Family Law

Divorcing as a business owner Many divorces will involve very complicated legal issues. One of the complicated issues can be figuring out how a spouse’s business entity will be valued and divided in a Final Decree of Divorce. There are several business entities,...

The Supreme Court's Ruling On Same-Sex Marriage: Obergefell et al. v. Hodges, Director, Ohio, Dept. of Health On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down the controversial decision requiring States to allow the marriage of same-sex couples and...

Texas Raises the Child Support Cap Guidelines are used in Texas to help courts determine what a parent's child support obligation will be. There may be reasons for varying from the guidelines, but most family cases end up using these guidelines to establish the...

Fraud on the "Community Estate": A spouse commits "fraud on the community estate" when they act with misconduct and waste assets without the other spouse's permission. Examples of this misconduct include: draining bank accounts and going on spending sprees to deprive...

Legislative Update 2011 - Family Law New Family Suit and Divorce Laws Spousal Maintenance (Spousal Support) Eligibility: The Family Code now provides that the court may order spousal maintenance if the spouse needing support lacks sufficient property at the time of...

Can I refuse my ex-spouse visitation if he or she is behind on their child support payments? No, visitation cannot be contingent on the payment of child support. Even if your ex-spouse is behind on their child support payments, it is a violation of the court order to...

Texas Bar Journal October 2010; Vol. 73, No. 9 The Constitutional Rights of Children By: Barbara J. Elias-Perciful Article Summary The United States Supreme Court has long recognized that children are protected by the Constitution. Two important constitutional rights...

Family Law By Jack W. Marr and Warrant Cole Family Law Updates Summary The Texas Legislative Session of 2009, with the help of Texas family lawyers, have made some important changes to family law. The majority of the State Bar Family Law Section's proposed legislation...