FAMILY LAW

A. Divorce

We seek to handle your divorce in the least contested manner possible. If contest is unavoidable, we will work to get you everything you are entitled to in accordance with the law.

THE TEXAS DIVORCE PROCESS

Texas and County Residence Requirements: To obtain a divorce in Texas at least one of the spouses must have resided in the state for at least 6 months, and in the county in which you wish to file the divorce for at least 90 days prior to the date on which we file your case.

Time Required to Obtain Divorce: The minimum length of time necessary to obtain a divorce in Texas is 60 days, from the date we open the case with the court until the date the divorce is finalized. NOTE: most divorces take longer than two months to complete. Divorces that are contested or that have children involved can often take significantly longer than 2 months. If you expect to complete your divorce within the 60-day time limit, you must be in complete agreement with your spouse concerning all issues in the case.

1. During Your Divorce

During your divorce, you may, depending on the individual circumstances of your marriage, need temporary orders for child support and child custody, orders determining which spouse is allowed the exclusive use of your residence (or residences, if you are living separately) and vehicles, and possibly orders for temporary spousal support. You may also need temporary prohibitions against certain actions, such as harassment, moving or hiding the children, hiding or disposing of assets, or making new debts. The following are available under Texas law if you need such orders:

Temporary Restraining Order: We can seek a temporary restraining order for you, effective shortly after your case is opened with the court, to prohibit your spouse from concealing or moving the children, concealing or destroying property or money, and prohibiting harassing behavior. This temporary restraining order “stops” these actions legally for a very limited time, during which we can request that the court hold a hearing to issue a longer-lasting “temporary order.”

Temporary Orders: We can obtain temporary orders so that court-ordered temporary child support and custody can begin within approximately 4 weeks after your case is opened with the court (subject to the court’s schedule of available hearings and on getting the necessary documents personally served on your spouse). These orders also include, as applicable under your individual circumstances: temporary spousal support, temporary use of residence(s) and automobiles, prohibitions against actions such as harassment, hiding or disposing of assets, and hiding or moving the children.

2. Post-Divorce Matters

We handle post-divorce matters including the following:

Enforcement of property division

Enforcement of child support

Enforcement of spousal support

Enforcement of possession of children

Enforcement of other terms and conditions of decree

Modification of terms and conditions of child support, possession or access

3. Fees and Inital Consultation; Written Contract

Fees: Our firm offers both flat fees and “time billing.” Most divorces can be completed on a “flat fee” basis, as can most post-divorce matters. However, “time billing” may apply to your case if you and your spouse own multiple real estate properties or if complex financial issues are involved that will necessarily require unusual expenditures of our time to properly represent your interests. An explanation of the fees applicable to your case will be provided to you at the initial consultation.

Contract: We handle legal matters ONLY based on a written contract. Your case is not accepted until there is a signed, written contract and payment as requested to initiate your case has been received. If you have not received a written contract signed by our firm, we have not yet agreed to represent you or take any action on your behalf.

Initial Consultation

Phone call: An attorney from our firm will discuss your case with you on the telephone with no obligation to you for 5 minutes. During this initial call no advice will be given, but we will offer you whatever general information we believe to be applicable, given your description. Our general firm phone number is: (713) 984-2566.

Initial consultation: We offer an initial limited consultation for $75.00, for 30 minutes. An explanation of the fees applicable to your case will be given to you at the initial consultation. If you retain our firm to handle your case, we will credit this fee towards the fee due, so that the consultation will be at no charge. Call (713) 984-2566 to set up an appointment for an initial consultation.

Extended initial consultation: If you desire to discuss your case with us at greater length, we offer an addition 90 minutes of consultation about the issues of your case for an additional $175.00.

B. Non-Divorce Family Law Matters