Kelly McClure, Author at Texas Divorce Attorney Blog

Texas Appeals Court Denies Grandmother Standing in Custody Case

Published on: March 13, 2022 | by Kelly McClure

judge-and-gavel-in-courtroom-171096040-583b48533df78c6f6af9f0e3-300x225 A fit parent generally has the right to determine who has access to the child. In some cases, however, people other than the parents may seek visitation or even custody of the child. When someone other than a parent seeks rights in a Texas case, they must meet certain conditions. In a recent case, a mother challenged a court’s orders granting possession and access to the child’s paternal grandmother.

According to the appeals court’s opinion, the trial court appointed the parents joint managing conservators and gave the father the exclusive right to determine the child’s primary residence. The teenage parents and child lived with the paternal grandmother for about two years. Several months after the father went to prison, the mother and child moved out.

Mother Files Suit; Grandmother Intervenes

The mother petitioned for modification, seeking sole managing conservatorship. The grandmother filed a petition in intervention, asking to be named joint managing conservator with the right to determine the child’s primary residence or possession and access in the alternative.

Credibility and Evidence in Texas Child-Support Modification Proceeding

Published on: February 27, 2022 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-483611874-300x200 A modification of Texas child support requires the parent seeking the modification to show there has been a material and substantial change in circumstances since the current order was rendered. Tex. Fam. Code § 156.401. A change in income may be a material and substantial change. A court’s primary consideration should be the child’s best interest.

A father recently appealed the denial of his petition for modification of child support.

The parties divorced in 2018. The father agreed to pay $2,000 in monthly child support, to provide health insurance, to make monthly payments for a credit card balance that had been used for his business, and to pay the mother $50,000 in $1,500 monthly payments for her community interest in the business.

Enforcement of High Net Worth Texas Divorce

Published on: February 20, 2022 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-1139699594-300x200 When a couple has complex and high-value assets, the actions required to achieve the property division may drag out long after their Texas divorce. The parties may need to refinance or liquidate certain assets. These ongoing transactions can result in additional disputes and possibly enforcement actions by one or sometimes both parties.

A husband recently challenged a court’s order in favor of the wife in dualling enforcement motions. The trial court entered an Agreed Final Decree of Divorce in March 2019. The decree awarded the wife a business, but required her to pay the husband a $770,000 equalization judgment secured by her primary residence and rental properties. She was also ordered to make monthly payments with 3% interest starting in February 2019. She defaulted in 2020, triggering an acceleration clause.

The decree also addressed the parties’ 2017 tax return and liability. The wife would pay $60,000 of the approximate $199,000 liability and any penalties and interest “arising solely out of the failure to previously make the $60,000 payment to the Internal Revenue Service.” The parties would split the remaining tax liability, penalties, and interest equally. The wife consented to filing the tax return in June of 2019, but the husband asked to review certain documents before he consented. There was evidence he received the documents in the summer of 2020 and notified the wife and accountant he had identified additional medical expenses within a week of receipt. He ultimately gave his consent to file the day before the enforcement hearing.

Ex-Wife Entitled to Ongoing Interest in Ex-Husband’s Defined Benefit Retirement Plan

Published on: January 31, 2022 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-1187184203-300x200 Retirement benefits are often subject to property division in a Texas divorce. In some cases, calculating the community interest is straight forward; however, in other cases, it can be somewhat more complex. In a recent case, a former wife challenged a trial court’s handling of the former husband’s retirement benefits after it concluded she had already received all of the benefits to which she was entitled.

The parties had been married 22 years when they divorced. The wife was awarded 50% of the husband’s Civil Service Retirement Benefits accrued as of the date of the decree’s entry. The trial court signed a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (“QDRO”) authorizing payment of an interest in the husband’s monthly annuity payments to the wife and stating that she was entitled to a survivor annuity.

Trial Court Enters Original QDRO

The parties began receiving the monthly annuity payments pursuant to the QDRO after the husband retired at the end of 2011. In March 2016, the husband moved to vacate the QDRO, arguing the wife was not entitled to a survivor’s benefit under the decree but a premium was being deducted from his monthly benefit. He asked the court to amend the QDRO to match the property division in the divorce decree.

Right to Attorney and Right Against Self-Incrimination in Texas Custody Enforcement Action

Published on: January 19, 2022 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-1139699594-300x200 When a parent in a Texas custody case fails to comply with a court order, the other parent may petition for enforcement of the court order. The parent seeking enforcement may pursue an order of contempt, which can result in six months’ jail time, a fine of $500 per violation, or both. A father recently appealed a contempt order against him, arguing in part that the trial court failed to inform him of his rights to an attorney and against self-incrimination.

Mother Files Enforcement Action Against Father

Several months after the divorce, each party filed an enforcement petition alleging the other violated the decree. The mother asked the court to hold the father in contempt, incarcerate him for up to 180 days, put him on community supervision for 10 years, order him to pay a $500 fine for each violation, and award her attorney’s fees. She alleged he failed to provide documents needed to file tax returns, failed to sign documents to transfer property, and repeatedly interfered with her possession of the child.

