The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents anyone from being “compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” A party in a Texas civil case can “plead the Fifth” during discovery to avoid answering questions in a deposition if the party reasonably believes the answer might…
In Texas custody cases, the best interest of the child is to be the primary consideration. In Texas, courts may consider a variety of factors in determining what is in the child’s best interest. These factors include the child’s desires, the child’s current and future physical and emotional needs, any…
Enforcing a child support order against a person who fails or refuses to pay can become time-consuming and expensive. Texas family law provides multiple options for enforcing a child support order. It also allows a person enforcing a child support order to recover reasonable attorney’s fees and costs if the…
Texas recognizes common law marriages. To have a common law marriage, the parties must have agreed to be married, must have lived together as spouses after that agreement, and presented themselves as married. When most people think of common law marriages, they consider couples who were never formally married. However,…
A Texas court generally cannot modify a custody order or parenting plan unless there has been a material and substantial change in circumstances. Sometimes, a parent may seek modification because the other parent’s actions have created a change in circumstances. Texas law provides examples of potential material changes, including marriage…
Property possessed by either party at the time of a Texas divorce is presumed to be community property. To show that property was instead separate, the presumption must be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence. If the assets were not maintained separately from community assets, they must be traced back…
In Texas, an informal or common law marriage can occur if the couple executed an informal marriage agreement pursuant to Texas law or agreed to be married and subsequently lived together as married in Texas and represented to others that they were married. A Texas court recently found that a…
A spouse who improperly spends large amounts of community assets without the other spouse’s knowledge or consent may receive a smaller share of the remaining community estate during a Texas divorce. A Texas appeals court recently considered whether a property division was just and right after the trial court found…
The court in a Texas divorce case must divide property in a just and right way. This does not necessarily mean that property is divided equally between the parties, but the division must be just. What happens, though, when only one party participates in the divorce proceedings? A Texas appeals…
In Texas divorces, it is common for the parties to agree to a property division and ask the court to approve the agreement and include it in the decree. Once the court does so, it generally may not modify or alter the property division included in the agreement. It may,…