Category: Divorce

Categories
Divorce Frequently Asked Questions

Preparing for a Texas Divorce Consultation

Are you getting ready to speak with an attorney regarding a divorce in Texas?  Often, I find that potential clients who come into my office are unsure of how to prepare for such a consultation or even what questions to ask in a consultation.  A little bit of preparation goes a long way in helping you to determine if the attorney sitting across the table is the right one for you.

Scheduling the Divorce Consultation

For our purposes, let’s assume you have found one or more attorneys you wish to meet with regarding filing for divorce in Houston or a surrounding county.  When you call the attorney’s office, you may speak with a staff member or the attorney themselves.  This often depends on the practice in that particular office or the availability of the attorney at that moment.  If you happen to reach the attorney during your phone call, keep in mind that they are usually very busy at that time.  While most attorneys are happy to answer basic questions about themselves during that call, it is best to reserve questions about your case or Texas divorce law in general for your consultation.

Also, keep in mind that attorneys generally keep normal business hours.  For most law offices in Houston, it is normal to maintain business hours Monday through Friday from around 8:00am to 5:00pm.  If you also happen to work normal business hours, be prepared to either take some time off from your job to visit with the attorney or try to schedule a consultation during your lunch hour.  I often meet with clients during their lunch time, as many of my clients work in the Galleria area of Houston, which is where my office is located.

Also, you may want to ask about directions to the office, as well as information about parking.  For example, is there a parking garage attached to the office building?  Is the parking free, or is there a fee?  How much should you expect to pay for parking, and should you bring cash for parking instead of relying on the garage attendant accepting credit cards?  All of this may sound basic, but it will assist you in making the appointment move as smoothly as possible.  For example, our office building has a parking garage attached to the back of the building, and the parking is free.

Finally, you will need to know whether the attorney charges for a consultation or whether it will be free.  Sometimes, it will depend on the purpose of the consultation.

Preparing for the Divorce Consultation

Many attorneys will ask you to complete one or more forms before you arrive for the consultation.  This assists the attorney in maximizing the amount of time the attorney has with you to answer your questions and tell you about the process of obtaining a divorce in Texas.  You may also be asked to bring a number of documents with you.  Such documents may include the following:

  • Income tax returns for you and your spouse for the last two years
  • Paycheck stubs for you and your spouse for the last three pay periods
  • If you have been served with a divorce petition, a copy of all paperwork served on you
  • If you have received an e-mail or letter from your spouse’s attorney, a copy of that correspondence

In addition, the attorney needs to know what your goals for the divorce may be.  That can be a difficult question to answer, particularly because you may be unsure of what you may be entitled to under Texas law.  Don’t worry about the legal terms involved – focus more on the practical result.  Instead of coming into the consultation saying, “I want full custody of my child.”, you may instead want to advise the attorney, “I want to ensure that my child stays with me most of the time, with the other parent getting time on occasional weekends.”  That second statement tells the attorney much more than the first statement, for reasons explained in this prior blog post about “full custody”.  If need be, take notes about your goals before the consultation and bring those notes with you.

Finally, if you have specific questions you want to ask the attorney, write those down as soon as you think of them.  Please be mindful of the amount of time you have scheduled with the attorney, whether only a half-hour or an entire hour.  Make the best use of your time and stick to questions that you really need answered right away.

During the Divorce Consultation

In addition to ensuring that you bring all of your documents and notes as described above, ensure you give yourself enough time to get to the attorneys office.  An attorney’s time is valuable, as is your time.  You should expect your attorney to be ready to meet with you at the time you scheduled for your consultation.  At the same time, the attorney is going to expect you to be ready to meet with him or her once the time for the appointment has arrived.  If you are concerned that you may have difficulty finding the building, give yourself even more time to arrive and find the office.

Once you arrive, and sit down with the attorney, you will have an opportunity to ask questions about your case, about the attorney, and about the divorce process.  Obviously, potential clients often ask attorneys about their experience, or about their practice.  If you live in or near a major metropolitan area, you can often find attorneys who practice exclusively in the area of family law (which includes divorce and child custody).  It is important to know what percentage of time an attorney spends on cases similar to yours.  Retaining an attorney with 30 or 40 years of experience does little good if less than 10% of that attorney’s practice is focused on family law.  You want someone who has assisted numerous clients with issues similar to yours.

