Divorce and Money: 5 Things You Need to Know
When it comes to your divorce and money, you want to be sure you understand what your lawyer is talking about and what is in your divorce decree. If there is a divorce and money concept that your lawyer mentions and you don’t know what it means, the best policy every time, is ask your lawyer what they mean. And educating yourself about divorce and money may keep you from having to ask your divorce lawyer that question.
Here are five divorce and money concepts and terms used commonly in a Texas divorce:
1 – Disproportionate Division of Property
A disproportionate division of the marital property is a division that may appear to be quite large to one spouse and much smaller to the other spouse at first glance. If you were just to look at the percentages or totals of the division, one would have more property and assets than the other. This can happen for different reasons, and most likely those reasons would be contained in the earlier pleadings in the case, if the case was an agreed divorce, or there was testimony in a final hearing.
2 – Spousal Maintenance
A Texas divorce might have spousal maintenance paid from one spouse to another, but it won’t have any alimony awards. Spousal maintenance is a monthly amount of money paid from one spouse to the other, for a fixed amount of time to assist the receiving spouse meet their minimal needs. It is provided under certain specific criteria that are included in the Texas Family Code.
3 – Temporary Child Support
Temporary child support is the amount of child support paid from one parent to the other parent during the divorce. This amount can be agreed upon by the divorcing parents or it may be ordered after a temporary hearing.
4 – Temporary Spousal Support
Temporary spousal support is an amount that may be agreed to or ordered by a court after a temporary hearing based on income and expenses of the parties after the divorce has been filed. It is temporary because it is paid during the time the divorce is pending.
5 – Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO)
A Qualified Domestic Relations Order is an order that divides certain financial assets and accounts of parties going through a divorce per the final agreement or order of the court. This is a separate order from the final decree of divorce and must be approved by the financial institution that manages the account.
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