Austin Texas Family Law Blog

When people decided to get divorced in Texas, they may understandably worry about how contentious the process will be. The reality is that divorce does not have to be a hostile event if both spouses are willing to take advantage of mediation, a process by which they can negotiate in a fair manner. However, for mediation to work, it is paramount that the two spouses are willing to try to resolve their differences together.

Mediation is a process where two divorcing individuals work with a mediator who is neutral. The goal of mediation is to mitigate conflict while still allowing both parties to communicate their priorities and concerns. For instance, they can discuss their wishes regarding matters such as child custody, visitation, asset distribution and alimony.

The process of getting divorced can take a toll on the children. How they react to the divorce process ultimately depends on their personalities as well as how the divorce proceedings unfold. Here are some tips for helping to keep children as unscathed as possible by a divorce in Texas.

First, it make sense to tell the kids what's going on before the divorce proceedings begin. Waiting until the divorce has been finalized may not give the children adequate time to process the changes they will be going through before they make the transition to post-divorce life. A child psychologist or family therapist may be able to offer guidance on the best way to address this with the children.

Dissolving a marriage can have a drastic impact on a person's finances no matter what his or her net worth may be. For this reason, it is imperative that people who are contemplating divorce have a good idea about what will happen to their assets during the marital dissolution process. Here is a glimpse at what they can expect during the divorce process in Texas.

The marital estate of a couple includes assets such as real estate, investments, debts and cars that the two parties accumulated while married. Because Texas is a community property state, all of these assets and debts must be divided equally during the divorce process -- or 50/50. Only a handful of states following this property division principle, whereas most states divide marital property in a manner that a judge considers to be equitable, or fair. In these other states, the division of property may not necessarily be down the middle.

With the holidays in the rearview mirror now, many individuals in Texas are already making plans for the new year. For some of these individuals, getting a divorce is at the top of the list. It is for this reason that January is often called Divorce Month among legal experts.

The first part of January is especially a popular time for new divorce filings. In fact, research shows that the subject of divorce ended up peaking between Jan. 6 and Jan. 12 of 2018. In addition, on the social media site of Pinterest, searches related to divorce parties increased about 21% on average between December and January of 2019.