Also, you need to know how familiar the attorney is with the judges in the county in which you intend to file.  Better yet, if you have been served with a divorce petition and know which court you’re in, find out how often that attorney has practiced in front of that judge.  Judges in family law cases are given wide discretion as to how they may rule on many issues, including determining the residence of a child , possession schedules, and marital property division.  An experienced divorce attorney will be familiar with the judge and their basic philosophy about these issues.

Finally, and most importantly, you must determine for yourself how comfortable you are with the attorney and whether you can trust that attorney with your case.  If you have little to no confidence in that attorney’s judgment and ability, you will not be able to take full advantage of what that attorney may have to offer.  Even if you have the best divorce attorney in the entire city, that attorney’s skills matter little if you’re not willing to accept or trust their advice.

After the Divorce Consultation

At the end of the consultation, an attorney may offer to provide you with a draft of a fee agreement to review and sign.  It is never a good idea to hire an attorney for the first time without some form of written fee agreement describing the financial arrangement.  You want to ensure you know what you will be charged for the attorney’s time and how it will be billed.  Most attorneys today bill their time on an hourly basis in six-minute (one-tenth of an hour) increments.  Fewer still may bill in fifteen minute (one quarter of an hour) increments.  Make sure you understand how you will be charged for phone calls and e-mails under such a system.  If you’re not careful, you may incur substantial fees by repeatedly calling and e-mailing your attorney every day.  Most attorneys are happy to suggest ways to keep your fees low, such as ensuring you write down your questions and concerns and then only calling or e-mailing the attorney once you have a number of those questions ready.

Also be prepared to pay a retainer (sometimes also called an “advanced fee”).  This retainer or fee is kept in the attorney’s trust account and is not earned by the attorney until they perform work on your case and issue an invoice for payment of services and expenses incurred.  If the retainer is exhausted, you will likely need to pay an additional retainer.  Some firms even require you to replenish the retainer with each invoice (also known as an “evergreen retainer”).  Ensure you understand your financial obligations before signing any fee agreements.

Finally, if you need additional time to consider whether to hire the attorney, make sure you have the attorney’s business card.  Also, make notes to yourself during the consultation or immediately after the consultation to ensure you recall your impressions of that specific attorney as well as pertinent information about their fees, experience and practice.  That will come in handy later when you’re ready to pick an attorney.

Categories
Divorce Spousal Maintenance / Alimony

Why did the Court Award Temporary Support to Your Spouse?

All too often, when I get calls from potential clients seeking a divorce, they refer to their assets in personal terms.

“That’s my car.  I purchased it with my money.”

Of course, after having a bit of a discussion with the potential client, they soon learn that when it comes to marital property laws in Texas, there is rarely such a thing as “your car” or “your money”.  Instead, once you’re married, nearly everything you acquire belongs to the community estate.  That community estate belongs to both you and your spouse.  While you may have a right to manage your earnings how you wish, you do not have a sole property right to them.

So when one person is the primary income earner for a household, they often find themselves paying for some of their spouse’s expenses while their divorce is pending.  Sometimes they may even find that the court has ordered them to make cash payments to the other spouse for certain expenses, including attorney’s fees.

Without such provisions, stay at home moms (or dads) would find themselves unable to afford to file for divorce or obtain legal representation if their spouse decided to file for divorce.  Sure, they would receive part of the community property at the end of the process when the marital estate is divided, but that doesn’t help them while the divorce is proceeding.  Instead, this provides the spouse who otherwise would have little to no access to community funds an opportunity to make ends meet and to hire an attorney.

There is, of course, a limit to this.  Courts in Texas have found that spouses are only entitled to enough temporary spousal support to meet their reasonable necessary expenses.  It is not intended to maintain a particular lifestyle, no matter how accustomed to it they have become.  It’s also irrelevant if the other spouse could afford to maintain that high level lifestyle.  The court is going to look at all sources of income (including child support) available to the spouse seeking support, as well as the reasonable necessary expenses.  If there is a shortfall, the court should only order the payment of an amount to make up the difference – nothing more, nothing less.

It is important, therefore, to hire an attorney who will scrupulously examine financial information statements submitted for hearings on such temporary orders to ensure that the expenses claimed are, in fact, reasonable and necessary.  Without a critical eye, a party might include expenses that are not at all necessary, which could pose a substantial financial burden on the spouse ordered to pay support.  On the other hand, unless a spouse asking for support is careful to put together a financial statement that is reasonable and fair, and includes all necessary expenses, they may find that they do not receive the full amount of support that they need in order to make ends meet.