A flight delay had resulted in the mother losing two days of possession. The other incidents were related to a disagreement regarding the exchange of possession. Under the decree, the father was required to surrender the child to the mother at the daycare or school, in the parking lot of a specified grocery store if the daycare or school was closed. The decree further permitted each party to “designate any competent adult to pick up and return the child. . .” and required either the party or a designated adult to be present for the drop off.

Texas Appeals Court Denies New Trial and Affirms Disproportionate Division in Default Divorce

Published on: January 5, 2022 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-545456068-300x184 A court may proceed with a Texas divorce case even if a party does not appear for the trial. In some cases, a party who fails to respond to divorce papers or appear at trial may be entitled to a new trial, but they must meet certain requirements. In a recent case, a husband appealed the denial of a new trial and challenged the property division in a default divorce.

According to the appeals court’s opinion, the parties lived in the husband’s home in Texas after their marriage in Nigeria. The husband bought a home in New Hampshire and moved there in 2017. The wife petitioned for divorce in 2018.

The trial court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the husband from interfering with the wife’s health insurance, but he informed the insurer they were divorced while the divorce was pending. The wife’s coverage was cancelled. The wife had to pay $7,500 for medical expenses that the insurer had approved before cancellation. The trial court also prohibited the husband from terminating utility services, but the wife alleged he had them disconnected repeatedly.

Valuation and Separate Property in Texas Divorce

Published on: December 27, 2021 | by Kelly McClure

property-division-300x110 Courts must divide community property in a “just and right” manner in Texas divorce cases. The property division does not have to be mathematically equal, but should be equitable to both parties. To achieve a just and right division, the court needs evidence of the value of the assets before it. In a recent case, a husband challenged a property division, arguing the court had divested him of his separate property and did not have sufficient evidence to fairly divide the community estate.

The husband petitioned for divorce in 2017. His petition stated there was no community property to be divided.

The wife asked for a disproportionate share of the community estate, her own separate property, and reimbursement for community funds she alleged the husband used for the benefit of his separate property.

Texas Court Denies Child-Support Increase Despite Father’s Tenfold Salary Increase

Published on: December 19, 2021 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-848796670-300x200 In some Texas custody cases, parents may agree to a support order that differs from the child-support guidelines. A Texas appeals court recently considered what evidence was necessary to support a modification when the father’s income had increased significantly since the agreed order.

The trial court issued an agreed order in 2013 following a mediated settlement agreement between the parties. The parties agreed the father’s child support would be $1,000 per month, because he would pay all of the travel costs when the mother moved to Virginia (which she did shortly after the agreement).

In 2017, the mother sought an increase in child support by filing a modification suit. Since the original agreed order, the father’s income had increased dramatically. The trial court ordered an increased monthly payment, but the appeals court reversed the order and remanded for a new trial, finding insufficient evidence supporting the amount ordered.

Evidence of Separate Property in Texas Divorce Cases

Published on: November 29, 2021 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-1214358087-300x169 Texas law presumes that property possessed by a spouse during or on dissolution of the marriage is community property. Tex. Fam. Code § 3.003. The presumption can only be rebutted by clear-and-convincing evidence the property is separate. In a recent case, a husband challenged the characterization and distribution of property in his divorce.

The parties got married in 2008 and separated in 2018. The wife moved into her own apartment and filed for divorce in March 2018.

The wife submitted an inventory and appraisement, a copy of her student-loan activity, and a proposed property division. The husband also submitted an inventory and appraisement, as well as account statements and receipts.

Is it Possible to Keep Your 401(k) in Your Divorce?

Published on: November 25, 2021 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-654702696-300x200 One asset that many Texans do not consider their spouse to have an interest in is their 401(k) or any other retirement fund that they have been slowly building during the course of their marriage. Having to divide up your retirement funds may throw a wrench into one’s retirement plans, but, where possible, courts often award retirement accounts to the spouse in whose name they are held. Provided the somewhat-ambiguous “just and right” standard is met, Texas divorce courts have wide discretion to divide up individual assets as they see fit. This may involve splitting each asset, such as 401(k), and dividing the funds therein between the spouses. However, more commonly, courts attempt to award whole assets to either party to avoid an overly complicated, and perhaps unnecessary, division of property.

With this in mind, it is important to focus aspects of your case at trial on why the court should award your 401(k) to you. Factors such as your role in contributing to it, your need for future support, the value of assets in your spouse’s control, your and your spouse’s relevant incomes, which spouse is appointed primary conservator of their children (if any), and many others can be useful to craft a compelling case to keep your 401(k) plan (or any other asset).

In addition, you can sometimes increase the likelihood that you keep your 401(k) post-divorce by entering into a settlement agreement with your spouse. In Texas, spouses are free to enter into settlement agreements to resolve one or more aspects of their divorce, such as the division of their community estate. Settlement is an important process in a Texas divorce, because it can often be the best way to ensure that you retain your hard-earned nest egg and any other assets that you consider important.