Megan Rachel

In Texas, a spouse may be eligible for spousal maintenance if:

1. The other spouse has been convicted on a family violence charge;
   1. If the Court awards spousal maintenance in this situation, the Court may award such maintenance for no more than 5 years.
2. The party seeking spousal maintenance has been determined disabled and unable to maintain employment due to such disability;
   1. In this situation, the Court can order spousal maintenance for as long as the party remains disabled.
3. The party seeking spousal maintenance is unable to maintain employment because that spouse is responsible for the daily care of a mentally or physically disable child;
4. In this situation, the Court can order spousal maintenance for as long as the child is disabled.
5. The duration of the marriage is 10 years or longer and the spouse seeking maintenance lacks sufficient assets and lacks education and/or work skills.  This often will apply to a spouse who has been out of the workforce for multiple years taking care of the children and home while that other spouse has used this time to continue to advance his/her career.
   1. If the length of the marriage is between  10 and 20 years, a spouse may be eligible for spousal maintenance for up to 5 years
   2. If the length of the marriage is between 20 and 30 years, a spouse may be eligible for spousal maintenance for up to 7 years.
   3. If the length of the marriage exceeds 30 years, a spouse may be eligible for spousal maintenance up to 10 years.

The purpose of spousal maintenance in this situation is to allow a spouse time to obtain the education or necessary work skills to be able to provide for his/her minimum reasonable needs.

The maximum the paying spouse can be ordered to pay is $5,000.00 per month or 20% of their monthly gross income whichever is less.

In addition, when making the decision of whether to award spousal maintenance in this situation, the Court will takin into account the assets each party in the divorce will receive and the paying spouses ability to pay maintenance.

Contractual Alimony

Contractual alimony is spousal maintenance that has been agreed upon by the parties. The spouse receiving monthly spousal maintenance may meet the requirements set forth above, but they do not have to.  The only requirement is that the parties have agreed to the monthly payment and the length of time if will be paid.

Spousal maintenance may be enforced by contempt and the spouse who has been ordered to pay and does not pay can be held in contempt and jailed for nonpayment.

A person who fails to pay contractual alimony is subject to a breach of contract suit, but cannot be found in contempt and jailed for nonpayment.

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The term Gray Divorce relates to persons who were born between 1946 and 1971–the Baby Boomer Generation–those who are 50 or older and who are now considering divorce. A Gray Divorce is called that for obvious reasons—they are folks who are over 50 and who are literally or at least figuratively turning gray.

The whole idea of a Gray Divorce market is a surprise to some.  Many people are shocked that this demographic, in fact, has a growing divorce rate.

Part of it is that people are living longer. They hit the age of 45 or 50; they have raised their kids; the kids are out of the house; and yet they look around and think, “Oh my God, I still have maybe 30 years left of my life, and I just don’t think I can live another 30 years with this person.”

What are the advantages of a Collaborative Divorce for someone in the Gray Divorce category?

Most of the people who are going through a Gray Divorce have grown children or are the age they could have grown children. They don’t have to worry about dealing with the custody of children and dealing with the division of the assets. In a Gray Divorce, the issues are generally limited to the division of the couples’ assets and liabilities. Often, people in this category are close to retiring or already retired. A Collaborative Divorce for this category of individuals can be significantly less expensive than a traditionally litigated divorce. A Collaborative Divorce can be more economical for those who are already on a limited budget, soon to be on a limited budget or are just trying to be prudent about their money lasting for the rest of their lives.

In addition to the cost-effectiveness of a Collaborative Divorce, this process also offers privacy that a traditionally litigated case cannot. Many people contemplating a Gray Divorce have deep roots in their community, are involved in their church, have mutual friendships and business associates that they have developed over the years. These folks do not want the general public to know about their private life—it should only be THEIR business. In a traditional divorce many aspects of the case, including hearings in Court, are open to everyone.

When you handle your divorce in the Collaborative Process, it is handled privately. There are methods that Collaborative Divorce practitioners often take that can limit even more of what the public can glean from the public records. No one else has to know about the details of your divorce unless you want them to know about it.

In a Collaborative Gray Divorce, do people ever set foot in the court? 

In most divorces, one of the clients eventually does go to court but only to finalize the divorce, or what lawyers often call “the prove-up” of the divorce. That typically means that the decree which is signed by the parties is presented to the judge for his or her signature. A few questions are asked of one or both members of the couple to substantiate the elements that are required for a divorce in Texas, such as how long they have lived in Texas and in the county where the divorce is filed.

If the couple is really concerned about going to court—if they are afraid of running into someone they know, there are some courts that allow the divorce to be proved up by affidavit, so that no court appearance is ever needed.  In addition, some counties allow parties to hire a retired judge to hear the prove-up outside the courthouse. So again, there are ways you never have to set foot in court if you handle your divorce through the Collaborative Divorce process.

In addition to the above, it is important to consider that although you’re divorcing your spouse and your children are grown (if you have children), the fact is that you are going to continue to have life events with your family, mutual friends, and children, where your ex-spouse may be present. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get through a divorce in such a way that you and your former spouse (and the others in attendance) can comfortably attend family or friends’ events such as graduations, weddings, baptisms, and even funerals? If your divorce is handled through the Collaborative Divorce process, the lawyers are specially trained to help enable you to continue to enjoy these life events with one another present. You and your friends and family deserve it.

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What is an Uncontested Divorce?

An Uncontested Divorce is a divorce where one party files the divorce petition and the other party signs a waiver of service allowing for the completion of the divorce without further notice to him/her.  This means that a divorce decree may be presented to and signed by a Judge without that decree first being reviewed by or agreed to by the party signing the waiver of service.

a. An uncontested divorce is the least expensive divorce option.  However, it is not very often that a party is willing to sign a waiver of service where the right to participate in the divorce process or review and/or agree to the terms of the decree is waived.