Categories
Divorce Parent-Child Relationship

Do Texas Divorce Decrees Really Include “Morality Clauses”?

While reading the news yesterday morning, I came across an article in the Washington Post about the struggles that a woman in Collin County, Texas was having with her divorce decree:

A judge has ruled that a North Texas lesbian couple can’t live together because of a morality clause in one of the women’s divorce papers.

The clause is common in divorce cases in Texas and other states. It prevents a divorced parent from having a romantic partner spend the night while children are in the home. If the couple marries, they can get out from under the legal provision — but that is not an option for gay couples in Texas, where such marriages aren’t recognized.

In my experience, there is quite a bit confusion over how a morality clause works.  Generally, what we refer to as a “morality clause” is essentially a prohibition placed in a Texas divorce decree which prohibits the parent of a child from allowing another unrelated person with whom they are in a romantic relationship from being in the same household as the child between certain overnight hours, such as from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Keep in mind that few divorces are decided by judges – most couples in Texas settle their divorces by agreement.  Most morality clauses aren’t imposed upon divorcing couples by Texas judges.  Instead, they are agreed upon by the parties either through informal settlement discussions or through an alternative dispute resolution process, such as mediation.

Why would someone agree to such a clause?  For some couples with young children, there is a concern that a parent who begins to date again may want to have their new significant other spend the night while the children are present, exposing their children to elements of the relationship that the other parent may have concerns about.  Such clauses are less common where children are older at the time of the divorce.  In fact, many couples negotiate an expiration of the “morality clause” once the youngest child reaches a certain age.  The key here is that the parents are working together to determine what is best for their own children, rather than having the restriction imposed upon them by a judge.

Categories
Divorce Parent-Child Relationship

Using Social Media in Texas Family Law Cases

I recently wrapped up a long and drawn out motion for enforcement of a child support obligation in which the father was claiming that he suffered from various medical conditions and was limited in his ability to work long hours.

What that father did not know was that I searched his name on Facebook to determine whether he had a Facebook page.  Indeed, he did.  Worse yet (for him at least), substantial portions of that Facebook page were visible to the public, including me.  That meant that I could view what was happening on his Facebook page without the need to request to add him as a friend.

It didn’t end there.  Based on information my client provided me, as well as based on the father’s Facebook posts, I was able to find the Facebook page of his new girlfriend.  Much like the father, the father’s girlfriend left much of her Facebook page visible to the public and I was able to obtain photos of the father and the father’s girlfriend out and about at various clubs and events throughout Houston.

When the father reiterated that he has been told by doctors to take it easy and not work too much, he was shocked when I showed him the photographs and proceeded to ask him questions which would allow me to introduce the photographs into evidence.  Needless to say, the judge was less than pleased with this father who wasn’t being completely honest about his situation.

The lesson here is that social media is continuing to be a powerful tool in all areas of family law litigation, including child support enforcement.  As you are preparing for your divorce, what do you currently have posted on your Facebook page or on your Twitter account that your spouse can see?  What can you do about it?

First, it’s important that you do not delete anything.  Doing so could be considered spoliation of evidence and could be used against you in a trial or hearing.  Instead, the first step is to stop posting to your Facebook account, or at least don’t post anything you wouldn’t want the judge in your case to see.

The next step should be to deactivate your account, particularly if you have already posted things you don’t want a judge to see.  It won’t delete any of the data, and it won’t stop your spouse from requesting that data through the discovery process, but it will at least keep intrepid opposing attorneys from simply stumbling upon your page with a simple Facebook search.  You can always reactivate the Facebook page later when your case is finished.

We may not be able to reverse the pervasiveness of social media today, but when you’re preparing for a divorce, child custody dispute or child support enforcement, at least you can minimize the impact it could possibly have on your case.

 

Categories
Divorce Marital Property Uncategorized

Personal Injury Settlement Funds in a Divorce

One of the more confusing and misunderstood assets which may be part of the marital property division in a divorce are personal injury settlement funds.

In essence, once a spouse has received funds in a settlement (or to satisfy a judgment) stemming from a personal injury claim, those funds may be community property, separate property, or a mix of both.

