Texas Family Law Blog

The decision to propose ending a marriage often plays out nothing like choosing to propose marriage. When proposing marriage, one person generally plots and plans and asks the single question in an extravagant way. When couples choose to divorce, that decision is not usually announced in a single moment. Spouses often talk at length about the potential decision before it is made with finality. And as a result, the decision of who should formally file for divorce is folded into that lengthy calculus.

Generally, divorces are no-fault affairs. Therefore, it ultimately should not matter who technically files for divorce because the filer is no longer required by law to blame his or her spouse for ruining the marriage on paper. However, there are both pros and cons to being the formal filer that individuals should consider when contemplating divorce.

When you choose to have a child with someone, you hope that they will love it and cherish it and act in its best interests with the same sense of urgency that you do. However, life generally and parenthood specifically are complicated. And there may come a time when your co-parent suddenly seeks either intentionally or unintentionally to alienate your child from you. Should this occur, your child custody dispute could become significantly affected by it.

Though parental alienation is not technically a mental disorder as defined by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, it is still a widely recognized phenomenon in family law courts. This condition can result from a child's reaction to divorce simply because his or her cognitive development has progressed in a certain way, or it can arise as a result of the intentional or unintentional behavior on the part of a parent.

The stresses of divorce, separation or general detachment from your child's other parent can seem overwhelming in the immediate aftermath of the decision to go your separate ways. However, these stresses generally tend to fade exponentially over time. What will remain over time is the connection you have rooted in your mutual child or children.

Whatever your child custody arrangements look like, co-parenting is a uniquely challenging prospect. As long as you both remain in your minor child's life, you will likely be required to communicate and make mutual decisions about your child's life and general well-being.

Money is one of the most hotly contested issues between married couples. When the use of joint income is at stake, tempers can flare and unkind words can pass between otherwise loving partners. Chances are that you and your significant other were raised to navigate income, assets and debt in different ways. If you do not arrive at clear expectations for how you will approach joint income and debt in your marriage, you may be setting yourself up for some serious disagreements and unhappiness down the road.

Increasingly, American couples are turning to prenuptial agreement to define the scope of their monetary expectations before marriage. Years ago, a stigma existed that only couples anticipating divorce entered into prenuptial agreements. This is simply no longer the case. Rather, engaged couples use prenuptial agreements to essentially prevent divorce by working through their differences in anticipation of their nuptials. Similarly, married couples are using postnuptial agreements to work out their differences and set expectations after they have tied the knot.

Narcissism is a recognized condition that goes beyond the perception that an individual is self-involved. Though many narcissists go undiagnosed, this condition is serious and can inspire serious challenges when the spouse of a narcissist seeks a divorce. It is particularly important that individuals seek legal expertise when it comes to protecting assets from their narcissistic spouse. Without proper support, the non-narcissistic spouse could become quite victimized during the divorce process.

The American Psychiatric Association defines narcissism by several behavioral characteristics. These include a sense of self-importance that is grandiose, a need for excessive admiration, a sense of specialness and entitlement, a lack of empathy and a preoccupation with fantasies of power, success or other ideal traits, among others.

Parental divorce can be difficult for every member of the affected family. However, when the divorce involves child custody and relocation to another country, resolution of custody disputes can be particularly challenging. In a recent case argued before the Supreme Court, one couple's circumstances clearly demonstrate just how complicated such situations can become.

An American Army Sergeant and a Scottish woman married overseas while he was deployed, had a child, relocated to Alabama. The couple then divorced. The child's mother petitioned to take her daughter to Scotland under the 1980 Hague Convention which grants parents a right of custody and a right of access to their children generally. A broad purpose of the treaty is to ensure that one nation's custody laws are respected by all others.

When asked, "How many parents can a child have?" many people may think it is a trick question. The obvious answer appears to be two, a mother and a father. That answer is now changing in many states, however, as laws are passed allowing children to have more than two legal parents.

These new laws reflect the variety of family types that now exist. For instance, a law currently being considered in California would allow the granting of parental rights to a previous biological or custodial parent if a child's current two legal parents are no longer capable of doing what is necessary to protect the best interests of the child.

Summer is coming to a close, and kids throughout the country are gearing up for that all important first day of school. The beginning of the school year is also a time of change for parents. There are new schedules, new activities and many other changes. For those parents that are divorced, there are additional issues that need to be worked out for a smooth transition into the school year.

Experts stress that consistency for a child's routine is very important. If possible, divorced parents should work together to arrange for a standard schedule for activities like meals, homework and bedtime. Children should also be clear about which parent's home they are staying at on particular days, and informed of any changes to these arrangements as the school year commences.