May I Withhold Visitation because my Spouse will not pay child support?

No. Not ever. If you withhold visitation because a spouse will not pay his or her child support, you are taking the law into your own hands and may be held in contempt of court.

No. Not ever. For the same reasons as in question one above, if you withhold child support because a spouse will not allow you to exercise your visitation you are taking the law into your own hands and may be held in contempt of court.

An action for dissolution of marriage, or a divorce, is a lawsuit brought by one spouse against the other.  It starts by filing a Original Petition for Divorce. A petition is nothing more than a letter drafted and couched in legal terms written to the court telling the court what that person wants.  A petition is answered by either Original Answer or Answer and Counter-Petition.  Similar to the Original Petition, the Answer or Counter-Petition is a document which tells the Court what that person wants.

The person who brings the case first gets to talk first. Some lawyers swear that there is an advantage to being first. Others say it doesn’t really matter. There is no negative connotation attributable to the spouse who brings the action or to the person who responds to the action. However, as one lawyer said,  "first impression are lasting impressions."

If family violence has been a part of your life, you need to take action. It is more credible for a victim of family violence to bring the action first.

Nearly all of them.  It is the policy of the State of Texas that parties are to try and resolve their conflicts without court intervention other than granting the divorce.  The Texas Family Code requires that each party sign an Alternative Dispute Resolution clause attached to their initial pleading.  

The problem with settlement is that it usually takes significant legal action to bring the parties to a mutually agreeable resolution. It is like two boys in the school yard. After they both knock each other down, one says to the other “have you had enough.” The other replies, “if you have.”  It is unfortunate that it has to be this way, but it is very often true.

An uncontested divorce, also known as an agreed divorce, means that the parties will resolve all issues between them without significant court or lawyer participation.  The lawyer’s role in this type of case is limited to filing the petition and drafting a final decree of divorce. In the most basic of divorces (no property and no children), the following documents are required: Original Petition for Divorce, Alternative Dispute Statements, Waiver of Citation, Final Decree of Divorce, State Information Sheet. If you own a home, add Special Warranty Deed to the list. If you have IRAs or 401(k)s, add Qualified Domestic Relationship Order for each retirement account to the list. If you have children, add visitation provisions, insurance provisions, and child support provisions to the divorce decree. In addition, with children add Wage Withholding Order, and Medical Support Order to the document list.

Yes. Only the judge can grant the divorce. Once all the documents are in order, one of the parties will sign off on the divorce decree and the other party will go before the judge to “prove up” the divorce. The lawyer will ask you a number of questions which mostly require only a yes or no answer.  The actual hearing takes only about 4 minutes. The time spent waiting for your turn, can be as long as 2 hours (usually about an hour, however).

A minimum of 60 days. Texas law requires that the couple wait 60 days before the Court can grant a divorce. This is known as the cooling off period. It is the policy of the State of Texas that parties are to remain married. The 60 day period is about giving the parties an opportunity to reconcile.

No. Texas is a no-fault divorce state. We simply plead, “conflict of personalities that destroy the legitimate ends of the marital relationship.”  No spouse has to “give” the other spouse a divorce anymore. There is some discussion in the legislature about doing away with the no fault divorce.

All property is community property unless proven to be separate property by clear and convincing evidence. The division is that which is just and right in accordance with the courts ruling. Generally, you are looking at ½ each absent some circumstance that indicates otherwise. For example, a number of different factors such as unequal earning power, extent of separate property, and fault in the marital relationship can effect the division. There is a reported case where a 90 –10% split was deemed a just and right division. This case was upheld at the appellate level.

Texas disapproves of alimony. Yes, you can get alimony if you qualify. There are a number of factors involved and it is only awarded for a limited amount of time.

The Texas Rules of Lawyer Discipline Rule 1.04 outlines the factors involved with attorney's fees. Fees are be based upon the time and labor expended, the complexities of the issues involved, the degree of difficulty of the matter, the results achieved, the County of venue for the divorce, and any extraordinary time or demands placed upon an attorney which would prevent an attorney from representing other clients.