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Legal Texas Divorce Terms

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Residency Requirement The State of Texas requires that one party be a resident of Texas for 6 months and must have lived in the county in which the divorce papers will be filed for 90 days. As long as one spouse meets this requirement either one can file for a divorce.

Best interest of the child The legal standard or doctrine for making child-related decisions.

Contested and Uncontested Divorce In contested divorces, the parties are adversarial, they cannot agree to a separation agreement. In uncontested divorces, the parties agree to all matters, or one party fails to respond to the divorce proceedings after being served either by Citation or a Legal Notice.

Notice; Legal Notice The procedure for informing a party that a legal action or motion is pending before a court.

Child Support Court-ordered payments from the non-custodial parent to the custodial parent that are not tax deductible by the non-custodial parent, nor includable in the custodial parent's taxable income.

Waiting Period The court may not grant a divorce before the 60th day after the date the date the suit was filed. The waiting period allows couples to hopefully reconcile and come to an agreement with any contested issues regarding their pending divorce.

Change of Name In a Divorce or Annulment, the court shall change the name of a party requesting the change of name to a name previously used by the party unless the court states in the decree a reason for denying the change of name. The court may not deny a change of name solely to keep the last name of the family members the same. A change of name does not release a person from liability incurred by that person under a previous name. The person whose name is under the section may apply for a change of name certificate from the clerk of the court.

Remarriage If you are planning to re-marry you will have to wait 30 days from the date your divorce was finalized.

Petitioner The spouse who is asking the court to grant a divorce. This spouse will be the one who files the papers and attends the divorce hearing

Respondent The other spouse who is involved in the divorce.

Service of Citation Citation will be served to the Respondent after the filing of an Original Petition in a suit for Dissolution of Marriage. This process is done by an authorized process server.

Pro Se This is legal Latin term that means "for self" it shows the court that you are representing yourself.

Separate Property This is property that belongs to just one spouse. It can be property that was owned before the marriage, it can be a gift or inheritance or recoveries for personal injuries sustained by a spouse during marriage.

Community Property Texas is a community property state. Community Property consists of the property other than separate property that was acquired by either spouse during the marriage.

Joint Debts This is debt that was acquired during the marriage and has the names of both spouses. If you owed money to anyone before your divorce, and your spouse is ordered to pay, but doesn't you will still be liable for that debt. Your spouse will just be in contempt of court. The creditor can still come after you or repossess the property. After the divorce both spouses will be responsible for any debts that are in both spouses names.

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