Divorce and Remarriage in Texas

Posted on February 1, 2012 by glmain

Are you considering getting remarried in Texas? Have you heard that there are restrictions about how soon you can remarry? This blog post outlines the Texas laws governing remarriage after a divorce.

The laws governing remarriage in Texas have remained unchanged for decades. Before January 1, 1970 (back before Texas allowed no-fault divorce), if your divorce was granted on the grounds of cruel treatment, neither party could remarry for at least 12 months. Effective January 1, 1970, anyone obtaining a divorce in Texas must wait at least six months before getting married again. A party to a divorce could get the 6 month period waived for good cause. The parties to the divorce could remarry each other at any time.

Effective January 1, 1974, the Texas legislature reduced the waiting period to 30 days. This follows the Texas rule that a divorce may be reopened within 30 days of the final order by either party. If you do get married before the 30 day period has expired, your marriage is voidable, which means that your ex-spouse can challenge its validity. Divorcing spouses may still remarry each other at any time.

There are circumstances where you can request a waiver of the 30 day waiting period. Under Section 6.802 of the Texas code, the court may waive the prohibition against remarriage for good cause shown. This may include circumstances where one of the parties is seriously ill, or one of the parties is scheduled to take a permanent duty reassignment in another part of the country or the world.

Contact the Law Offices of Pfister Borserine & Associates

At Pfister Borserine & Associates, we bring two decades of experience to people throughout north Texas. Attorney John Pfister is board-certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. We have the experience to know that every case is unique, and that the strategy that works for one client may not meet the needs of others. We can help you protect your rights in court, or can work with you to resolve your family law differences through alternative means, including negotiated settlements or mediation.

To schedule an appointment with an experienced divorce lawyer, contact our office online or call us at 972-712-6700.

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Frisco, Texas Child Custody Lawyer

Posted on December 30, 2011 by glmain

Child Custody Lawyer

In awarding child custody, the court will act in what it believes is the best interest of a child. As such, the court will not automatically award custody to the mother who whomever earns more money. In fact, due to the 1976 case, Holley v. Adams, there are several factors the court now takes into consideration when determining child custody. Typically, these factors include the following:

  • Which parent the child prefers to stay with
  • To what extent each parent is involved in a child's life
  • The emotional needs and condition of a child
  • Whether a parent poses a threat to a child or has a criminal record
  • Which parent functioned as the primary caregiver for a child
  • What plans a parent has for a child's future
  • Whether a parent has withheld certain information from the court or has attempted to conceal a problem with their relationship with their child
  • Whether one parent has attempted to turn a child against the other parent
  • The involvement of a parent in a child's education
  • The overall quality of a household and a parent's fitness to raise a child

Collaborative Divorce and Child Custody – Avoiding Bitter Arguments

In many ways, the family law courts in Texas operate under a presumption that it is in the best interest of a child to have his or her parents involved in their life. As such, parents are encouraged to create a custody or visitation arrangement link to www.custodyxchange.com/texas/visitation-schedule.php that is in everyone's best interests. Towards this end, if you and your spouse are willing to work together, the collaborative law process allows you to arrive at mutually agreeable terms for determining child custody and parenting time arrangements.

If you live in relative proximity to each other, joint custody may be the best arrangement for you. If you live 100 miles apart or more, you can divide holidays, summer vacation time, and extended weekend stays according to a visitation link to www.friscolawfirm.com/visitation-rights.php schedule that you and your ex-spouse find agreeable. While subject to final approval by the court, collaborative law puts you in charge of your child custody agreement rather than leaving the matter up to a judge.

Child Custody and Child Support

It's important to remember that child custody can affect the amount of child support the court orders a non-custodial parent to pay. In joint custody arrangements, typically, child support will be less than in cases where sole custody is awarded to only one parent. Of course, there are several factors the court will taken into consideration when determining child support and child custody. For these reasons, it’s important to discuss your case with an experienced child custody attorney.

To schedule an appointment and learn how we can help you, contact Frisco, Texas child custody lawyers at Pfister Borserine & Associates today.

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Dealing with Child Protective Services (CPS) in Texas

Posted on December 19, 2011 by glmain

Child

The Child Protective Services (CPS) division of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) investigates allegations of child abuse and neglect. However, some CPS workers engage in intimidation, deception, and harassment in order to gain information and bully families they believe are uncooperative or question their authority. As a result, CPS has a reputation for “snatching” kids and targeting families in order to settle scores that have more to do with flexing CPS institutional muscle than with protecting children.
What, then, should you do if you are approached by CPS agents?

