More Texas Divorce Legalese!

I was talking with a client about my other list and I found out there is more divorce legalese that I explain to my clients so that they will understand what is going on during their case. So, I thought I’d take today to add a longer list of some of the other divorce legalese and list them here for you too! The last list was mainly financial concerns in divorce and these are very general divorce terms for Texas divorces and the Texas Family Code. Legalese can be frustrating but one of my clients recently said that watching two family law lawyers talk about an issue was like seeing those two family law attorneys speak their shorthand and understood that it is unique to our business. I thought that was great! So, here is some more insight into Texas divorce legalese.

Top 10 Divorce Words:

Annulment: to nullify the marriage due to specific reasons, or grounds, listed in the Texas Family Code, for example an underage marriage that fits the specific criteria
Division of assets: This is the way the assets including bank accounts and real property of the marriage are divided to each of the spouses and in what proportion to each of the spouses
Fault: There are specific reasons a divorce can be granted in Texas. Divorce lawyers use the term ‘grounds’ for the reasons. When the reasons are asserted at the time the divorce is filed and listed in one of the first pleadings, the petition, that is pleading fault;
No Fault Divorce: When one or both parties to the divorce includes a general statement about why the divorce is happening from the statutes and does not include specific grounds or reasons for the divorce
Residency: The requirement that one person must have lived in a specific location for a specific amount of time to be able to file a divorce or family law case can be filed in a particular county, for example, to file in Denton County, one party must have lived in Texas for 6 months and Denton County for 90 days immediately before filing for divorce;
Waiting period for divorce: A Texas divorce requires the parties to wait 60 days before they can finalize their divorce;
Waiting period for remarriage: There is a 30-day waiting period to remarry after divorce in Texas;
Name change: The final decree of divorce can change the name of a party who has specifically requested a name change to a name previously used by the party;
Separate property: This is property outside of the marital property divided between the spouses, based on when and how property is acquired;
Community property: This is property to be divided in a divorce, based on when and how property is acquired

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Jill O’Connell can be reached at 940-497-5454. She can be found speaking Texas Divorce Legalese at O’Connell Law Firm, P.C., 2000 S. Stemmons, Suite 100, Lake Dallas, Texas.