Going through a divorce is complicated enough without the mistakes and setbacks that can happen along the way. Fortunately, many of the mistakes that people make while navigating their Texas divorce cases are avoidable. Today, I share four common errors that people make during the divorce process and how you can avoid them.

Navigating your Texas divorce with the aid of an attorney is an excellent way to avoid many of the mistakes that can happen in divorce cases. However, choosing the wrong attorney to accompany you on your divorce journey can be more harmful than helpful. It is well worth it to spend time talking with friends and family about local attorneys that they might know, researching local attorneys online, and meeting with several attorneys before deciding whom you will entrust with this important legal matter. Look for someone who has considerable experience with family law, and divorce in particular. Perhaps most importantly, search out an attorney with whom you feel comfortable. The divorce process involves sharing many intimate details of your life and your marriage, so it is essential that you select someone whom you can trust.

While we’re talking about disclosing the intimate details of your life, we must also talk about another way that some people go wrong in their divorce cases. The more truthful, accurate, and complete you are in providing information to your attorney about every area of your life and your marriage, the better equipped your attorney is to help you come through your divorce to an outcome that works well for you.

In being complete, truthful, and timely in sharing information with your attorney, you help your attorney know how they can best help you. Just as importantly, you will avoid a third pitfall, the mistake of experiencing the penalties that will come your way if you omit facts, minimize painful truths, hide assets, or otherwise faibe completely honest and upfront with your attorney regarding the details of your life.

A fourth divorce faux pas that you would do well to avoid is forming expectations or making decisions about your divorce without the input of your attorney. Your attorney is the best source of knowledge about what you can reasonably expect to accomplish with your divorce. Divorce involves making many decisions, and your attorney can help you understand the potential benefits and drawbacks of each choice that you are asked to make during your divorce case based upon what they know about divorce law and the unique facts of your situation. Unfortunately, some clients insist on making decisions in their divorce cases based upon what they feel they are entitled to receive in their divorce or what their friend or family member was able to get in their divorce case. These decisions often serve to drag a divorce case on for longer than is necessary, cause additional conflict between the divorcing parties, and increase the time, money, and emotional energy that is expended on resolving the divorce case. In contrast, divorcing clients who make decisions based upon the advice of their attorneys are more likely to not only resolve their divorce case faster and with less conflict, they are more likely to be content with the outcome of the divorce, whatever that outcome looks like.

If you have questions about divorce in Texas, call Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra with your Texas divorce questions today, at (903) 753-7499.

 

Divorce is costly at any age, and statistics show that more and more older adults are divorcing. The divorce rate for people age fifty and over has doubled between 1990 and today. The average Texas divorce costs nearly sixteen thousand dollars and takes a little over a year from start to finish. While the high cost of divorce may tempt some divorcing seniors to search for a lower-cost alternative to hiring a Texas family law attorney, that is not an advisable path to take because it could cost you much more in the long run.

Older adults who are divorcing are often in a financially vulnerable position. More and more adults are nearing retirement without knowing how they will survive on the retirement accounts, social security, and other financial resources that they will have available to them once they stop working. If you are divorcing or you are thinking about divorcing, it is essential that you educate yourself about the costs associated with divorce and plan accordingly. With careful planning, you may be able to avoid some or all of the financial struggles that many who are divorcing encounter during and after their divorce.

One area where many divorcing people of all ages often encounter difficulty is in estimating what it will cost them to live separately. Before you divorce, it is critical that you have a realistic idea of what it will cost you and your spouse to maintain separate households. Researching what it will cost you to live on your own is not an easy or pleasant task, but having an accurate grasp of those numbers will help you move forward successfully as you pursue your divorce. You may have to reevaluate what it is that you need and what things you and your spouse pay for now that you could go without to enjoy greater financial stability during and after your divorce.

