Dallas Divorce Law Blog by Michelle O'Neil

There are four basic steps to a divorce proceeding:  filing the petition, the discovery process, resolution (trial or settlement), and finalizing the divorce decree and other closing documents.

FILING A DIVORCE PETITION

Any divorce, even one on friendly terms, must begin with the filing of an “original petition for divorce” in a state district court.

Some counties, such as Dallas and Tarrant counties, have specialized courts that deal only with family law matters like divorce. Other counties send divorces through the same general district courts used for all types of civil and criminal matters.

In order to file for divorce in Texas, one of the spouses must have been a resident of the state for the six months prior to filing the petition and a resident of the county where the suit is filed for 90 days.

Most petitions include a request for a two-week temporary restraining order (TRO). This freezes things as they are and prevents one spouse from taking any action that harms the other.

The TRO prevents spouses from hiding money or spending money in abnormal ways. It also prevents the interference of the use of the marital residence. The restraining order cannot order that the party be excluded from the home without special circumstances, and it prevents the changing of locks or any other type of exclusionary action.

Before the TRO expires, a judge will schedule a temporary orders hearing to determine if the TRO needs to be made permanent while the divorce goes forward. The judge will also make provisions for temporary spousal support, temporary custody and possession arrangements, temporary child support, temporary use of property and payment of debts, and payment of interim attorney’s fees.

In Dallas County, Collin County, Denton County and Rockwall County divorces, the Courts have imposed a Standing Order which replaces the TRO, standardizes the process, and applies to every family law case filed.  In these counties, no longer are standard TROs accepted; a TRO is only granted in extraordinary circumstances.

The current economic crisis may be putting a strain on some couples.  According to the American Psychological Association, 83% of women and 78% of men are currently stressed out about money.  But what happens when one spouse lies to the other about money.  Take, for example, the Muniz couple interviewed on Good Morning America this morning.  When the wife was pregnant and due with their child, the husband changed insurance, resulting in no coverage for the wife and child at birth.  This caused the couple to incur significant medical bills for the hospital stay and some complications.

What is financial infidelity?  It is a subtle form of cheating — disloyalty to your spouse.  Many people think it is benign because you just leave out some information — like you bought a new dress and told your husband it was on sale when it really wasn’t.  Or, your spouse gets a credit card that you don’t know anything about and hides it, with the purchases, from you.  But, any lie can be damaging to the trust relationship in a marriage and can cause cracks in the foundation.

As a Dallas divorce lawyer, I see many couples who have issues of infidelity or lying about finances.  It is too common to see a wife who has zero information about the finances.  This causes such disparity in the divorce process.  The divorce lawyer for one spouse cannot get vital information from that spouse, so the information must come, unreliably, from the other spouse.  That can also raise the expense of the divorce because the other spouse may not be forthcoming in turning over the information.  This can leave the spouse without the information, usually the wife, in a vulnerable position, subject to the dictatorial demands in negotiations of the other spouse, usually the husband.

So, if you are married, encourage your spouse to be forthcoming about the finances.  If you find out that your spouse is withholding information or lying about the finances, carefully examine the relationship for other cracks in the foundation. 

If you are contemplating divorce in Dallas, Collin, Tarrant, or Denton Counties in Tx or anywhere else for that matter, gather information about your finances and educate yourself on your marital estate before you get taken advantage of!