When a CPS Worker asks to Enter Your Home

If CPS workers show up on your doorstep, remain calm and don’t act upset or hostile towards them. If they ask to enter your home, politely decline: they have no right to enter your house unless they are accompanied by a police officer with a signed search warrant. If a CPS worker is working on an anonymous tip that your house is dirty or unsafe, he or she doesn’t have any evidence and won’t be able to get a court order to enter your house. If he or she has some sort of tangible evidence, a court order may granted that then allows them inside your home.

Document the Actions of CPS Agents

If a CPS worker has a court order to enter your home, try and videotape everything link to www.fdno.org/10_tips.html they do and say. At the very least, try to record what is said. Under Texas state law (Texas Penal Code § 16.02), consent is not required when recording a conversation link to www.rcfp.org/taping/states/texas.html, so long as you are party to the conversation and do not intend to use it for criminal purposes. Secondly, try to write everything down that is said – even if you have to ask the CPS worker to pause in order to give you time to record what has been said to you. Third, after each encounter with CPS workers, send them a notarized copy of your transcript and ask them to confirm or deny what is contained therein within 10 working days of receipt. If they fail to do so, your letters can be entered in as evidence should your case go to trial.

Most importantly, don’t say anything to CPS workers. If they ask you questions, simply tell them you prefer to go through your attorney. If you do not have one, tell them you will need to contact an attorney and prefer not to say anything until one is present.

CPS and the Service Plan Racket

Funding for CPS is intricately tied in to various “counseling and social health services.” These involve drug testing, drug and alcohol counseling, psychological evaluations, mental health services, and so on. Here, a CPS worker may tell you if you agree to a psychological evaluation, in-home study, or drug test to prove your innocence, your children won’t be removed from your home.

Don’t believe this non-sense for a second. In many cases, this is simply a ruse to get you entangled “in the system” so they can further complicate your life, collect more information on you, and leverage institutional power against you. To protect yourself and your children, don’t sign or agree to anything – call an experienced family law attorney and make CPS prove its case in court.

Contact Frisco, Texas CPS Attorneys at Pfister Borserine & Associates

As a parent and US citizen, you have certain rights. Don’t trust CPS workers to inform you of your rights or disclose all relevant information. To protect you and your children, contact Frisco, Texas CPS lawyers Contact Us at Pfister Borserine & Associates today.

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Fathers and Divorce in Texas

Posted on December 12, 2011 by glmain

Fathers' Rights in Texas

In a divorce, fathers are often given short shrift and do not realize that they have custody rights. Despite the trend in recent years of granting joint custody to parents, the family courts often display more sympathy towards the mother. And fathers bear the financial responsibilities of spousal support, child support and other related expenses while having limited time with their children. Non-custodial fathers have little control and influence over their children’s day to day life and are at the mercy of the court-determined visitation schedule just to see their children. This model of child custody has given birth to a father’s rights movement which seeks to provide fathers with a larger and more active role in their children’s life.

The best interests of your children

The family courts award child custody based upon the best interests of your children. Sole or joint custody for fathers is awarded when a judge determines that such a custody arrangement is most beneficial to the children involved. The family courts consider several factors to determine custody awards including:

  • The child’s wishes
  • Any history of abuse or neglect
  • Parenting history
  • Household stability
  • Each parent’s time availability for raising a child
  • Personal behaviors of each parent

Joint custody can often be the best solution in a difficult situation. A joint custody arrangement allows the parents to share rights and responsibilities in raising their children. Under joint custody a parenting plan details which parent makes the major decisions affecting the child, which parent the child lives with, and other legal and physical custody issues.

The law is finally catching up with the fact that a father has the right to be involved in his child’s life. To protect your rights as a father contact Pfister, Borserine & Associates online or call 972-712-6700 and schedule a consultation to discuss your child custody case.

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Infidelity and divorce-how it effects your case

Posted on December 11, 2011 by glmain

Infadelity and Divorce

Like most states, Texas provides for no-fault divorce on the ground of incompatibility and/or irreconcilable differences. However, Texas divorce law also provides for fault-based grounds:

  • Mental cruelty
  • Adultery
  • Imprisonment or conviction of a felony
  • Abandonment
  • Living separate and apart
  • Insanity and confinement to a state mental hospital

    • While infidelity (adultery) is not a crime for which an individual can be imprisoned, it is a cause and basis for divorce in Texas. Infidelity often has devastating effects upon the innocent spouse and can inspire a need to inflict pain and revenge upon the offending spouse in a divorce proceeding. However, each judge in a divorce case does not attach the same significance that infidelity has upon the outcome of a divorce. One judge may see infidelity as a natural consequence of an unhappy couple, another judge may consider it a sign of moral turpitude, and another judge may consider it as one aspect of the facts of the case and weigh its impact relative to other factors.

