Divorce & Family Law Attorney

You never thought you would find yourself in this situation. You may need to fight for custody of your child. You may need to file for divorce or request child support. This is always a troubled time, and navigating the legal details of these situations are tricky and often frustrating. Let a family law attorney handle your case for the peace of mind in knowing that the legal matters are handled appropriately so that you can focus on the challenges you and your family are facing.

Getting a Divorce

Divorce is the legal end to a marriage and legally separates the two spouses. Divorces are typically classified as contested (at fault) or uncontested (no-fault).

No-fault grounds for divorce, or uncontested divorce, means you and your spouse have not done something illegal to cause the divorce and you both agree that a divorce is necessary and have come to a mutual agreement. This type of divorce moves through the court quickly because many issues are resolved. In these cases, a reason for why you’re ending the marriage has to be provided to the court to document why the marriage is no longer able to continue, for example, due to personality or other issues that cannot be reconciled.

At-fault grounds for a divorce, often called contested divorce, typically means that you or your spouse was the reason the marriage ended. These are often more complex, expensive and time-consuming. In Texas, the grounds for this type of divorce are:

• Felony conviction (spouse is in prison)
• Adultery
• Domestic violence
• Abandonment
• Spouse is confined to a mental hospital

Property Division and Divorce

Unfortunately, ending a marriage is not as easy as saying vows. It involves many legal matters such as property division.

Property division involves separate and marital property. Marital property is any assets, property, and money acquired while married. It is property both you and your spouse own. Marital property does not include separate property. Separate property is income, property, and assets acquired before marriage. Often, your spouse may try to label marital property as separate property to keep it from being divided by the court. When this happens, which is all too common, you will need a skilled attorney to protect your rightful property and ensure that the divorce proceeds fairly in regard to your legal rights.

Child Custody

In Texas, child custody, or conservatorship, primarily involves two issues: where your child will live and how they will be raised. These issues are commonly called physical and legal conservatorship. A parent who has conservatorship is granted the right to make decisions regarding the child, have access to the child’s medical records and assist in making decisions about the child’s education.

Texas has two types of conservatorship: joint managing conservatorship and sole managing conservatorship. Joint managing conservatorship grants rights to make decisions about a child to both parents. The court case begins where the state presumes that both parents will receive child custody rights.

However, a judge can decide not to give parents joint conservatorship based on the legal standard of what is in the best interests of the child. A judge will consider factors such as the parents’ ability to work together and the child’s preferences if they are old enough to make an informed decision. It may also depend on any past domestic violence, drug use, and abuse.

If a judge does not grant joint managing conservatorship, one parent will receive sole managing conservatorship. Sole managing conservatorship occurs when one parent receives the right to make decisions about their child. This means they are the only parent who can make final decisions regarding the child’s:

• Primary residence
• Medical treatment
• Dental treatment
• Psychiatric and psychological treatment
• Emergency contact information
• School activity attendance
• Education

The parent who is the non-custodial parent, or parent without sole custody, is usually granted visitation. Visitation is the legal right to spend time with your child. They do not live with you on a permanent basis. The visits may be unsupervised or supervised. Supervised visitation means a third party is present during your visitation with your child. This typically happens if there is a history of domestic violence, sexual abuse or drug problems.

The court will consider a child custody arrangement made by parents. The court will consider what is in the best interest of the child and if the arrangement meets that standard. If the arrangement does meet the child’s best interest, it will become an order that both parents must abide by.

Resolving Child Support Issues

Whether you are getting a divorce, already divorced or never married, child support issues often arise when raising a child. Child support is the weekly, bi-weekly and monthly payments sent from a non-custodial parent to a custodial parent. The payments are made until the child turns 18 years old.

Child support can be legally modified at any time. It can be done via a court hearing or through a child support review process. An order can be modified in certain situations such as the loss of a job, or if it has been more than three years since the last modification or another substantial life change has occurred.

Mediation is Often an Option to Resolve Family Law Issues

Mediation occurs when you and your spouse decide to work things out without the assistance of a judge. This means you and your spouse will likely have more control over how things are resolved. However, it also takes cooperation from you and the other party. In fact, the benefits of mediation include, but are not limited to:

• Creating an agreement that is easier to follow than a court order
• Focuses on your child and other important issues
• More affordable than going to trial to decide important issues

Your Family Law Attorney in Dallas-Forth Worth

This is an emotional time for you. You want to raise your child. You may need to end your marriage, but you do not want to lose any legal rights. You have the right to obtain legal representation in Texas. In this most trying time, you need a law firm with experience in family and divorce law and who will be your legal advocate. This will allow you to focus on raising your children and moving forward with your life.

Contact Us

We have years of experience in family and divorce law. We offer a free initial consultation and payment plans are available. We invite you to contact us and talk with our team of legal professionals about your situation. You need to understand your rights and you need a lawyer who will fight for those rights for you. You need the Law Offices of David Kohm. Contact us immediately. We are available 24/7. We have many convenient office locations available. Call for an appointment today.

Arlington (817) 522-4451
Denton (940) 222-4060
Dallas (972) 362-6848
Fort Worth (817) 764-1375
Cedar Hill (972) 338-9427
McKinney (469) 522-3688
Lewisville (972) 354-4605