No matter if your divorce is contested or uncontested, certain testimony needs to be elicited to establish that you are entitled to a divorce in Texas. These “prove up” questions are asked at the conclusion of your case in front of a judge to finalize your divorce. Some of them are fairly easy to answer, while others could possibly trip a person up.
The basic questions have to do with residency in the state and in the county for at least six months and ninety days, respectively. Also, you will need to establish that the marriage has become insupportable between you and your spouse. If there are children, then they will also need to be identified.
One of the questions that can pose a problem is if a wife is pregnant while the case is being finalized. Courts typically will want to wait until the pregnancy comes to term before they will make a final order in a divorce case, as the rights and duties towards the child along with child support and health insurance will need to be established.
Another question that can bring up issues is the occurrence of family violence during the two years before the filing of the divorce. If there has been family violence, the judge will want to know whether this in any way affected the party’s voluntariness in entering into a final agreement for divorce. The courts do not want a victim of family violence coerced into signing off on a decree of divorce simply to appease the abusing party.
Finally, when someone wants a name change, there are usually a couple of questions that need to be asked to ensure they are doing it for honest reasons. The court will want to know if the person has been convicted or charged with a felony offense. This is of course to make sure the person is not trying to avoid criminal prosecution. The court will also want to know if a person is changing their name to avoid creditors, which is designed to make sure someone will pay their debts even after their name is changed.
When you are about to finalize your divorce, you will need to go through the testimony with your attorney to be prepared for these questions and the potential issues they can bring up in finalizing your case.