Houston Divorce Attorney and Family Lawyer Blog

Fort Bend County, Texas Divorce Courts, Family Law Courts and IV-D Courts in Fort Bend County... Where are they?

If you live in Sugar Land, Missouri City, Rosenberg, Richmond, South Katy, or anywhere in Fort Bend County, TX then any new family law or divorce law matter you want to file will probably be filed with the Fort Bend County District Clerk located in Richmond, Texas.  As of September, 2009, Fort Bend County, Texas has two primary family law and divorce Courts.  They are the 328th Judicial District Court and the 387th Judicial District Court.  The physical location of these Courts is 401 Jackson St., Richmond, Texas 77469, on the second and third floor.  The 434th Judicial District Court also handles some family law cases, and it is located across the street on the first floor of 301 Jackson St., Richmond, Texas 77469.  The IV-D Courts, which are used by the Texas Attorney General's Child Support Division, are located at a separate location, which is 210 Houston St., Richmond, Texas in the O.J. "Mac" McDowell Jury Assembly Building.  Generally, cases filed in the IV-D Courts are originally assigned to the either the 328th or the 387th Judicial District Court.  If an appropriate objection is made to the IV-D Court Judge your case will be referred back the the original Court of jurisdiction (i.e. the 328th or 387th Judicial District Court).

For more information regarding the family, divorce, civil, and criminal Courts in Fort Bend County, Texas you can visit the Fort Bend County website at http://www.co.fort-bend.tx.us/.

When an attorney or lawyer files a divorce matter or other family law matter in Fort Bend County, Texas it is randomly assigned to one of the family law courts mentioned above.  Once the case has been assigned to a Court that Court will be the Court of continuing jurisdiction for all future case issues in Fort Bend County.  If you file your divorce or family law matter and don't like the Court where your case is assigned it will do no good to dismiss the case and refile in hopes of being assigned to another Court.  As stated, once your case has been assigned to a Court that is the Court that will handle your case, and your case will be reassigned to that Court upon refiling and for future modifications or other issues where the Court has continuing jurisdiction.

It is important for you to know what county you live in when you meet with your Attorney or Lawyer.  It is not uncommon for persons who live in South Katy, where Harris and Fort Bend County meet, to get confused about where their case should be filed.  The same holds true for persons who live on the borders of Harris and Fort Bend County, and other similar borders such as the border of Waller County and Harris County, and Montgomery County and Harris County.  Generally, Attorneys rely on what you tell them about where you live to choose the proper County to file the case.  So, be sure you supply your lawyer with the proper filing information.

Copyright © 2009, The Law Offices of Daniel E. McCarty, Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Texas Wills - Do I Need A Will? What Can A Will Do for Me?

If you are asking this question the answer is probably, YES!

As a Houston divorce attorney and family lawyer practicing in the Houston, Sugarland, Katy, Harris County, Fort Bend County, and surrounding counties in Texas, I prepare a lot of Wills, and handle quite a few probate matters.  The Houston, Texas, Katy, Tx, Sugar Land, Texas, Harris County, Fort Bend County, and surrounding area is densely populated, and it is this density of population that makes it even more important for my clients to have there affairs in order.  The first thing I ask almost all of my clients is whether they have a Will and/or whether their Will is up-to-date.

A Will is a document that tells everyone how, upon your death, you want your assets distributed and to whom.  If you don't have a Will the State of Texas has one for you, and you are probably not going to like it.  If you want control over how your assets are distributed you must have a Will.  Whether you live in Houston, Texas, Katy, Tx, Sugar Land, Texas, Harris County, Fort Bend County, or any other county in Texas, if you have a Will prepared in Texas the probate laws of Texas should apply equally to your Will when it is submitted to the appropriate Probate Court.

For a Will to be valid it must be executed with the formality required by Law.  In many cases Texas Law provides for Independent Administration of Wills during probate, which is a cost effective and efficient method of probating a Will.  In order to take advantage of this method of probate you must have the proper language in your Will.  To be sure you have the proper provisions in the Will you should hire an Attorney experienced in preparing Wills.

