How to get a divorce in Texas

Texas is one of the largest and second most populated states in the US. There are millions of people in Texas who are married or living together as domestic partners. Unfortunately, some of those partnerships end up in a divorce or a separation.  This article discusses various options to legally end a marriage or domestic partnership and the steps required to complete a divorce or separation.

Texas couple discussing divorce options

Warning:  This post is neither legal advice nor a substitute for the legal advice offered by a lawyer. Divorce is a very serious matter. It can impact your child custody and visitation rights, property, and other matters. While not required, it is recommended that professional legal advice shall be obtained before pursuing further.

Basics

In Texas, either partner/spouse can file for a divorce. The other person doesn't have to agree with the filing party for the divorce to complete. Texas offers several ways to legally terminate a marriage or live separately except Legal Separation. These options are:

• Divorce
• Annulment
• Temporary Order
• Protective Order
• Parent-Child Relationship Suit
• Separation Agreement

 

Divorce

In Texas, either of the spouses can file for a divorce without any reason. A person can get a divorce if they have “irreconcilable differences” with their spouse. It can take from 60 days to several years for the divorce to complete depending on other issues such as alimony, child support, and division of property. Unlike some of the other states, Texas doesn't have a faster option to end their marriage by filing for a summary dissolution. 

 

Annulment

Most of the Texas couples get married in a good faith. However, some marriages are legally invalid because of the reasons prior to the marriage. Such marriages can be voided, and all marriage and divorce records get purged from the public records.

 

Legal Separation

Texas doesn't allow and recognize Legal Separation. However, while a divorce case is in progress one or both of the spouses may request a temporary order, protective order, or enter a separation agreement to continue on with their lives and handle child custody, support, and visitations.

How to file for a divorce?

Residency Requirements for Divorce:

• Must be living in Texas for 6 months.
• Must be living in the current county for 3 months.
• Spouses living in separate counties for 3 months can file for a divorce in either of the counties.
• The military or other government service employees living outside Texas can apply for a divorce if they or their spouse has lived in Texas for at least 6 months before moving out.

 

Residency Requirements for an Annulment: 

• One of the spouses is living in Texas

  OR

• The marriage took place in Texas

 

Divorce Filing Steps:

1. The Texas applicant who desires a divorce should fill out the divorce petition with information about their marriage/domestic partnership and the list of orders they would like the court to make.
2. They should also fill out the divorce summons that informs their spouse/domestic partner about the intent to get a divorce. The summons once sent will prevent their spouse from leaving the state, applying for a new or replacement passport for the children without their consent or the court order. Orders regarding custody and visitation rights can also be obtained with this form.  
3. The applicant should get these forms reviewed by the Texas family law experts before submitting them.
4. Make two copies of the filled forms. The originals are submitted to the court clerk. One of the copies is for your spouse and the other one is for your records.  
5. Once the applicant is ready they should file the forms with the court clerk or have a lawyer do it on their behalf. They may be required to pay some filing fees. In the case of financial hardship, a fee waiver can be requested.
6. After filing the forms, a copy of the forms must be served by the applicant to their spouse unless the spouse has signed a waiver. The applicant can have a constable, court clerk, county sheriff, or a process server serve these forms.   If approved by the judge an applicant can also serve a person by courthouse posting, newspaper or Texas citation by publication site.  The judge my approve other ways to serve as well.
7. The forms must be hand-delivered by the server unless the other spouse is a co-operating spouse and also wants a divorce. In that case, the forms can be mailed with an acknowledgment receipt. The mailing option can save the applicant quite a bit of money unless a family member or a friend was going to serve on their behalf.
8. If they don't know where your spouse or domestic partner is, or if they are in the military, in jail, or do not live in Texas, or if they have difficulty serving the form they may need to contact a lawyer to complete the task.
9. The applicant's spouse has 60 days to respond to the petition. Meanwhile, the applicant can request temporary orders for child custody, child visitation, child support, and spousal/partner support.
10. Either at the time of the filing or after the Financial Disclosure forms must also be filed and served. With these forms by both parties, a divorce cannot be completed. The financial disclosure shall disclose all your assets, debts, investments, income and expenses, properties, and tax returns from the last 2 years.

 

After filing and serving, couples may decide to reconcile. In such a case, you can withdraw their application. 

How to file a response to a divorce notice?

Respondent Options:

The spouse who receives divorce filing summons has to respond by the Monday following the 20 calendar days from the day summons are received.   They have the following options:

1. No Contest with Default - If both of the spouses have a notarized agreement to end their marriage, along with the division of the property, debt, spousal, and partner support, child support, and visitation rights then the divorce will be granted by default.
2. No Contest with Filing - If the responding spouse files a response but reaches an agreement with their spouse on all the outstanding issues then the marriage will end uncontested.
3. Contested Divorce - If the responding spouse files a response with a disagreement on what the filing the spouse is asking for then the judge will do a deep dive and make a decision.  In this case, the filing spouse will have to allow them 45 days to set a court date.

