgetown office.
Payment Plans Available for most legal problems handled.
We represent clients in Divorce and Family Law Matters in County Courts at Law and District Courts in Texas.
We represent clients in Williamson County, Travis County, Bell County, Burnet County, Milam County, and other counties in Texas.
Contact our Georgetown, Texas, office for representation in Georgetown, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, Taylor, Austin, Hutto, Liberty Hill, Jarrell, Walburg, Weir, Andice, Jonah, Schwertner, Florence, Pflugerville, Fort Hood, Rockdale, Cameron, Temple, Killeen, Harker Heights, Belton, Copperas Cove, Burnet, Bertram, Elgin, Thrall, Thorndale, Salado, Bartlett, Granger, Coupland, and other cities in Central Texas.
If you have a Divorce or Family Law problem that is not listed above, please contact me at 512-869-0131 to discuss your case. I have handled a wide variety of divorce and family law problems during my 27 year legal career. I am here to help.
