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Family Law |
At Shansab Law Firm, our goal is to help families and individuals meet their objectives and solve their legal issues through efficient, compassionate and aggressive representation.
In Texas, the Court cannot grant a divorce without disposing of property issues. Additionally, if children were born to or adopted during the marriage, orders concerning their conservatorship (custody) and support will be determined at the same time. In other words, it all happens at the same time in the same proceeding (for lawyers-- no bifurcation). Of course, the Court must have jurisdiction to grant a divorce, which is based on one or both parties domicile and residency in not only the State of Texas but also in the County where the action is to be filed.
The divorce process starts with the filing of a document entitled Original Petition for Divorce. This may be 2 pages or 40 pages, depending on your circumstances and the relief you request. As a general rule, you are not required to sign the petition unless you are acting as your own lawyer. Accordingly, if you want to review it before it is filed and delivered to your spouse, please let your lawyer know. The Petition is required by statutes to contain certain information and must also include certain representations by the party. For instance, if there is a premarital agreement between the parties, it should be called to the Court's--and the other side's-- attention in the first pleading.
This petition is filed with the District Clerk in most counties, and your case is assigned to a Court. Each county has one or more courts handling family cases. In Dallas, there are seven Family Law District Courts. In Ft. Worth, there are also seven. The filing of cases is random. Your lawyer cannot select the Court or the Judge. In other counties, the courts that handle divorces also handle general civil cases and also criminal cases; for instance, Collin County has eight District Courts that handle family law cases as well as the other types of cases; Denton County has six. In some smaller counties, a County Court at Law may also handle divorce and family law matters.
After processing at the Courthouse, the Original Petition for Divorce must be delivered to your spouse. The most common formal means of delivery is by having a Sheriff, Constable, or private process server hand your spouse the petition and a Citation. This is called "service." Citation is essentially a cover sheet that tells your spouse a lawsuit has been filed, and there is a limited number of days in which a response must be made. In some instances, you may wish to personally deliver or mail the papers to your spouse. However, this cannot be effectively done if you have requested a Temporary Restraining Order or a hearing, because you can not show that your spouse has been legally served with notice to be at the hearing. Additionally, if your spouse does not waive service or file an answer in Court, your delivery does not constitute effective service, and this would have to be accomplished before your case could proceed.