A recent Huffington Post article asked family law attorneys from across the country to share some of the most obvious signs that a couple is likely to divorce. The following were the top 8 indicators that a marriage will not last.
1. They give each other the silent treatment.
“It’s a bad sign if a couple bickers and it results in the silent treatment. Sure, fighting is healthy in a relationship but when it turns from playful to serious on a regular basis — and it ends in stonewalling — that doesn’t bode well for long-term success.
2. Their sex life is lackluster.
“This seems obvious and it is. People can go without sex, but the bottom line is that we are living creatures and sex is a natural desire.
3. They have very little in common.
“While it’s true that opposites attract, don’t assume that the qualities you fell in love with are going to keep a marriage together. For example, if someone is an extrovert and loves going out until the wee morning hours and the other spouse likes a warm bath at 7 p.m. followed by a glass of milk and a good book, there is no way the couple can sustain this lifestyle distance.”
4. Their careers always come before the family.
“It can be a problem when a partner always puts his or her career above everything else, including the relationship. This tends to be true, regardless of the agreement the couple has come to during the marriage. Even the strongest relationships decay over time when one person puts their career aspirations ahead of the relationship.”
5. They have contempt for one another.
“Eye-rolling, belittling and treating each other with disdain are key indicators that a relationship will eventually disintegrate. While spouses don’t have to always see eye-to-eye to have a happy marriage, they do have to respect each other and appreciate their differences, rather than viewing those differences as being signs that the other spouse is stupid or wrong.
6. They don’t respect each other’s love language.
“Knowing your partner’s love language — being aware of how he or she feels appreciated — is crucial for long-term success in marriage. Although spouses may love each other, they may not feel loved if they have different love languages. For instance, if one spouse shows love by doing helpful things or by buying gifts, but the other receives love through verbal affirmations, loving touch or quality time together, the love may not really be received.”
7. They’re not honest about their spending.
“A marriage is a partnership and each person should be accountable to the other for their family’s finances. When the finances are split, it’s easy for both partners to overspend. A couple can keep separate or joint bank accounts, but when there is no transparency on how money is being spent and saved, it’s nearly impossible to set and reach financial goals like buying a home or planning for retirement. It becomes a growing frustration.”
8. They never fight.
“Many spouses tend to avoid awkward situations and problems by either ‘shading the truth’ or ignoring something that has been on their mind. This leads to resentment. This person is your best friend, confidante and lover. You should be able to say anything to them. You should be able to accept one another’s comments without destroying the bonds of matrimony.
To discuss retaining Erik Larson and Diana Larson to represent you in your Texas divorce or other family law matter, contact us at The Larson Law Office at 713-221-9088.
8 Signs A Marriage Will Not Last
/in Child Custody Law, Divorce Law, Family Court /by Erik LarsonA recent Huffington Post article asked family law attorneys from across the country to share some of the most obvious signs that a couple is likely to divorce. The following were the top 8 indicators that a marriage will not last.
1. They give each other the silent treatment.
“It’s a bad sign if a couple bickers and it results in the silent treatment. Sure, fighting is healthy in a relationship but when it turns from playful to serious on a regular basis — and it ends in stonewalling — that doesn’t bode well for long-term success.
2. Their sex life is lackluster.
“This seems obvious and it is. People can go without sex, but the bottom line is that we are living creatures and sex is a natural desire.
3. They have very little in common.
“While it’s true that opposites attract, don’t assume that the qualities you fell in love with are going to keep a marriage together. For example, if someone is an extrovert and loves going out until the wee morning hours and the other spouse likes a warm bath at 7 p.m. followed by a glass of milk and a good book, there is no way the couple can sustain this lifestyle distance.”
4. Their careers always come before the family.
“It can be a problem when a partner always puts his or her career above everything else, including the relationship. This tends to be true, regardless of the agreement the couple has come to during the marriage. Even the strongest relationships decay over time when one person puts their career aspirations ahead of the relationship.”
5. They have contempt for one another.
“Eye-rolling, belittling and treating each other with disdain are key indicators that a relationship will eventually disintegrate. While spouses don’t have to always see eye-to-eye to have a happy marriage, they do have to respect each other and appreciate their differences, rather than viewing those differences as being signs that the other spouse is stupid or wrong.