A Will Can Do More Than Distribute Your Estate Assets Upon Your Death 

Trust Provisions

Your Will can include trust provisions that limit when your beneficiaries will receive their share of the assets (i.e. upon reaching a certain age).  Why is this beneficial?  Ask yourself, when you were eighteen (18) years old how responsible would you have been with $10,000.00 or $100,000.00 or $1,000,000.00?

In my experience as a Texas Family Lawyer and Probate Attorney I have witnessed this scenario, and the results are almost always tragic.  One of the first lines of defense in protecting your kids from their own financial immaturity and real world predators is to include a Trust in your Will.

In preparing your Will you will be asked to name or appoint certain individuals to serve as trustee for your beneficiaries until the trust terminates.  The benefit of such a trust provision is that the trustee can distribute portions of the trust proceeds, as needed, to the beneficiary for his/her benefit (i.e. tuition, living expenses, etc..) until the beneficiary meets the trust termination requirements.  The trustee protects the funds, and the beneficiary still receives the benefit of the  funds until the trust terminates.  Again, this is just an overview of the benefits of a trust.  You need to consult an Attorney qualified in drafting Wills and Trusts so that the Trust in your Will is prepared in accordance with your particular facts and circumstances.

Guardianship Provisions

In addition to trust provisions, your Will can include Guardianship provisions for your children who are under eighteen (18) years of age.  You should know that guardianship provisions are subject to the rights of other individuals who have a superior right to guardianship (i.e. a biological mother or father) regardless of where they live (i.e. Austin, Houston, Katy, Sugar Land, Harris County, Fort Bend County etc...)  Guardianship provisions can be critical to the well being of your children, and they provide clear instruction on who you want your children to be raised by when you pass away.

In conclusion, YES! you need a Will.   And, if you have kids and/or a spouse and/or own property you need it IMMEDIATELY!  The financial and emotional consequences of not having a Will when you pass away are substantial.  It is better to spend a several hundred dollars now on a well prepared Will, and avoid having your loved ones spend thousands of dollars later, in probate, because you did not have a Will.  Besides, a Last Will and Testament does more than just distribute your assets on death.  It can serve to protect the financial future of your beneficiaries through Trust Provisions, and their personal and emotional well being through Guardianship provisions.

Copyright © 2009, The Law Offices of Daniel E. McCarty, Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Divorce Jurisdiction in Texas - "The Consequences of Getting It Wrong"

My spouse and I both live in Texas, but were married in another State.  Where do I file for divorce?

In Texas, it is not where you were married that matters.  It is where you live and how long you have lived there.  Specifically, if either spouse has been a domiciliary of Texas for the preceding six-month period and a resident of the county where the suit will be filed for the 90 days preceding filing then the divorce can be filed in the qualifying County.

There are extensive provisions in the Texas Family Code that govern other divorce jurisdiction scenarios, including divorce jurisdiction for military personnel, long arm jurisdiction for persons living outside of the State, and divorce jurisdiction for individuals who do not live in the United States.  You should consult a qualified family law and divorce attorney to advise you on your particular situation.

What if I filed in the wrong county?  What are the consequences?

First of all, before you meet with an Attorney you should determine what county you live in and be able to advise the Attorney of how long you have lived in the County and the State.  An Attorney has to rely on his/her client to provide accurate information in order to file the case in the proper county.  Generally, if I have a question about the County of residence I will check the on-line records for the appraisal district of the counties where I believe the party may reside.  On more than one occasion I have found that my client was mistaken about their County of residence.

For example, if you live in the Katy, Texas area then you need to know that Harris County, Fort Bend County, and Waller County all converge in this area.  The same problem can occur in North Houston where Harris County and Montgomery County meet.  Both of these regions are examples of densely populated areas where subdivisions and residential areas tend to merge across county lines, and residents of this area tend to live in flowing communities where the county lines are not always obvious.