    If your divorce involves contentious child custody issues and adultery is a factor, the offending spouse is at risk. The risk increases if the cheating spouse has made the non-marital partner part of his or her children’s lives, especially if the children are aware that a sexual relationship exists between the parties. Such action could result in denied or limited child custody and/or visitation. Your best course of action in such a circumstance is to wait until your divorce is final before introducing the non-marital partner into your children’s lives.

    Contact our experienced Texas family law lawyers

    Divorce is never easy and often involves difficult issues and requires the skill of an experienced Texas divorce lawyer. Attorney John J. Pfister Jr. is a certified family law specialist by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Contact Pfister, Borserine & Associates online or call 972-712-6700 to schedule a consultation.

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Estate Planning and Divorce

Posted on December 5, 2011 by glmain

Frisco, Texas Estate Planning & Divorce Lawyers

When couples decide to divorce, it might not initially occur to them to re-evaluate their estate plan. For example, if you have a simple will or healthcare directive granting power of attorney to your spouse, you will probably want to change your will and select someone else. Likewise, if during your marriage you bequeathed certain heirlooms or established a trust fund for your spouse, you will need to change your estate plan to reflect your current situation. Even if you’ve made pertinent changes but have remarried, you will still need to update your will or trust to ensure assets are distributed to the people you care about.

Remarried with Step - Children? Update Your Estate Plan

After your divorce, you may have updated your estate plan and named your children as beneficiaries to your estate. Now, you find yourself remarried with stepchildren. You might think since your biological children are named in your updated estate plan, you don’t need to worry about anything, right?

Wrong – depending on the terms of your estate plan, your current wife might lay claim to certain assets or property you intended for your biological children. For example, suppose you have a classic car, vintage guitar, or gun collection you want to leave for your biological son or daughter.

However, suppose you used comingled assets from your current marriage to refurbish or repair your vintage Gibson Les Paul, Weatherby rifle, or ’65 Mustang. The court might consider these items as community property and grant ownership of them to your wife. The same fate could be reserved for investments and savings accounts if you don’t update your estate plan.

The Importance of Changing Beneficiaries

If you have an insurance policy or retirement plan, you’ll need to change the beneficiary – even if your divorce settlement indicates your former spouse has no claim on them. Here, it’s important to keep in mind that your divorce settlement does not pre-empt or override what an insurance company or retirement plan administrator is required to do by law. As a result, if your ex-spouse is name as the beneficiary on an insurance or retirement plan, your survivors may have little legal recourse to demand the money go to them – even if you’ve made provisions for these assets in your estate plan.

Contact Frisco Estate Planning Lawyers at Pfister Borserine & Associates

Understanding how your will or trust can affect probate and the financial future of your heirs is essential. To learn how we can help you protect your family and interests, contact Frisco, Texas estate planning attorneys at Pfister Borserine & Associates today t schedule an appointment and discuss your case

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Domestic Violence and Divorce in Texas

Posted on October 24, 2011 by glmain

The term domestic violence covers a range of behaviors including:

  • Intimidation
  • Threats of physical harm
  • Coercion
  • Physical or sexual abuse

If you have been a victim of domestic violence you have legal options available to protect you and your children. Further if you are pursuing a divorce, disclosing any facts relative to domestic violence to your attorney is essential to your case. By disclosing such information, it enables the courts to effectively evaluate your situation and act in your family's best interests.

Domestic violence and child custody

The Texas family courts are required by law to consider any domestic violence factors before deciding child custody awards. And individuals charged with domestic violence can be denied custody rights or have his or her visitation rights greatly curtailed by the court. Therefore such accusations must be substantiated and never made in an attempt to gain the upper hand or exact revenge on an ex-spouse.

In any custody determination, the guiding principle is always what is in the best interest of your children. In this determination the judge considers numerous factors including:

  • The child's wishes
  • The parents' wishes
  • Any history of abuse or neglect
  • Parenting history
  • Household stability
  • Personal behaviors of each parent
  • Mental and physical health of the children and parents

Most states have adopted the model of the Code on Domestic and Family Violence, which presumes a child's best interests are not served by granting sole or joint custody to a parent charged with domestic violence. However, under certain circumstances the court may consider other factors before completely severing a child's relationship to a parent.

Domestic violence has seriously impacts a divorce, can complicate child custody issues, and requires a skilled Texas family law attorney. Contact Pfister, Borserine & Associates online or call 972-712-6700 to schedule a consultation.