6. They don’t respect each other’s love language.
“Knowing your partner’s love language — being aware of how he or she feels appreciated — is crucial for long-term success in marriage. Although spouses may love each other, they may not feel loved if they have different love languages. For instance, if one spouse shows love by doing helpful things or by buying gifts, but the other receives love through verbal affirmations, loving touch or quality time together, the love may not really be received.”
7. They’re not honest about their spending.
“A marriage is a partnership and each person should be accountable to the other for their family’s finances. When the finances are split, it’s easy for both partners to overspend. A couple can keep separate or joint bank accounts, but when there is no transparency on how money is being spent and saved, it’s nearly impossible to set and reach financial goals like buying a home or planning for retirement. It becomes a growing frustration.”
8. They never fight.
“Many spouses tend to avoid awkward situations and problems by either ‘shading the truth’ or ignoring something that has been on their mind. This leads to resentment. This person is your best friend, confidante and lover. You should be able to say anything to them. You should be able to accept one another’s comments without destroying the bonds of matrimony.
To discuss retaining Erik Larson and Diana Larson to represent you in your Texas divorce or other family law matter, contact us at The Larson Law Office at 713-221-9088.
Diana Larson and Erik Larson Receive 2017 AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell
/in Business, Child Custody Law, Divorce Law, Estate Planning Law, Family Court /by Erik LarsonThe Firm congratulates Diana Larson and Erik Larson on receiving an AV® Preeminent™ rating from Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings for 2017.
An AV® Preeminent™ Rating “is a testament to the fact a lawyer’s peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence.” This distinct achievement of professional excellence is earned through a strenuous Peer Review Rating process, which places Diana Larson and Erik Larson among the elite of fellow legal professionals.
Martindale-Hubbell has been conducting peer-review ratings for over 100 years to identify and recognize lawyers with the highest legal ability and ethical standards. Lawyers are rated by their peers — attorneys and judges — in the categories of legal knowledge, analytical capabilities, judgment, communication ability and legal experience as well as a high level of ethical standards.
10 Interesting Facts About Divorce
/in Child Custody Law, Divorce Law, Family Court /by Erik LarsonLarsons Named to Houston’s Top Family Lawyers 2016 List by H Texas Magazine
/in Divorce Law /by Erik LarsonCongratulations to Firm partners Diana Larson and Erik Larson for being selected to H Texas Magazine’s annual list of Houston’s Top Family Lawyers for 2016.
In its July 2016 issue, H Texas Magazine states that it compiles the list of Top Lawyers in Houston based on “nominations from clients and peers as well as rigorous background checks.”
To contact Diana or Erik about retaining them to represent you in your case, contact them at (713) 221-9088.
The Number One Predictor of Divorce Is…
/in Child Custody Law, Divorce Law, Family Court /by Erik LarsonAccording to a recent Harvard study, the #1 indicator of risk of divorce is whether or not the husband has a full time job.
Many issues can contribute to conflict within a marriage, including long-term sickness or disability, differences in handling money, and division of household chores.
However, according to a study recently published in the American Sociological Review, with information obtained from 6,300 married couples interviewed between 1968 and 2013, couples faced a 32% higher divorce risk when the husband was unemployed versus marriages where the husband had a full-time job and was contributing to the family’s finances.
Alexandra Killewald, the study’s author and a professor of sociology at Harvard suggested that for men a sense of identity and worth may be tied to their job, which could have a long-term impact on the health of a marriage.
“I could speculate that losing a job might bring with it depression or some other kinds of mental health issues,” Alexandra Killewald said on the Today show. This could also further explain why some marriages don’t survive this impact.
What does this mean for stay-at-home-dads? There wasn’t enough data to accurately say, but Killewald suggests that this sort of circumstance is usually pre-planned and therefore exempt from the same consequences.
Diana Larson and Erik Larson Named to 2016 Texas’ Top Rated Lawyers List by Martindale-Hubbell®
/in Business, Child Custody Law, Divorce Law, Estate Planning Law, Family Court /by Erik LarsonThe Firm congratulates both Diana Larson and Erik Larson for being selected to Texas’ Top Rated Lawyers for 2016 by Martindale-Hubbell®, ALM, and Law.com in their yearly list.
According to Martindale-Hubbell®, “To be included in the guide, lawyers must have received an AV Preeminent® rating from Martindale-Hubbell®–a prestigious ranking demonstrating that a lawyer’s peers have ranked them at the highest level of professional excellence.”