Keep in mind that under the Texas Family Code, all assets owned by either spouse are deemed to be community property unless and until the spouse claiming that asset as separate property provides clear and convincing evidence that it is separate.  Therefore, absent any evidence to the contrary, all of those settlement funds will be considered community funds.

What do you need to prove to show that your personal injury settlement funds are your separate property?  Funds which can be shown by clear and convincing evidence to be payment for one or more of the following damages are considered separate property:

  • Mental Pain and Anguish
  • Physical Pain and Suffering
  • Disfigurement
  • Loss of a Spouse’s Love and Companionship

Funds for settlement of the following sources of damages, however, have been explicitly held by Texas courts to be community property:

  • Loss of earning capacity during marriage
  • Medical expenses incurred during the marriage
  • Damage to credit reputation
  • Other expenses associated with the injury to the community estate
  • Disability insurance payments and workers’ compensation benefits intended to replace earnings during the marriage

What if your settlement funds were paid in one lump sum, with various sources of damages all being paid out of one amount?  This is a very common occurrence.  When there is a lump sum settlement, it will almost certainly be characterized by a court as community property when it is intended to settle claims which include damages which are a mix of separate and community assets.

Therefore, if you are concerned that either you or your spouse may seek a divorce in the future, it is important to ensure that any settlement funds paid to you in a personal injury lawsuit are clearly segregated by the type of damages sought in your lawsuit.  Your personal injury attorney can help you structure a settlement which accomplishes this.

Categories
Divorce Marital Property

Who Are Your Beneficiaries After Your Divorce?

After a person goes through a divorce in Texas, they should have a task list of matters that must be handled soon after the divorce is completed.  Some are obvious, such as removing a spouse from bank accounts, changing names on deeds or titles, or perhaps even changing their own name immediately after the divorce.  An often forgotten task that should be on that list, however, is changing the beneficiaries on various insurance policies, retirement accounts and bank accounts.

Many newly divorced people (and sometimes even their attorneys) mistakenly rely on Texas law to protect them in this circumstance.  Someone might tell you, “It’s okay – Texas law prohibits your ex-spouse from being a beneficiary unless you re-designate them on the policy.”  That statement, however, doesn’t tell the whole story.

Section 9.301 and 9.302 of the Texas Family Code describes the effect of divorce on a life insurance policy (9.301) or a retirement or other financial plan (9.302) in the event the ex-spouse is a beneficiary.  In a nutshell, the designation is no longer effective unless you re-designate the spouse, if the spouse is a beneficiary under the divorce decree, or unless they are named as a trustee or beneficiary of a trust to which the benefits are to be paid.

Keep in mind, however, that unless the insurance company or plan administrator is advised of the divorce before benefits are paid out, your family could lose out on the ability to go after the insurance company or plan administrator for wrongfully recognizing the old beneficiary designation.  Sure, you could still go after the recipient of the funds, but that could be a much more difficult task than going after the company handling the policy or fund.

What is the lesson to be learned from this post?  First and foremost, a divorced spouse needs to review all of their retirement, insurance and other financial plans to ensure they know who the beneficiaries are and to change those beneficiaries to reflect who they wish to ultimately benefit from those plans in their event of their death.  If, however, that is not done in a timely manner, the alternate beneficiaries or the divorced spouse’s heirs need to notify the insurance company or plan administrators as soon as possible after the death of the divorced spouse in order to invoke the protections provided under the Texas Family Code.

To find out more about the effect of divorce on your insurance policy, retirement plan or other financial matters, contact our Houston divorce attorney, Bobby L. Warren, at 713-579-9702.

Categories
Divorce Marital Property Small Business

Protecting Small Businesses in a Texas Divorce

One of the more complicated property issues in any Texas divorce is how to value and account for a small business owned by one or both spouses.  Unfortunately, many business owners don’t consider the impact of a divorce on that business until it is too late.

The most common and most effective means of protecting a small business in a Texas divorce is to enter into prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements in order to clarify the rights of the spouses in regards to the business.  With a prenuptial agreement, you can make clear that the business is to remain the separate property of the spouse who owns it.  More importantly, however, the business owner spouse can also seek to eliminate the right of either spouse to claim a right of reimbursement.