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First Steps in Divorce Mediation in Texas

Posted on October 10, 2011 by glmain

Divorce mediation is a settlement process in which the ex spouses meet with a neutral third party – the mediator - to resolve the contested issues in a private meeting or series of meetings.

Typically the mediation is conducted through a series of two-hour meetings at the mediator’s office and the mediator helps the parties:

  • To identify the key issues
  • Address the financial issues
  • Work through custody issues

Once the parties reach an agreement on the issues, a settlement agreement is drafted, and each party has his or her attorney review the agreement. The agreement is then submitted to the court for approval.

Mediation is voluntary and you may choose to terminate mediation at any time during the process. And the mediation process is complete only when both parties are satisfied with the agreement.
Why Divorce Mediation?

The trend toward divorce mediation has increased because the process offers divorcing couples many benefits including:

  • Greater control of problem resolution
  • Equal airing of grievances
  • Lowered legal and court costs
  • Establishes cooperation between spouses
  • Establishes co-parenting solutions
  • Family issues are decided by you rather than the judge
  • Quicker resolution to problems

Even a difficult case can reap amazing results with an experienced and skillful divorce mediator. Divorcing couples should strongly consider using the mediation process if their goal is to obtain a settlement that is acceptable to both parties, in a less stressful and private setting.

An experienced Frisco divorce attorney can help you to obtain your desired results through divorce mediation, without having to fight it out in court. Contact Pfister, Borserine & Associates online or call 972-712-6700 today to discuss whether divorce mediation is the right solution for you.

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Dealing with Adult Protective Services (APS)

Posted on September 26, 2011 by glmain

In recent years expanded awareness of adult abuse of the elderly and disabled has dramatically increased reports of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. In fact, in 2004 Adult Protective Services (APS) investigated 61,342 cases and of these 44.694 cases were confirmed as abuse.

  • Abuse includes scratches, cuts, bruises, burns, broken bones, bedsores, confinement, sexual abuse, and psychological abuse.
  • Neglect includes starvation, dehydration, improper medication, unsanitary living conditions, lack of heat, water, electricity, medical care, and personal hygiene.
  • Exploitation is the misuse of the assets of the elderly or disabled for personal or financial gain and includes: taking Social Security or other benefit checks, abusing a joint checking account, and taking ownership of property and other resources.

Often abused elderly or disabled adults are isolated, sick, have no reliable caregiver, and lack the resources neccesary for basic living expenses. In bona fide cases of abuse, the APS can offer valuable help and assistance to abused adults and greatly improve the situation.

However, the elderly may also find themselves in a nightmare of good intentions perpetrated by individuals who believe they are helping. The harrowing story of the Kidds is yet to be resolved and meanwhile they have lost control of their home, their financial resources and in essence their personal freedoms. Because they did not have a caregiver or family member looking out for their best interests the state was able to over rule their decisions about their own lives.

Get immediate legal advice

If you or a loved one has been subjected to improper intervention by APS contact an experienced Texas family law attorney immediately. A skillful attorney can represent you in court and protect your rights and interests. Contact Pfister, Borserine & Associates online or call 972-712-6700 today to schedule a consultation.

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Texas Divorce Attorneys Using Private Investigators to Prove Your Case

Posted on September 9, 2011 by glmain

While cooperative approaches to divorce, such as collaborative collaborative divorce and mediated divorce, are up-trending, the sad truth is that many divorces are contentious, litigated cases. Prevailing in a divorce battle in court requires compelling and admissible evidence provided by credible witnesses and documented facts. And the use of private investigators is often key in establishing facts that are difficult to prove otherwise.

In difficult cases, Texas divorce attorneys often turn to private investigators to:

• Substantiate adultery
• Document unsafe or harmful practices relative to child custody
• Locate hidden financial and other assets
• Prove false statements about income and employment

A skillful private investigator is licensed and trained to root out the truth and the facts of a case and can be an invaluable asset. However, not all private investigators are created equally and you should look for an investigator who is experienced, has a good reputation, and can work in tandem with your Texas divorce attorney. If you hire an investigator before consulting with your attorney you may end up wasting time and money by obtaining evidence that is not relevant or even admissible. By working with your attorney to locate the right private investigator you can ensure that the right strategy is employed to obtain the credible evidence your case requires.

Private investigators are often used by skilled attorneys for numerous functions including:

• Locating witnesses
• Serving subpoenas
• Documenting fraudulent statements/actions
• Surveillance

Discuss using a private investigator with your Texas divorce attorney

A private investigator can be the best witness in your case but he or she needs guidance from your attorney on how to collect relevant and admissible evidence to prove your case. Contact Pfister, Borserine & Associates online or call 972-712-6700 today to discuss your case.

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