The Texas Family Code provides that children 12 and over can communicate directly to a judge relating to his/her preference on where they want to live. However, the judge ultimately decides whether it is in the child’s best interest to change the primary residence of the child based on his/her preference. A number of factors…
Child custody issues impact many families, but many parents may not understand how Texas courts make child custody decisions. Courts may evaluate each parent’s capacity to care for the child under the circumstances, but the focus of their decision isn’t on the parents so much as on the child. In general, child custody decisions are…
How to Establish Paternity Texas law now refers to paternity as parentage. When a child is born to an unmarried woman, typically either the mother or father of the child has to file a paternity/parentage action in order to establish that the father of the child is indeed the actual biological father. Oftentimes a mother…
What it Takes to Get a New Trial Granted After a Default Judgment is Entered. You have been served with a petition for divorce and it states you have to file an answer by 10:00 a.m. on the Monday next after the expiration of 20 days. However, you have been working things out with your…
INTRODUCTION TO VISITATION RIGHTS IN TEXAS After a child’s conservators have been appointed, those conservators must be allocated visitation rights with the child. The Texas Family Code provides for a standard possession order that allocates visitation rights between the two conservators. For children three years of age and older, a standard possession order is presumed…
9 Documents that need Changing After Divorce With the elation that you have a final divorce decree and you no longer have to go to court or deal with that dastardly lawyer anymore, many people will go on about their business. In reality, there are some “post-game” tasks that need to be dealt with and…
Facebook Twitter Google Plus Embed Supreme Court: Gay Couples Have Right to Marry 10:31 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in favor of an Alabama woman who sought legal custody after splitting up with her same-sex partner. The case required the court to interpret the Constitution’s dictate that every state must give “full faith and…
Addressing Issues for Same-Sex Divorces in Texas The Supreme Court decision authorized Same-Sex Marriage for all citizens in the United States. Same-sex couples who married earlier in another state that allows same-sex marriage and who are now Texas citizens may seek a divorce. The State of Texas now may modify divorce jurisdiction over a same-sex…
