Dallas Family Law Blog

Not all marriages end on bad terms, and those individuals who can work with their exes to find agreement in the settling of their divorce-related issues may consider mediation as a way to take control of the ends of their marriages. Not all Texas couples succeed in mediation, however, and for those who prefer to divorce in a more traditional way the courts are available to qualifying individuals so that they can litigate their claims. A divorce in the courts often starts with a filing by one or both of the parties that sets out why they want to end their marriage and what they want from the process.

Not long ago the wife of actor Tom Arnold filed her divorce documentation and requested that she be awarded the physical and legal custody of their two young children. This is not an unusual move for a parent to do, but it may signal a conflict for the parting couple. This is because Arnold filed his own divorce paperwork and requested that he and his soon-to-be ex share the custody of their kids.

Couples who divorce and who share children between the partners can face many difficulties as they look for supportive ways to protect their children from the conflicts that arise from ending marriages. Even when Texas parents work together to find collaborative solutions to the issues that come during their divorces may they struggle to find appropriate balances between how they will share their kids and how they will provide for their needs. While child custody is often a focus of divorcing parents as it concerns where their kids will live, child support should also be a priority for parents to establish to ensure that their kids have financial sustenance.

In Texas child support payments are calculated based on a complex mathematical formula as well as considerations into the incomes of the children's paying parents. First, a parent who will pay child support must offer their income to the court, and from that sum certain taxes and costs may be eliminated. The resulting sum is the income on which the paying parent's child support obligation will be based.

Settling the custodial responsibilities of parents who are going through a divorce can be a major undertaking. Texas parents who choose to live separate and apart from their children's other parents can face difficulties when they are forced to balance their desires to have their children with them with the need to share their children with their former partners. When a child custody plan is finally reached parents may want to do everything that they can to avoid having to change it in the future.

However, as most people will admit, life happens and change is ever-present. A parent may discover one day that they need to move in order to keep their job or to pursue a new relationship. Their upheaval may force them and their co-parent to readdress the difficult custodial matters that they had established but now may be unworkable given the one's plans to relocate.

When it comes time for a divorcing couple to discuss how the parties will separate their shared assets it can be hard for individuals to let go of certain items they do not want to see in the hands of their exes. Whether it is the family home, a vacation property, or another asset of value that causes strife during property settlement negotiations, Texas residents fight hard for the things they want to keep after their divorces are finalized.

However, not many individuals fight to retain the debts that they accrued during their marriages. Like assets, liabilities must be divided up by individuals so that creditors are still paid despite the demise of the borrowers' martial relationship. Similarly, credit-based accounts should be managed or closed to ensure that the parties cannot harm each other's credit through the use or misuse of shared post-marital accounts.