During your divorce, you will face decisions that affect your finances, especially when it comes to dividing assets. Some of the assets that you have, like IRAs, do not split as easily as other assets without incurring tax or other consequences. Your family law attorney may suggest that you consult with a tax professional or financial advisor during your divorce because those professionals can help you make well-informed choices about how to divide your assets between yourself and your spouse.

Both assessing what it will cost for you to live by yourself and making decisions about how to split your debts and your assets involve looking through your financial records. You’ll need to provide those records to your attorney and to other professionals like tax or financial advisors who help you with your divorce. Taking time to locate and organize all of your financial records will help you with both of the tasks mentioned above, and it will give you a good understanding of where you are at financially so that you can make plans to get to where you are going.

If you have questions about divorce in Texas, call Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra with your Texas divorce questions today, at (903) 753-7499.

 

 

 

 

Family law attorneys don’t usually get to see couples before they marry. Most often, couples work with family law attorneys as they prepare for and navigate divorce. However, family law attorneys have a unique perspective on the things that can destroy marriages. In sharing this perspective with couples who are not yet married, it’s possible that family law attorneys could help prevent some divorces.

One essential piece of advice for couples who are contemplating marriage is to talk about money. Disagreements about money rank high on lists of issues that lead to divorce, and if one or both of you are hesitant to discuss finances, it’s worth taking time to think about why. It’s also worth taking time to work through your thoughts and feelings on money to develop a unified financial strategy. It’s a good idea to explore this area of your relationship, as well as many others, with the help of a premarital counselor. A premarital counselor can help you, and your potential future spouse come to know each other in ways that will benefit you immensely once you are married, by helping you explore potentially tricky topics together in a safe environment.

The second piece of advice that I have for couples who are considering marriage is to assess whether a prenuptial agreement would be useful for them. When you explore the question of whether the two of you might benefit from a prenuptial agreement, consider that Texas is a community property state. In a Texas divorce, each spouse gets to keep what they had before the marriage, and whatever they acquired during the marriage becomes part of the “community property,” which gets divided evenly between the spouses. If you’re approaching marriage with something, such as a business, that could grow in value during the marriage, it may be wise to make a prenuptial agreement if you would not want it split in half in the event of a divorce.

If you and your spouse have reached a point at which divorce seems inevitable, my first bit of advice to you would be to divorce sooner, rather than later, if you expect to be paying alimony. This is the last year that the federal income tax deduction for alimony is available, following the enactment of 2017’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. All divorces that involve the payment of alimony that settle before the end of 2018 are grandfathered, giving the paying spouse the ability to claim a tax deduction on the alimony they pay to a former spouse. Paying spouses whose divorces settle after that date will not have access to that deduction.

The second piece of financial advice that I have for divorcing couples is to be thorough in making changes to your personal documents after your divorce is final. Make a checklist of all of the changes that you need to make, and take care of them one by one. Beneficiary designations, social security information, estate planning documents like your will and health care power of attorney, all of these and more may need attention before your affairs are entirely in order as a divorced person.

Whether you are contemplating marriage or considering divorce, a Texas family law attorney can answer your family law questions. Call Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra today, at (903) 753-7499 to schedule an initial consultation. You can also plan your consultation online by using our online contact form.

 

Divorce is not a one-size-fits-all type of legal proceeding where the divorcing spouses can fill out a few simple forms, attend a hearing, and be done with it. That’s why we urge anyone considering a divorce to avoid products and services that promise an easy, inexpensive, and fast divorce. Too many people have discovered that attempting to resolve a divorce that way can become a nightmarish experience that is complicated, costly, and lengthy. We suggest that you seek counsel from a family law attorney. Your attorney will guide you through the paperwork required for your divorce, and they will help you navigate the process of weighing your options regarding the various aspects of your divorce as you work towards a resolution of your case. The following three questions and answers are things that divorce attorneys are asked about often. Because so many divorcing Texans want to know about these topics, it’s likely that this information will be of use to you, too.