As I’ve discussed elsewhere on this blog, reimbursement is a claim made in Texas divorces which allows one marital estate (such as the community estate) to claim from another marital estate (for example, the separate estate of the business owning spouse) some form of reimbursement for increased value in the separate property business due to investment in the business with community funds or, more commonly, due to some other risk or detriment the community estate suffered in order to benefit the business owner’s separate estate.  The commonly occurs where a business owner obtains a loan on behalf of the business which includes a personal guarantee.  Most personal guarantees are written in such a way where community assets are risked in the event the business cannot meet its loan obligations.  While there may be no actual loss by the community estate, it may give rise to a reimbursement claim if the value of that risk can be ascertained.

In addition, in many small businesses, all taxes owed due to the profit from the business passes through to the owners.  The owners then pay personal income tax on the income they receive from the business in lieu of the business being taxed on the profits.  It is possible, in some circumstances, for the community estate to claim a right of reimbursement for the taxes paid on that income which would have been attributable to the small business otherwise.

In all circumstances, a properly written premarital agreement could protect against such claims.

A postnuptial agreement can also assist with changing the rules regarding income from the separate property business.  Many business owners do not realize that income from their separate property is generally defined to be community property.  A properly written postnuptial agreement can change that default rule to allow all income from the separate property business to be defined as the separate property of the spouse who owns the business.

Prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements are but just a few ways in which small businesses may be protected in a Texas divorce.  If you would like more information on how you can protect your business, contact our Houston divorce attorney, Bobby L. Warren at 713-579-9702.

Categories
Child Custody Disputes Divorce Marital Property Mediation

Creative Use of Texas Temporary Orders

In my experience, temporary orders are one of the more underutilized tools available to parties going through a divorce in Texas or perhaps struggling with a child custody dispute in Texas.

In essence, temporary orders are exactly what they sound like – orders made by a Texas court on a temporary basis in order to provide some stability and predictability while a case is still pending.  When I say that such orders are “underutilized”, I don’t necessarily mean that parties don’t seek them when they should.  Instead, I mean that people don’t fully appreciate all of the options available in temporary orders.  While there are the obvious provisions concerning conservatorship, access and possession, as well as child support, there are other provisions available for use in temporary orders.

For example, temporary orders can often be used in order to cause a divorce or child custody matter to move along more quickly than it would without such orders.  In Harris County, Texas, depending on the family court you’re assigned to, it often takes several months after your filing date to receive a trial date. That trial date will likely be scheduled anywhere from 3-6 months out.  As any Houston divorce attorney will tell you, that trial date will likely be reset for another 90 to 120 days unless the parties have reached a settlement.  “Why?” you may ask.  Due to the substantial volume of cases in Harris County family courts, divorce and child custody disputes generally become backlogged, with the older cases taken up for trial before the newer ones.  The courts hope that by setting a trial date sooner, the parties will be encouraged to settle sooner.  If they do not, the court simply resets the trial date once its two week trial docket is full of the older cases.

How, then, can you as a litigant in this process, move the case along more quickly?  By proposing and entering into temporary orders with the other party, you can agree to be ordered to mediation well before the trial date.  Obviously, you will want to collect information you need in order to evaluate the marital property, as well as identify and value community assets.  Temporary orders can assist you with that task as well by establishing temporary orders which require the parties to exchange a sworn inventory and appraisement within a specified period of time (60 days is customary).  By requiring an early exchange of inventories, coupled with mediation shortly thereafter, you substantially increase the chances of settling a divorce case within a few months instead of waiting nearly a year to be called to trial.

In addition to inventories, parties can agree to exchange other documentation as part of temporary orders.  One very common set of documents ordered produced as part of temporary orders are income tax returns and paycheck stubs.  These are essential to establishing the amount of child support to be paid by the non-possessory conservator.

Finally, temporary orders can also be used to order the sale of certain assets before a divorce is final.  Most commonly, this means the sale of the marital residence.  Too often we purchase homes assuming the best case scenario – the continuation of a happy, healthy marriage.  When this plan doesn’t go as intended, my clients often find themselves with a home they cannot pay for themselves.  Selling the home is a frequent solution to this problem.  I have often drafted temporary orders which provide for the orderly and fair sale of the marital residence, with the proceeds divided up between the parties in a fair and equitable manner.

If you’re wondering whether seeking temporary orders are appropriate for your particular case, give our Houston divorce attorney, Bobby L. Warren, a call at 713-579-9702.

Categories
Divorce Marital Property

How to Prepare for a Divorce in Texas

While going through a divorce in Texas is never a completely seamless process, there are a few steps you can take in order to make the process a bit easier.

