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El Paso Family Law Blog

Friday, May 18, 2012

Texans should tally assets and debt when negotiating a divorce

Couples going through divorce in Texas are surely aware of the emotional toll of dissolving a marriage. But there is also the very real possibility that one's financial situation can take a hit during the negotiations over the division of marital property, not to mention the new prospect of living on a single income. That is why couples should consider evaluating all of their assets in detail before finalizing a divorce.

While the home is usually the largest asset a couple has, there are also other assets that could be overlooked during the process but which may actually come into play during the settlement. For instance, some people fail to consider stock options, retirement accounts and even pension plans. Even though some of these items may not be joint marital property, they may still be considered for an equitable division of assets in a divorce in which one party is shown to be at fault.

Father wins custody of daughter from afar

An interesting case has thrown the topic of fathers' rights into the spotlight and may interest parents in El Paso who are experiencing child support or child custody issues. A man whose parental rights were once terminated has gained full custody of a daughter he has never actually met.

The man, who is not a U.S. citizen, had been in the country illegally and gotten married in 2007. A year later, he was ordered by a court to return to his country of origin -- Mexico -- and when he went, his new wife went along with him. However, when she became pregnant, she moved back to the United States to have her daughter.

Family programs and money could prevent military divorce in Texas

In El Paso, service members and their spouses are well aware of the extra care a marriage may need to avoid the possibility of military divorce. Military personnel can expect long work hours and the possibility of a short-notice deployment, so people in the service may experience marriage strain through no fault of their own. However, military members also tend to hold established institutions in higher regard than the general populace, and that goes for marriage, too.

While divorce is sometimes the best option for service members, the military divorce rate continues to remain lower than that of the civilian sector. That fact has prompted a study into the reasons why military marriages appear to be more resilient.

What leads happy couples in Texas to divorce?

Most people in a new marriage are not likely thinking about separating from their spouses, but the truth is that many marriages end in divorce. So, what factors can indicate the possibility of a Texas divorce? Understanding influences linked to the possibility of divorce may help identify important predictors and offer couples the opportunity to work on those issues before they become too much to handle. Whether or not being aware of these factors can help couples avoid divorce may not be clear, but the findings are nonetheless interesting.

A study followed 136 married couples and questioned them periodically over 10 years. All of these couples reported being happily married within the first four years of marriage. Researchers asked the couples to answer questions about marriage satisfaction, level of commitment, personality traits, whether there was emotional support in the relationship, and other questions.

New study: children's fatal illness does not raise divorce rate

As El Paso residents can imagine, when children are diagnosed with a terminal illness, the parents may experience a devastating emotional strain. However, readers in Texas may be interested to hear that, according to a new study, a child's terminal illness does not necessarily increase the parents' risk of divorce.

For years it has been believed that a child being diagnosed with cancer or another severe illness was linked to divorce. But according to a new study in which 47,000 married couples with children participated, that isn't necessarily the case. Some 2,450 children who had been diagnosed with cancer over a span of 17 years were matched against some 44,853 children who did not have cancer. The data can thus be broken down to 18 cancer-free children per one child diagnosed with cancer.

The Tiki Barber divorce: what can divorcing Texans learn?

Couples going through a divorce in El Paso may already be aware of the acrimonious divorce battle between former NFL star Tiki Barber and his estranged wife. Reports are surfacing that the two have finally reached a settlement in their long and bitter separation. Although divorce negotiations for many couples in Texas won't be as public as the Barbers', their high profile dispute does underscore some of the serious difficulties that divorce can sometimes bring.

In 2010, the former NFL star was served with divorce papers after being seen out in public with a 23-year-old woman other than his wife, who was hospitalized at the time. Barber's new girlfriend happened to be an NBC intern, turned Maxim model, while Barber was working on the NBC show "Today" as a correspondent.

Not honoring child support obligations may lead to jail in Texas

El Paso residents should be aware that failure to pay child support is taken very seriously in the state of Texas. A large roundup of parents said to be delinquent on child support payments brought 24 arrests in a single day. The sweep effort focused solely on those who had outstanding warrants for failing to meet their child support obligations. Working in conjunction with the Texas Attorney General's Child Support Division, several counties across Texas participated in the campaign.

The Texas Attorney General emphasized that child support is a moral and legal obligation of parents, and by collecting delinquent payments, the state is ensuring that young children in Texas are able to have the resources they need to be healthy.

Helping children cope during a child custody dispute

For Texas couples who are divorcing, coming to an agreement on child custody and support can be difficult. Children may face a particularly confusing time during the separation of their parents, who may in turn feel overwhelmed with the child custody process as they struggle to achieve the best outcome for their children.

While parents' conflicting emotions during a child custody dispute are normal, a divorce can still be managed in a positive way that helps children come out of the divorce with a sense of security and the knowledge that they are loved by both parents.

Father ordered to include college bills in child support

Texans who have child support concerns may be interested in a recent out-of-state court ruling that required a father to foot the entire bill for his child's college education. The case highlights what many people go through when a non-custodial parent's income increases significantly after a child support order is made. The couple involved was divorced in 1993, and at that time, the father's child support payments were set at $175 per week for two children.

At the time of the separation, the man was only making an annual income of $29,000. By 2008, his income had drastically increased to approximately $250,000 per year, although the child support for the two children stayed the same. The woman's income remained below $40,000 per year the entire time.

Research shows how marriage breakups can affect work

In Texas and throughout the country, couples going through a divorce often experience emotional distress and psychological issues related to the breakup. New evidence also indicates these problems can extend to the workplace.

A recent news article connects lower productivity in the workplace to people who are going through a divorce, since suffering emotional trauma linked to a breakup can lead to missed workdays and difficulties with work performance.

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