Dallas Divorce Law Blog by Michelle O'Neil

The Dallas Voice featured an article about one of my cases this week. You can read about it here: Lesbian Custody Fight Dallas Voice 050908

Gay and lesbian partners can have more difficulty in parenting disputes, especially for the nonbiological parent. Here, I represent a nonbiological mother who fights to have standard access to the daughter born during her relationship with her partner. The safest way for my client, or those in her situation, to have protected herself was to adopt the child right after birth. Nothing in Texas law prevents a child from having two parents of the same sex. An adoption establishes legal parenthood for a person. Short of adoption, a nonbiological parent’s best route is to seek a formal court-ordered relationship with the child as soon as the two partners break up. This protects your rights, under the law, as a person with whom the child has lived. The longer you wait, the more tenuous it will be to establish your rights with the child.

A current client sends this message to my potential new clients:  “Michelle May O’Neil is an organized and very knowledgable divorce attorney.  During my divorce trial, I had a sense of comfort due to her professionalism and strength in the courtroom.  Michelle May O’Neil is a top-notch attorney and I would recommend her to friends.”  H.R.

I read an article recently in Parade magazine.  The piece questioned whether divorce courts are against dads — “In 85% of divorces, fathers get just two weekends a month and a couple of hours during the week.”  The article cites to a new national trend for “proportional time” where the custody decision is based on the time the father spent with the children prior to the divorce.  Read the article here.

Texas courts began changing the way parents are viewed in the mid-1990’s.  The father’s rights movement began to raise awareness of the involvement of some fathers in their children’s lives beyond the traditionally perceived gender rolls.  The Texas Legislature changed the designation of titles given upon divorce, creating a presumption that both parents will be called “joint managing conservators”.  Although Texas still has the presumptive Standard Possession Order that awards the non-primary joint managing conservator access two weekends a month, plus holidays and summer time, many judges have begun to entertain deviation from that standard schedule where the evidence shows a father’s involvement and ability to share in the day-to-day parenting.  For more information, please see my article Texas Divorce Law Basics.

I recently spoke at the UT Family Law on the Frontlines Seminar in Galveston on the Topic of helping clients deal with debts in divorces.  Debts can be a huge issue in any divorce. However, the divorce lawyer is very limited in her ability to change the liability on the debts. When two people get a divorce, the debts can be apportioned between them, but the liability to the creditor cannot be altered. So, for example, if two spouses purchase a car together and both names are listed as liable on the debt, the divorce will only order one of those people to pay the debt. It cannot change the fact that both people owe the finance company for the car. If the spouse that is supposed to pay the debt does not do so, then the creditor still has remedies against the other spouse, regardless of the language of the divorce orders. If you need advice about dealing with debts in your marriage or divorce, please contact us for an appointment.

I always enjoy getting a note from a client after I’ve finished their case, indicating they were happy with what we accomplished for them. Here’s one I received today from A.C.:

The May Firm goes above and beyond with their support and Team effort in such a tremendous time of upheaval in one’s life. Michelle May O’Neil has a very strong grip on interpreting the law. She advocates for her client to receive a just, fair outcome without stooping to a level of mud-slinging or degrading the other side. Her presence in the courtroom is one of strength and skill. She is given respect, justly deserved, the minute she enters the courtroom.

Thanks, A.C.! I enjoyed representing you — you are a sweet woman and a great parent.