What is paternity? Paternity is more than just the idea of being a dad, it is a legal status that creates specific rights, as well as obligations. Basically, it is the legal identification of a child’s father. Why is it important to establish paternity in Texas? By establishing paternity in Texas, the father ensures his child is eligible for child support and other benefits, including insurance, inheritance, and veteran-survivor benefits. It may come as a surprise, but a child born to unwed parents...

Holidays after Divorce: How to Survive and Thrive with the Kids The holiday season can be a wonderful time of the year, but also a stressful one. This is especially true for parents who are recently divorced and now must abide by a visitation schedule that splits their children’s time between two homes. To cope, parents sometimes overcompensate, overindulge, and overreact. But it doesn’t have to be this way. With the right mindset, flexibility and planning, the holidays can still be a wonderful time...

Interference with Child Custody In contentious child custody cases, it’s not uncommon for one parent to withhold (or attempt to withhold) a child from the other parent. Perhaps they are behind on child support, or picked up the child up late, or maybe the child just “doesn’t want to go” with the other parent. Whatever the case may be, interference with child custody in Texas is not just a family or civil matter. It’s a crime. In fact, it’s a felony to take or keep your child against visitation or...

Adoption Adoptions are one of the most rewarding aspects of being a family lawyer. Adoptions can take many forms in Texas, including adoptions by stepparents or grandparents, private adoptions, agency adoptions, international adoptions, and even contested adoptions. Adoptions involve a number of legal questions regarding the rights of the adoptive parents, the rights of the biological parents, where the child is before and after the adoption is complete, as well as issues that arise when the child...

Spousal support, spousal maintenance, and alimony are synonymous and interchangeable terms. “Spousal maintenance” is the term generally used in Texas courts, and all it means is money paid by one spouse to the other, usually on a monthly basis, after separation or divorce. Spousal support is not awarded in every case, however. To be eligible for alimony in Texas, certain qualifications must be met. Who is entitled to spousal support? The short answer is that it depends on the length of the marriage,...

Adopting a Child Whether you are seeking to adopt, placing a child up for adoption, or facilitating an adoption, there is a lot at stake – mentally, emotionally and financially. Most of us know someone who has been adopted or friends or family members who have gone through the adoption process. Still, we wanted to learn more. So we went right to the source: people who have been through it. We asked everyone the same question: What is one thing you want people to know when it comes to adoption? Some...

Pets and Divorce Most people consider pets part of the family, but the law does not take the same view. In Texas, pets are considered property. This means Spot and Fido are subject to the same laws regarding property division, including separate and community property. In other words, they fall in the same category as the house, furniture, cars, and jewelry. So who gets to keep the pets in divorce? Texas is a community property state with rules that mandate property must be divided in a “just and...