Anita Cowley Savage's Answers

If my wife and I got married before her divorce was finalized is our marriage valid, how do we divorce/separate in Texas

While the fact that your wife got married to you before her divorce was finalized might be considered in the child custody case, it probably will not get you the "leverage" it looks like you want. In fact, if you knew she was married and you married her anyway, that could backfire as a bad judgment call made by you as well. Who gets custody of a child is mostly dependent on factors that affect parenting itself, not necessarily any historical bad act by one parent or the other. The...

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I want to move myself and my two year old to our home state,is this possible with out anything being filed? What are my options?

The Texas legislature has clearly stated that it is in the best interests of children to have frequent and continuing contact with both parents when those parents have demonstrated that they are not a harm to the children. As a result, a "geographic restriction" is oftentimes put into place to ensure the children continue to live near the non-custodial parent (usually dad) after a divorce between mom and dad. Currently, there are no orders in place in your matter, so you technically have...

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Age child can decide what parent they want to live with.

Children can give their input on who they would prefer to live with beginning at age 12. It can generally be made through a Statement of Child Twelve Years or Older that is filed with the Court. The Court's will balance the child's requests with what is in their best interests, so what a child asks for is not necessarily always what will occur. It is a case by case determination based on the facts and circumstances of each request.

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What is the cost of a non contested divorce without kids in state of Texas

The cost of filing for a divorce varies from county to county, but it normally runs about $300. That's paid to the clerk of court in your particular county. Next, if you and your spouse know how you want to divide your property, one of you could hire an attorney to draft the documents. When the draft is done, the other spouse could take it to their own attorney to review it, to ensure that it really says what you think it does. Depending on where you live, a good family law attorney will...

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What is the cost and procedure of filing for legal separation in state of TX

The cost and procedure for filing a divorce varies slightly from county to county; however, you can expect the initial court costs to range around $300. Generally, the procedure consists of filing an Original Petition for Divorce and then having your spouse served, or receiving his or her agreement to waive service. Technically, you can be divorced 61 days after you initially file for divorce. However, most cases take much longer than 61 days, depending on the issues invovled (i.e. property...

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How long do i have to file for custody in another state?

You need to live in Texas for 6 months, and you must be a resident of the county you wish to file in for 90 days prior. Hope that helps!

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Can a custodial parent move in a new girlfriend/boyfriend without the other parent's consent?

Unless you have orders in place spelling out the terms of your custody arrangement, there is nothing to stop him from moving his girlfriend in. In fact, there is nothing to stop him from moving to another state at this point. If I can stress only one thing to you, it is this: get an order in place that spells out your parenting plan (you and he agree he has TEMPORARY primary possession for a year, you will be visiting every weekend, who will be paying for your transportation expenses, etc.)....

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My husband and I are thinking about splitting . What does Texas law say about financial support or distribution of property

Texas is a community property state and the court will "equitably" divide the marital estate depending on the circumstances of any particular case. Often, this results in a 50/50 split of community property. However, there are times when the court will consider an unequal distribution of assets, to one party's favor. Courts are also granted the power to order maintenance (commonly known as alimony), but certain factors need to be in place in order to for the court to be able to award...

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How do i get primary custody of my child.

I am not certain how you personally define "primary" custody, but I am guessing that you mean you would like to be the parent whom the child lives with on a day to day basis. Whether or not you can change primary custody depends on many factors. The most important will be whether or not your request to change custody is in the best interests of your daughter. "Best interests" is not clearly defined by statute and will vary from case to case. Another factor to consider is how long it has...

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Divorce and division of separate and community property

Margery is right - you don't need a real estate attorney to handle this. What you do need is an attorney who is knowledgable in civil litigation matters generally and family law knowledge will likely be helpful in this instance because, while the divorce "rules" don't necessarily apply since you are not married, they can be a good place to look to determine fairness and equity. Hope that helps!

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