What is an Agreed Divorce?

An Agreed Divorce is a divorce where the parties, either at the time of filing the divorce or at least prior to appearing in Court for a final trial, reach agreements on all their divorce related issues without court intervention:

a. With respect to children, it means that agreements have been reached by the parties regarding child custody and child support, including who will provide health insurance for the children and who will be responsible for any uninsured medical expenses incurred on behalf of the children.

b. With respect to the division of property, it means that agreements have been reached by the parties as to how to divide the community estate and, in addition how to divide the debts that have been incurred by the parties during the term of the marriage.

c. With respect to spousal support, it means that agreements have been reached by the parties as to whether spousal support will be paid by one party to the other, how much spousal support will paid and the length of time spousal support will be paid.

One of the benefits of an agreed divorce is that it normally costs significantly less than a contested divorce.  In addition, an agreed divorce can often be finalized sooner than a contested divorce.  Finally, the parties do not have the stress of appearing in Court and testifying.

What is a Contested Divorce?

A Contested Divorce is a divorce where the parties are unable to agree on one or more of their divorce issues.  Because there are disputed issues, the parties are required to appear in Court, introduce evidence as to what they want and why, and then ask the judge to make a decision relating to the children, to the division of property and debt, and/or to spousal support. Whether the parties disagree on one issue or multiple issues, if the parties are required to appear in court for a final resolution, the divorce is considered a contested divorce.

a. A contested divorce can take more time, can generally cost much more than an uncontested or agreed divorce and can be much more stressful and emotionally charged.

What is a Collaborative Divorce?

A Collaborative Divorce provides an alternative process to the litigated contested divorce. A Collaborative Divorce is a divorce where the parties are not in agreement as to their divorce issues but agree that they want to try and resolve their contested issues by participating in negotiation sessions that involve a collaborative team.  The collaborative team is usually comprised of their attorneys, a financial neutral and a mental health neutral.  Rather than putting their issues to the Judge for resolution, the parties have agreed that they will attempt to work together with their collaborative team to find creative solutions and reach agreements on important issues without court intervention.

a. As opposed to the litigation process, the collaborative process is all done outside of court, it is private and confidential, it is customized to parties’ particular situation and when children are involved, it is child centered.

b. It allows the parties to work together to resolve their issues and thereby maintain a positive post-divorce relationship with one another.  This can be especially important when the parties will need to continue to co-parent children after the finalization of their divorce.

Megan Rachel has extensive experience in handling all different types of divorce cases.  Whether you have an uncontested, agreed, highly contested divorce, or if you think the collaborative approach would best fit your needs, would like proceed collaboratively, I am here to help.

Contact me online or call 214-396-2048 to schedule a consultation to discuss your family law needs today.

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A prenuptial agreement is an agreement/contract entered into by two parties before marriage.

A prenuptial agreement is generally used to predetermine how assets will be divided if the marriage does not work out and the parties get divorced.

Upon marriage, a spouse usually has the following rights, unless a prenuptial agreement states differently:

• The right to share in the ownership of property acquired during marriage, with the expectation that this property will be divided in a just and equitable manner in the event of divorce.
• The right to incur debts during the marriage with the expectation that the other spouse may be required to be at least partially responsible for the payment of in the event of divorce, and
• The right to share in the control of any community property, including the right to sell it or give it away.
• A prenup lets you decide before the marriage even takes place how your property and debts should be handled both during the marriage and, if things don’t work out, upon divorce.

Who Needs a Prenuptial Agreement?

If a party has significant assets coming into the marriage, a prenuptial agreement is something that should at least be considered.  However, this is not the only reason a prenuptial agreement may be important for you.  A lot of times the need for a prenuptial agreement has more to do with the unequal amounts of money each party may have at that time of their marriage rather than the overall value of the assets.  If one party makes significantly more than the other party or if one party has significantly more assets than the other, it is important to consider a prenuptial agreement.

It is important to note, that Texas is a community property state which means that under Texas law it is assumed when divorcing that everything the parties own at the time of divorce is part of the community estate.

If no prenuptial agreement has been signed, and a party files for divorce and claims that certain assets or accounts are separate property rather than community property, it is the burden of the party claiming separate property to prove that such property is in fact separate property and not community property.  This may require the party to hire one or more tracing experts to prove the claim of separate property.  This can be an expensive and laborious undertaking; possibly much more so than the cost of a prenuptial agreement.

A prenuptial agreement not only protects those assets that are in existence at the time of marriage, it can also protect future assets.

For example, if you have a 401(k) retirement account you can agree, through a prenuptial agreement, that any funds added to the account during marriage shall remain separate property funds. This is the same with any type of financial accounts.  You can agree through a prenuptial agreement that any funds added to your investment accounts or other financial accounts shall remain your separate property funds.

A prenuptial agreement can also protect each party from the debts that may be incurred by the other party during marriage.  You can each agree that whatever debts are incurred by a party during marriage shall be their debts if divorced.

What a Prenuptial Agreement Can Not Do

A prenuptial agreement cannot predetermine the custody of your children or who or how much child support will or will not be paid.

What is a Postnuptial Agreement?

If the couple does sign a prenuptial agreement before marriage, they can sign a postnuptial agreement after marriage.  A postnuptial agreement will cover the same rights and obligations as a prenuptial agreement.  The main difference between a prenuptial agreement and a postnuptial agreement is that a prenuptial agreement is created and signed by the parties before they get married and a postnuptial agreement is created and signed by the parties after they get married.