Why is this important? When a party fails to meet the Texas residence and domicile requirements and/or files in the wrong county the party who filed first may lose the perceived advantage of being the "Petitioner" in the case.  

In some cases filing first can be an advantage, but this advantage can be lost if you file in the wrong county and the opposing spouse files in the proper county before the error is detected and/or corrected.  Where you would have been the "Petitioner" in the case because you filed first, you are now the "Respondent". 

In some cases this change in roles can be overcome or is insignificant; but, in complex cases involving custody and/or other complex property and/or fault ground issues this disadvantage can be critical.  This is because at trial the Petitioner presents his/her case first.  The Respondent is left to respond to the Petitioner's initial presentation while also attempting to promote his/her case.  In these more complex cases, generally, an Attorney would prefer to be the Petitioner at trial.

In sum, before you meet with your Attorney you should research your County of residence to insure that your case is filed in the proper County.  This simple step could serve to preserve your advantage in the case as Petitioner, and avoid the cost associated with having to refile in the proper county.

Copyright © 2009, The Law Offices of Daniel E. McCarty, Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Reconciliation in Texas Divorce Cases

I have been a practicing attorney in Texas for over sixteen (16) years, and it happens almost every year. A client hires me to file a divorce matter in a family law case in Harris County or Fort Bend County or some surrounding county in the Houston or Austin, Texas area; and, in mid-case, I get the call, "my spouse and I want to reconcile" or "we want to attempt reconciliation". This is not a call an Lawyer likes to get, and it is not because of fees. Instead, it is because of the chaotic effect reconciliation can have on the case if it is not well planned or well intended.

When reconciliation is attempted in the midst of an active divorce matter there are several issues that must be considered, including but not limited to: Will the case be dismissed? Will the case be abated temporarily? What are the immediate deadlines in the case? Have any orders, injunctions, or other Court directives been put into place that will be affected? How will reconciliation affect the children? How will it affect the costs and fees in the case?

What every client needs to understand is that when an Attorney files a divorce matter he/she takes action in the case to further and protect the client’s interest, which is to obtain a divorce that includes fair and reasonable terms. This may include obtaining orders and other temporary relief up front in the case so that the parties are in a position to adequately pursue the case to conclusion, either by settlement or trial.

If there are temporary orders in place and the case is dismissed those temporary orders disappear. If temporary orders, or similar orders exist, dismissing your case could cause major personal and financial hardship. That means child support, spousal support, the award of interim attorneys fees, injunctions, custody orders, visitation orders, medical support orders, and other similar orders will be in jeopardy, or may no longer be in effect.

This is important, because sometimes reconciliation is a strategy employed by the opposing party to gain relief from temporary orders that they deem undesirable or burdensome. The spouse may suggest reconciliation and dismissal of the case not because they have a sincere desire to reconcile, but because they know (or have been advised) that if the case is dismissed the otherwise burdensome order(s) will disappear upon dismissal. It also gives them an opportunity to alter their current circumstances to make it more difficult to obtain similar orders in a future divorce proceeding.

In my experience, reconciliation seldom is successful in divorce cases unless the parties decide to obtain serious marital counseling. This does not include meeting with your pastor a few times or enlisting your friends to give you advice. It does include enrollment in an established marriage counseling program with a regimented curriculum designed to identify the problems each party is having in the marriage ( and the problems of the children ), and whether those problems can be reconciled between the parties. If one spouse or the other is not fully committed to intensive marriage counseling then this can be a sign that the suggestion of reconciliation is not sincere.

In conclusion, if reconciliation is considered in the midst of a divorce matter make sure the request is sincere, and not opportunistic. For the best chance of success consider enrolling in a reputable marriage counseling program. And, you should be careful about dismissing the case outright until you have considered all the potential consequences that will result from a dismissal.

Copyright © 2009, The Law Offices of Daniel E. McCarty, Jr., All Rights Reserved.