Texas courts give all divorcing couples the opportunity to decide on the terms of their divorce themselves, such as child custody, property division, and other critical matters. When a couple cannot agree on these terms, however, the court must step in to assess the couple's circumstances and decide on the terms for them. This is known as a contested divorce in Texas.

In an uncontested divorce, the spouses do all of the decision-making themselves without the court intervening. With the help of The Law Office of J.L. Bell, clients have the ability to peacefully decide the terms of their divorce, and get an idea of how their lives will be once the process is complete. No matter which position you are in, you can be confident that you have a law firm backing you that genuinely cares about helping you achieve favorable results efficiently and effectively.

Prior to getting married, there is often a misconception that prenuptial agreements are a sign of mistrust in one’s spouse, yet this is often not the case. Having a prenuptial agreement in place simply allows you and your partner to have a clear understanding of the division of your assets in the event your marriage prematurely ends.

Texas is considered a community property state, which means that the total amount of income earned and any property that was acquired during the marriage is community property and therefore belongs to both spouses, even if it is solely in one spouse’s name. When dividing assets and property in a divorce, everything earned during the marriage will be divided among the two spouses.

Texas allows property to be divided in any way that the judge considers to be “just and right.” This means property does not have to be divided 50/50. All sorts of things can lead to the division being unequal, including child custody, a disparity in earning capacities, and time out of the workforce in support of the other spouse’s career. Judges will also usually try to keep the children in their home if possible, which means that the custodial parent will usually retain the family home if it’s financially possible.

The division of property and assets is often extremely complex without proper guidance from an experienced attorney. Here at The Law Office of J.L. Bell, our firm can navigate this process on your behalf and ensure that you capably seek the assets you deserve during your divorce.

Here at The Law Office of J.L. Bell we understand your children are the most important people in your life. We also understand how emotionally draining and overwhelming child custody cases can be—especially if they involve having to go to court. If you are currently facing a child custody battle, it may benefit you to contact an educated and experienced attorney. Whether your case must be handled through the use of litigation or can be resolved amicably with the use of mediation, you can count on The Law Office of J.L. Bell to assist you. We possess a great deal of experience handling custody cases and are prepared to assist clients no matter how complicated the situation may be.

Child support is a set monthly payment that is paid by a non-custodial parent to a custodial parent to provide for the regular expenses of the child/children. In Texas, physical custody always determines who will pay child support. The parent who has physical custody will always be the recipient parent and the parent who does not have physical custody of the kids (regardless of whether or not he or she has legal custody) will pay the child support if ordered by the court.

In Texas, courts calculate child support payments based on a percentage of the non-custodial parent's income. Here, we can estimate how much the state will expect you to pay in minimum child support by doing a simple calculation or help you to estimate how much you can expect to receive in child support.

The court will evaluate all wages, salary, commissions, tips, overtime and bonuses as income for calculation purposes. This also includes any government benefits, severance pay or retirement benefits. The courts will also factor in alimony, gifts, prizes, and other costs. The court will then affix a percentage which will be the amount you are required to pay monthly for child support

• For one child, the paying spouse is required to pay 20% of net resources
  monthly
• For two children, 25% is required
• For three children, 30% is required
• For four children, 35% is required
• Five children and more always require at least 40%
  
  Parents are allowed to pay more in child support if they wish to do so. The percentages listed above simply signify the minimum amount they can pay. You have the liberty to challenge the amount (either seeking less or more) in court. In order to effectively argue this point, you will want an experienced attorney focused on child support and advocating for your child's best interests to represent you and develop a legally recognized argument on your behalf.

Child Protective Services (CPS) investigates and intervenes with any reports of abuse and neglect of children. Termination of your parental rights is a potential outcome of a CPS case. If the court determines you are a danger to your children, they will formally terminate your rights as a parent. Termination means the parent and child no longer have a legal relationship. Our firm can help defend you against accusations of neglect and abuse. If CPS is threatening to terminate your parental rights, we can help. The Law Office of J.L. Bell can assist you through the legal process with CPS and advocate on our behalf in mediation or in litigation. Let us help, so you don’t lose your kids.

Contempt of Court

• If a court ordered custody or visitation agreement is violated, the court will typically enforce the order by way of a contempt hearing. Filing a contempt action will not change a custody, visitation, but an individual can order changes to the agreement during a contempt hearing.
• A contempt motion can be filed for any of the following violations
• Denying child custody or visitation
• Blocking child visitation
• Failing to adhere to property division agreements
• Refusing to provide spousal maintenance
• Failing to pay child support

Parental rights can be difficult to terminate; this is usually only granted by the parent’s consent, or when it can be proven that the parent is no longer fit to serve in that capacity for their child. If you wish to pursue one of these reasons as grounds for terminating parental rights, you should speak with an attorney to learn more about your options. Not everyone may pursue this option, even if grounds for having parental rights terminated exist; you must be involved with the child in some way, including serving as a guardian or conservator previously.


Some instances in which you may be able to terminate parental rights include:

• You are able to demonstrate that you are the actual biological father of the child and the person currently serving as the father was mistakenly placed in that role.
• You wish to adopt a child into your own family as a step-child (in which case you only need to terminate the parental rights of the parent you’ll be replacing)
• The parent has been abusive or physically violent towards a child
• The parent has abandoned the child