Going through a divorce is stressful. There is the emotional stress that the end of your marriage brings, the worry about finances, the anxiety over dividing assets and debt, and the future. If you have children, their wellbeing and mental health is foremost on your mind. Then, when it seems like you’re dealing with more than you can handle, you come face to face with the legal aspects of divorce. There are a lot of issues involved with divorce and while we have tried to identify the major issues below, each situation and divorce is different.
Requirements to File a Divorce:
You must be married – formally with a marriage certificate or informally through a common law marriage. Common law marriages are rare however and do not occur simply because the party’s co-habitat with each other.
Common Law Marriage
In order to have a common law marriage, three things must have occurred:
An agreement to be married between the parties.
Holding out as spouses; and
Cohabitation.
You or your spouse must have lived in Texas for the past 6 months to file a divorce in Texas. Further, one of the spouses must have been a resident in the county where the divorce is filed for the last 90 days prior to filing the divorce.
Process
A divorce begins when the "Original Petition of Divorce," is filed. This petition is a written document that is filed with the Court; and this petition must be served on the other spouse. Service on the other spouse can be handled through several different ways – through a process server, through the mail, or the other spouse can sign a waiver of service.
After receiving your petition, your spouse has the right to file a written response with the court. Who files first and whether it helps to file first is a question that is often asked, and the answer is varied. Some attorneys think there is a benefit to filing first, and some attorneys don’t think there is a benefit to filing first.