Much of the preparation for a divorce is centered on collecting documents and preparing yourself financially.  First, you should attempt to gather as many of the following documents as possible:

  • Income tax returns for the last five years
  • Income reporting statements (W-2, 1099, K-1, etc.) for both you and your spouse for the last five years
  • Paycheck stubs for both you and your spouse for the last three months
  • The three most recent statements for all debts owed by either you or your spouse
  • The most recent statement for any retirement funds (401k, IRA, etc.) owned by either you or your spouse
  • Any Social Security Administration statements for you or your spouse
  • Any deeds and closing files for any real estate owned by you or your spouse
  • Any titles for any vehicles owned by you or your spouse
  • Any appraisals of any property owned by you or your spouse

While this list is not exhaustive, it is a good starting point for evaluating the various marital estates involved in your divorce.  If you cannot obtain copies of these documents prior to filing your divorce in Texas, that is fine as well.  Most of these documents can be obtained from your spouse or from third parties once the divorce proceeding have been initiated in a Texas court.

In order to prepare yourself financially for a divorce, you should ensure you have sufficient funds to pay for attorney’s fees.  It is very difficult to judge exactly how much your divorce may cost, particularly at the very beginning.  If you anticipate a fight from your spouse from the very beginning, you should be prepared to have between $5,000 and $10,000 before filing for divorce.  This is particularly true if you have children.  If you anticipate reaching an agreement early on, $2,000 to $3,000 should be sufficient.  Also, don’t assume that you will not need more funds later on.  Begin making plans now for the possible need to pay more attorney’s fees later on.  Many of our Texas divorce clients find that having a very frank discussion about your finances with family and close friends can often lead to the financial assistance you need in order to make it through this very tough time.

Also, if you maintain a joint bank account with your spouse, open up a new checking account early on.  If you receive your paychecks from your employer by direct deposit, find out what process is required in order to redirect your paychecks to a different account.  Ensure that by the time you file for divorce in a Texas court, your paychecks are going to the new account to which your spouse has no access.

A critical mistake some parties make early on in divorces in Texas is leaving their spouse with absolutely no funds in joint bank accounts.  Generally, you should only take from the account what you will need in order to meet your immediate financial needs, including renting a new home and paying a retainer to your attorney.  Courts do not look kindly upon parties who take all of the money and run.

If you have questions about how you can properly prepare for a divorce in Texas, just give our Houston divorce attorney, Bobby L. Warren, a call at 713-579-9702.

Categories
Attorney-Client Relations Child Custody Disputes Divorce Parent-Child Relationship

The Heavy Costs of the “Bulldog” Divorce Lawyer

Prospective clients often ask me what sort of lawyer I am:  a high conflict lawyer or a reconciling lawyer.  Of course, they don’t use those terms.  Many times, they ask if I am “aggressive” or “a bulldog”.  Ultimately, what they really want to know is whether I’m going to give them the emotional satisfaction of running their spouse through the proverbial ringer.

Such a stance, however, comes at a cost, both financially and emotionally.  An overly aggressive attorney in a Texas divorce or child custody matter can make it difficult to work out agreements or avoid the need for court appearances.  As attorneys are required to appear in court more often and to do more work to achieve a desired result, the client often finds the cost of their divorce also growing exponentially.

Can a client’s goals be accomplished without resorting to overtly aggressive tactics?  The answer is almost always, “yes.”  On a rare occasion, I come across other attorneys who are being unreasonably aggressive or may overestimate the strength of their client’s case.  Sometimes some aggression in response may help bring such a person in a Texas divorce to the negotiating table when the relative weakness of their case is exposed.  Often times, however, clients find that there is a substantial benefit to working with the other side, collecting information in an efficient and cost-effective manner and making realistic demands of the other side.  In the end, their case takes far less time and the amount spent on attorney’s fees is much lower.

More importantly, however, taking an aggressive stance in a divorce when it is not called for can leave an emotional toll on the parties involved, as well as their children.  Spouses in a divorce often forget that their children can sense when there is conflict between their parents.  This can cause children to perform poorly in school, misbehave or develop social issues which may impact them for many years.  Resolving Texas divorces and Texas child custody conflicts quickly and amicably can minimize the emotional impact on children and the parties involved.

If you are seeking a Houston divorce attorney or Houston child custody attorney who takes a reasoned and balanced approach to such cases, give our attorney, Bobby L. Warren, a call at 713-579-9702.