Family Law Attorney the Woodlands, Texas
Family Law is more than Divorce & Child Support
Why do you need a family law attorney? Most people think family law encompasses a divorce or child custody; however, that is just part of the Family Court Services a good family lawyer can provide. Family law encompasses premarital agreements, postnuptial agreements, enforcements, modifications, protective orders, asset division, child support, paternity, adoption, and the list goes on.
Family law matters can drastically affect a person’s life along with children’s lives. During that time, tension and emotions can run high. If you have any of these issues or concerns, you should talk to an experienced family law attorney and let him/her take some of the burden from you and walk you through the process.
Postnuptial and Premarital Agreements
Postnuptial agreements, or a marital property agreement, is a legal contract that details how a couple will manage their assets and/or liabilities during marriage and/or divide their assets and/or liabilities in the event of divorce or death.
Even though a postnuptial agreement usually details the financial agreements of how the parties want to address these issues, it can also detail the life of the parties. For example, how often in-laws will visit, who is responsible for what chores.
Premarital agreements, or what most people call prenuptial agreements, are legal agreements that parties voluntarily enter prior to marriage. This ensures that a party’s assets prior to and during the relationship are protected. It also determines the parties’ rights regarding support and property until either death or divorce.
Going through the divorce process can have many challenges and struggles. Separating your marital estate can be a complex process, especially if there are businesses and high value assets. Also, couples must make difficult decisions regarding their children. We try to get you through this process in easy manner as we can. So that you can move forward and be in as good of a place as you can be. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Sometimes there are circumstances beyond our control. We are there to walk you through that process.
Whether you are going through a divorce or are an unmarried couple, issues with the children need to be resolved. The concern is what is in the child’s best interest? Child custody should be handled in a delicate manner because it is an emotional experience that affects not only the parents but the children as well.
A child’s life can easily be turned upside down during this time, therefore, the focus in on the child’s best interest and how easily and quickly the issues can be resolved.
Every conservator has a responsibility and duty for the financial support of their children (food, clothing, and shelter just to start). However, according to the Texas Family Code, the non-custodial parent is required to pay a portion of his/her income for the financial support of the child.
Family Court Services in Woodlands Texas
Adoptions
Adoption occurs when parental rights are transferred to the adoptive parent and that parent becomes responsible for that child as if that child is their own. Adoptions can be a fun and exciting time for a family, whether you are adopting a stepchild, a foster child, or a child within your own extended family. To bring a child into your home and show them the love, support and kindness they may have been lacking can be a fulfilling and rewarding time.
Child Paternity
Paternity is establishing the biological father. It can be established in one of three ways, the biological father can sign an acknowledgement of paternity, being listed on the birth certificate and/or taking a DNA test. After one or more of these three things have been done, the paperwork can be filed to establish the father’s paternity in order to proceed with a Suit Affecting Parent Child Relationship to allow the father possession of and access to the child as well as establishing child support.
Document Review
Should you sign? Occasionally, parties try to file their own paperwork or one party is given paperwork from the other party’s attorney, and you don’t want to hire an attorney to represent you.
In these circumstances, you should reach out to an attorney to review your documents and go over the details to ensure that the paperwork given to you is an accurate depiction of the agreement that you entered with the other party, and you just need help understanding the language in the documents. Reekie Law can help.
About Property Division in Texas
“Texas is a community property state, which means that all income acquired during the marriage is community.”
On the contrary, a person may also have separate property which is property owned by the spouse prior to marriage and/or received by gift or inheritance during the marriage. Also, the parties may have a business and/or high assets that need to be addressed when dividing the estate.
During a divorce, the parties must divide the property in a fair and equitable distribution, whether that is a 50/50 split or a disproportionate share of the estate
Enforcements
Enforcement of a court order happens when someone decides not to follow the order signed by the court. This usually happens when a parent denies possession of and access to a child or a conservator is not paying the child support.
A motion for enforcement is a quasi-criminal action that can be brought against a party who violates a possession and access order or a child support order. Under the Texas Family Code, a court has the authority to hold a person in contempt for failing to abide by a court order regarding possession and access or failure to pay child support.
However, enforcement actions can be complicated in the filing. If you feel that someone is in violation of a court order, contact our office to see if we can help
Modifications
So, you have an order regarding your children, but it is no longer working, now what? We can file a modification of your current order if there is a change in the children’s circumstances.
Sometimes after an order is entered, a child’s circumstances change: unemployment or salary change of the child support obligor, parent’s schedules change and the possession schedule doesn’t work, abuse, alcohol or drug use is involved, and a change of conservatorship is needed.
Reekie Law is a Texas law firm headed by Lead Counsel Jennifer Reekie. Jennifer is dedicated to the practice of Family Law in The Woodlands, Montgomery County, Spring, Magnolia, and Willis, TX.
“With over a decade of handling divorce, child support and other Family Law issues, I can offer practical advice and help guide you through the legal processes involved in your case.”