To contact Diana or Erik about representing you in your case, contact us at (713) 221-9088.
Diana Larson and Erik Larson Named to Houstonia Magazine’s Top Lawyers 2015
/in Business, Child Custody Law, Divorce Law, Estate Planning Law, Family Court /by Erik LarsonThe Firm congratulates Diana Larson and Erik Larson for their selection to Houstonia Magazine’s annual list of Top Lawyers in Houston for 2015.
To contact Diana or Erik about representing you in your case, contact us at (713) 221-9088.
Reimbursement for Child’s Health Insurance Premiums?
/in Child Custody Law, Divorce Law, Family Court /by Erik LarsonTexas child support orders often provide that the parent with visitation rights is ordered to provide a health insurance policy for the child.
However, what happens when the parent with visitation rights (NPC – non-possessory conservator) fails to obtain the health insurance policy when ordered to do so? If the possessory conservator (PC) then puts the child on the PC’s health insurance policy so that the child has health insurance, can the PC seek reimbursement of the child’s health insurance premium from the NCP? If the PC has a claim, how is this calculated?
In this example, the PC has a potential claim for reimbursement for premiums under Section 154.182 of the Texas Family Code. So, the Texas Family Code does allow the PC to seek reimbursement for the costs of insuring the child NPC failed to cover, if the NPC was ordered to obtain coverage and failed to do so.
Many times the parent stepping in to cover the child has an insurance plan that covers the entire family, regardless of how many children are covered by the policy. Does this have an effect on the PC’s potential claim? In this circumstance the PC may not have incurred any additional out of pocket expense to obtain the child’s health insurance coverage. Does the PC still have a claim for reimbursement in this situation?
In Bird v. O’Donnell, 03-04-00603, Austin 2006, the court of appeals ruled that the PC must show an increase in actual incurred cost due to adding the child to that insurance policy. The court held that there could be no reimbursement of the premiums in that case, because the premiums did not increase when the child was added to the policy. Because the premiums did not increase, there was no additional out of pocket expenses incurred by PC by adding the child to the policy.
Therefore, in these kinds of reimbursement cases under Bird v. O’Donnell, the PC has the additional burden to show that adding the child to the policy caused a specific increased out of pocket expense to the PC that was not present previously.
To speak with Diana Larson or Erik Larson about your case, call us at (713) 221-9088.
Diana Larson and Erik Larson Named to Houston’s Top Lawyers 2015
/in Business, Child Custody Law, Divorce Law, Estate Planning Law, Family Court /by Erik LarsonThe Firm congratulates Diana Larson and Erik Larson for being selected to H Texas Magazine’s annual list of Houston’s Top Lawyers for 2015.
In this issue, H Texas Magazine states that it compiled the list of 2015 Top Lawyers in Houston based on “nominations from clients and peers as well as rigorous background checks.”
To contact Diana or Erik about representing you in your case, contact us at (713) 221-9088.
What Child Custody Arrangement Benefits Kids Most in Divorce?
/in Child Custody Law, Divorce Law, Family Court /by Erik LarsonIn almost every divorce or custody case, parents worry about the children’s emotional health during visitation with the other parent. Parents also wonder about what child custody arrangement benefits kids most in a divorce. However, a new study on custody arrangements benefiting kids, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, as well as legal consultation from an experienced family law attorney may provide valuable insight.
The study found that children of divorce are at their healthiest point emotionally and mentally when they share time with both parents after the divorce or split, rather than living with only one parent.
One of the study’s researches stated that “It was surprising that children who have two homes and move frequently report less stress symptoms than those who live in one stable home after their parent’s separation.”
In the study, the kids who lived with both of their divorced parents reported significantly fewer emotional problems and other issues than children who lived with only one parent. The study’s authors conclude that their findings “indicate that stability in the child’s parents’ relations is more important than stability in housing.”
This finding is consistent with past research which has shown that children suffer the most emotional issues when there is a high level of conflict between the parents in a divorce, rather than the fact that the parents physically separate in the divorce. The literature has shown that a high level of conflict between parents is significantly more harmful to children than the parents’ physical separation in a divorce.
When parents work to keep the level of conflict low in a divorce, this will benefit the children emotionally.
For legal assistance in Texas child custody arrangements, contact our Houston divorce firm today to schedule your complimentary case review. 713-221-9088