League City Family Lawyers

Our Family Law Practice

Family legal issues include a wide range of relationships and subject matters. You can be considering a divorce and wonder about how your marital property will be divided. Or perhaps you share children and want to understand your parental legal rights. 

The League City family lawyers at The Larson Law Office have extensive experience in just about every aspect of Texas family law, including the following:

• Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements,
• Contested and uncontested divorce,
• Dividing marital property,
• Identifying separate property,
• Same-sex divorce,
• Military divorce,
• Common law marriage issues,
• Child support,
• Child custody,
• Visitation,
• Negotiations, and
• Modifications of prior court orders.

We have experience in these and other Texas family legal issues. 

Texas Divorce Basics

Texas divorce law is complicated. You may have marital property to divide and child custody issues. You may want to negotiate a resolution to your case or need help with mediation. Consulting with family lawyers who serve League City, TX, can help you best navigate the Texas family legal system.

Preliminary Divorce Requirements

There are many procedural and legal requirements you must meet to file for divorce properly. For example, you or your spouse must reside in Texas for at least six months prior to filing for a divorce and at least three months in the county where you file. 

Additionally, you must have a legal reason or ground for divorce. In Texas, you have options to choose from. You can choose a no-fault divorce, where neither spouse is blamed for the breakdown of the marriage. The no-fault ground for divorce in Texas is called “insupportability.”

You can also select a fault-based reason for divorce, where one party is alleged to be at fault for the marriage’s demise. Texas fault-based grounds include the following:

• Cruelty,
• Adultery,
• Conviction of a felony,
• Abandonment for one year or more,
• Living apart for three years, and
• Confinement to a mental hospital.

You must prove the reason in court if you select fault-based grounds for your divorce. However, there is a payoff for the trouble you’d go through to prove your allegations. For instance, you could be awarded a greater share of the marital property if you are successful. A family lawyer can help you determine if your circumstances fit within a fault or no-fault grounds for divorce. 

How Long Will My Divorce Take?

One of the most common questions our League City family lawyers get is how long a divorce takes. Unfortunately, there is no single answer to this question. How long a divorce takes depends on how quickly the spouses can resolve the major issues of the divorce—such as the division of marital property and child custody. 

In an uncontested divorce, the spouses largely agree on these issues. These cases can resolve relatively quickly, although you should still seek counsel to help with negotiating your final divorce agreement.

A contested divorce, however, could take significantly longer. In this situation, the spouses don’t agree on one or more issues in the divorce. If you cannot or will not agree, you could have to go through mediation, extensive discovery, depositions, and multiple court appearances—and you might ultimately have to go to trial to let a judge decide on contested issues. 

Legal Issues Affecting Children

When you share children, you could face several different legal issues. These are some of the most sensitive issues within the legal system because they impact a parent’s relationship with their kids. They can include custody, paternity, child support, or visitation. Our family lawyers have an in-depth background in all of these matters. 

Child Custody 

Texas law doesn’t use the term “custody.” Instead, it refers to conservatorship. In a conservatorship proceeding, parents split the ability to make decisions affecting the child’s life and create a schedule for when each parent has the child. Parents may generally agree on these issues, or there may be complexities, such as a history of abuse. An attorney can help you fight for what’s best for your child and help resolve your case, whether it be through negotiations or litigation.

Child Support

Regardless of whether they’re married, each parent has a duty to support their children. A child support obligation in Texas is largely based on the income of the parents and where the child primarily lives. Although you can use the Attorney General’s child support calculator to estimate payments, you’d benefit from discussing your situation with an attorney to ensure that you can truly cover your family’s expenses and thrive. 

Modifications of Family Court Orders

Families change over time. Children grow up, former spouses get married to new partners, and people move. When you experience a significant change in circumstances, you may want to modify a final family court order. However, you cannot independently change a court order. You must go back to court to request to change the order and litigate the issue if the other party disagrees. 

Contact a Compassionate and Skilled League City Family Lawyer Today

At The Larson Law Office, we understand that no two families are the same; thus, no two family law cases should be handled the same way. Our compassionate and knowledgeable family lawyers serving League City, TX, strive to develop trusting relationships with our clients so that their goals and needs drive our legal strategy. We believe that personalized service results in the best possible outcome in our client’s cases. Contact our office today.