Texas divorce attorneys are often asked whether Texas courts grant no-fault divorces. The answer is yes, but there’s a catch. A couple can obtain a no-fault Texas divorce on the basis of insupportability only if both spouses agree to do so. Insupportability is the word that the Texas courts use to describe a marriage in which disputes and disagreements that cannot be resolved by the spouses have so damaged the relationship between the spouses that the animosity between them is forcing an end to their marriage. If the spouses do not agree to a divorce on the grounds of insupportability, they must choose a fault-based grounds for divorce upon which to base their complaint for divorce. The options for fault-based grounds for divorce in Texas include adultery, conviction of a felony, confinement in a mental hospital, living apart for three or more years, cruelty, and abandonment.

Prospective divorce clients sometimes ask whether they have to be a Texas resident to get a Texas divorce. The answer is yes. However, the time required to establish residency that meets the requirement for divorce is not long. One or both spouses must live in Texas for at least six months before filing for divorce. Also, one of the spouses must live in the county where they are filing for for at least ninety days before filing.

A third question that is often on the minds of Texans who are contemplating divorce is how the distribution of marital property is handled in Texas. Texas is a community property state. Most property acquired by either or both spouses during the marriage is considered part of the couple’s community property that will be divided during the divorce. If a spouse wants to exclude a specific item or asset from the couple’s community property, they must be able to prove to the court by clear and convincing evidence that they either acquired it before the marriage and kept is separate from their community property during the property or that it was given to only one of the spouses during the marriage.

If you are considering divorce, a Texas Family Law Attorney can answer any questions you may have. Call Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra today, at (903) 753-7499 to schedule an initial consultation. You can also schedule your consultation online by using our online contact form.

 

 

 

Divorce involves a separation of two lives that were joined together, and that includes separating the money and assets that a couple owns. Texas is a community property state. Everything that one or both spouses came to acquire during the marriage is considered part of the community property that gets divided in the divorce. Whether you and your soon to be former spouse settle on the issue of dividing your property or a judge decides that for you, the result will be an equitable division of the property.

As you navigate the financial discussions and decisions of your divorce, the following three financial strategies will help you come through your divorce in the best possible financial position. The first strategy is not a strategy per se. It’s a reminder and an important one at that. When listing assets or discussing money in your divorce, you are legally obligated to be one hundred percent honest. If you attempt to conceal or hide assets in any way, the penalty for being found out can cost you even more than you would gain if you had gotten away with it. This means no hiding money in offshore accounts, no giving expensive items “away” to friends or relatives, no lying about whether the oil or gas lease that you bought is productive, or anything else that is not the truth. Don’t run the risk that you could get penalized with a lopsided divorce decree or criminal charges for concealing assets.

Hiring a divorce attorney is another financially sound strategy for your Texas divorce. This seems counterintuitive because lawyer fees are an expense, but you get what you pay for regarding the expertise and efficiency with which your attorney can help you understand your financial situation in the context of your divorce. Your Texas divorce attorney will also help you understand your options are for creating a divorce settlement that is equitable in light of you and your soon to be former spouse’s priorities. Settling a divorce costs far less than litigating it, and divorcing couples who work with attorneys are well-served by the attorneys’ ability not only to communicate and help them negotiate a settlement but to create an agreement that a judge is likely to approve.

Managing debt is another good financial strategy for divorce. When you know that you are getting a divorce, do not take on new debts. Try to pay off some of your smaller or higher interest debts during the divorce process. It’s true that apportioning responsibility for paying marital debts is part of your property settlement, which must have the overall result of being equitable.  However, the after-effect of what appeared to be an equitable division of debt may not work out as planned. If your soon to be former spouse gets assigned responsibility for a debt as part of the divorce decree and they fail to pay it; the creditor may try to collect payment from you. In contrast, paying off debts before the divorce ensures that they are gone forever.

A Texas Family Law Attorney can guide you in understanding your options for dividing your property and in all matters regarding your divorce. Call (903) 753-7499 today, to set up a consultation with Texas Family Law Attorney Alex Tyra. Alternatively, visit our web page anytime and submit an online contact form.