 

Response Filing Steps:

1. The respondent shall file the response form with their agreements/disagreements on their spouse's separation proposal.  
2. They should also fill out the child custody and visitation application.
3. Either at the time of the filing, a response, or after the Financial Disclosure forms must also be filed. 
4. Have the forms reviewed by a legal expert.
5. File the forms and required fees with the court within 30 days of receiving the summons. They may be able to get financial assistance if needed.
6. Two copies of the forms should be made by the respondent. One for their own records and the other one shall be served to filing spouse.  
7. The forms can be served by a county sheriff, professional process server, or anyone other court approved methods. 
8. Proof of service shall be submitted to the court. 

How divorce is completed?

The completion of divorce depends on the responding spouse's response:

 

1. No Contest with Default - The filing spouse can file the required forms and a copy of the agreement to end their marriage, along with the division of the property, debt, spousal, and partner support, child support, and visitation rights. After 60 days of filing, the judge will grant the divorce based on the agreement and the best interest of the children.
2. No Contest with Filing - If the responding spouse files a response but reaches an agreement with their spouse on all the outstanding issues then after 60 days of the original filing, the judge will grant the divorce based on the agreement and the best interest of the children. However, both spouses shall file the final forms to make the judgment final.
3. Contested Divorce - If the responding spouse files a response with a disagreement on what the filing the spouse is asking for then the judge will do a deep dive and make a decision. In some cases, the judge may grant the divorce while other matters are still being decided. Once the judge has decided both parties will be required to file the required forms to make the judgment final.

 

Post Divorce Amendments

Any changes made to the agreements that were approved by the judge including but not limited to the alimony, child support and parenting plan shall be submitted to the court for a review to make it legally binding. It doesn't matter if the agreement was drafted by the former spouses, a family mediator, or an attorney. It must be submitted to the court to make it legally binding.

How to request a summary dissolution?

In Texas Summary Dissolution is same as the divorce.

Is annulment an option?

 An annulment is when a Texas court decides that a marriage or a domestic partnership was not legally valid from the start.  An annulment can erase all the previous marriage / domestic partnership records as if it never occurred.  

 

Children

If the children were born during the annulled marriage/domestic partnership then a Texas judge must be requested to establish paternity. Upon establishing the paternity, custody and visitation and child support must be determined.

 

Debt and Property

By voiding a marriage or domestic partnership generally, neither of the parties can have a claim the right to alimony, property, or sharing the debt under the community property regulation. However, if the filing spouse can prove that they entered the marriage in a good faith they can be eligible under the community property laws. Otherwise, a judge may decide how to proceed. 

What are the requirements for spousal/partner support during and after the divorce proceedings?

In the Texas, one of the spouses may be eligible for partner/spousal support during and after the divorce/legal separation.

 

Initial Order of Spousal Support

When the divorce or legal separation proceedings start one of the spouses can request the judge to  make a temporary order  to the other spouse to pay the temporary support. Judges use a standard formula based on other spouses' income to order this support.

 

Final Order of Spousal Support

For the final order when the case ends the judge doesn't use a formula to order the spousal support. Instead, several factors are taken into the consideration.

• The time period of the marriage or domestic partnership.
• The amount of money each person needs to maintain the lifestyle they had during the marriage.
• The earning capacity of both spouses, marketable skills of the spouse getting paid, job market, cost and time required for the recipient to gain new skills, and how the recipient's earning capacity was impacted during the marriage when they were devoted to domestic duties.
• The impact on childcare, if the recipient takes a job.
• Age, health, debts, and property of both spouses.
• Did one of the spouses help the other get an education, training, career, or professional license? For example, a grocery store clerk paid for their spouse to become an Accountant or a Software Engineer.
• Incidents of domestic violence in the marriage or partnerships.
• Career impact on one of the spouses by unemployment or by taking care of the children or home.
• The impact of state and federal income taxes on spousal support.

How child support is determined during and after the divorce?

 During and after the divorce or legal separation a Texas judge may order the non-custodial parent to pay child support to the custodial parent.  The child support amount is determined based on the payer's income, the number of children, and other children the payer is responsible for.  

How debt and property are divided?

Texas is a community property state. Unless a prenup is in place, everything that the couple made during their marriage/domestic partnership is split equally.  During the divorce, either of the spouses can request the judge not make them liable for any debts that may be incurred by the other spouse while the divorce is in progress.

How much does a divorce cost?

The cost of divorce can vary significantly based on the complexity of the case.  However getting divorced in Texas may be more economical than some of the other states due to the lower cost of living and lower court fees.  A DIY divorce can cost only a few hundred dollars.  Online services may charge a couple of thousand dollars to review all the docs to help you with a DIY divorce. But such options are best only for couples who do not have kids or any significant assets.   In most cases, the cost of divorce may run up to $10,000 for each spouse.    In more complex cases it may cost several multiples of that.