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Hi this is Scott Morgan. I am a board certified family law attorney and the founder of the Morgan Law Firm. In today’s video we’re going to talk a little bit about how to determine which county is the appropriate county to file for divorce in and we are going to use as an example of course Travis County, where Austin is located.

The video is not going to discuss the many varieties of really complicated jurisdictional issues that can come up, we are not to talk about those. There are some complicated issues involving child custody and child support and there are uniform codes that have been approved or put into law by most every state. One of these is the UCCJEA which is the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act and the other one is UIFSA, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. Those statues involve some really complicated jurisdiction issues.

We are not going to go into any of that. We are going to talk about the more bread and butter typical divorce case involving which county your case should be filed in. Whenever you file a Texas divorce case, there are two basic requirements: one is domicile and the other is residency. They sound very similar and they are similar but there are distinct requirements.

Here’s one thing that’s a little bit of a twist and we’ll go into exactly what domicile and residency are in just a minute, but this is a little bit of a twist that some people get confused over. The statute requires that one party be domiciled in Texas and a resident of the county of filing, but that party does not have to be the person filing the divorce case.

So what that means is that let’s say a married couple lived in Travis County and then they separated and the husband moved away to Seattle. Well even though the husband doesn’t live in Travis County anymore, if the wife met the requirements of both domicile and residency then not only could wife file for divorce in Travis but husband could also, based on the wife living here in Travis County.

So requirement number one is that at least one of the parties has to be a domiciliary of Texas for six months prior to filing the divorce case. What that means is that on the date of filing the divorce petition you have to be able to look backward and say that for six months at least one party has been domiciled in Texas.

Now domicile is a little bit tricky and there is some case law on it that’s pretty confusing but then again we are talking about the standard case and the standard case is pretty straight forward. You live in Travis County and have for the past year then you meet the domiciliary requirement. The more complicated issue comes up with someone who has a house in Travis County but for the past 8 months or 4 months or year or whatever, his job might be the military or might just be a corporate job that requires him to work aboard or even in a different state and he hasn’t actually lived there.

I have had situations with clients like that before. In that case domicile means either where you are or where you intend to return to. So for example, the soldier that is in Afghanistan, obviously he is not going to file for divorce in Afghanistan. If he is from Travis County and that’s where he plans to return to then that means the domicile requirements is met.

The second requirement is that you have to be a resident of the county where you file for 90 days prior to filing the divorce case. So on the date that you file for the divorce looking backwards at least one party has to be a resident of the county that you file in for the previous 90 days.

So it’s important to know those are two different things. Domicile relates to the state of Texas and residency deals with the county. So it is possible to meet one requirement and not the other.

Going back to that example where you have a couple who both lived in Travis County and then husband moved – let’s say instead of Seattle he moved to Dallas. So as soon as he moves to Dallas and goes and rents an apartment there or moves and changes his residency, he no longer can file based on his residency in Travis County. He might still be able to do it based on wife’s residency but he can’t do it based on his.

He’s also not eligible to file in Dallas County until he has resided there for at least 90 days. In most cases it’s a really easy analysis but like I said not always. Sometimes it’s a little bit complicated.

Sometimes you get in questions over what truly is our domicile. I have had cases where it’s somewhat complicated as far as people who have two residences in different locations and they go back and forth between them. The key here is whether either party complains about jurisdiction. You can get into big jurisdictional fights when one party says they think the case should be in Travis County and the other party says that it should be in New York State.

Those kinds of issues can create a big fight before you can even get into any of the divorce issues, just purely arguing over which jurisdiction which court should hear the case. So it can be very complicated and very messy. Fortunately, most of the time that is not the case and it’s usually pretty straight forward and everybody agrees what the proper jurisdiction is.

Now one thing I should mention is that it is always best to consult with a qualified family law attorney about the specifics of your particular situation. This video of course can help you understand the law a little bit better but it is no substitute for the advice of an experienced family law attorney who is going to be able to look at your situation and advise you exactly on your situation.

I hope this video was helpful to you. If you feel like you are at that stage where you need to get advice from a family law attorney about your situation, feel free to give us a call. If you look at the side bar on the right of this website, AustinDivorceSpecialist.com, you will see our phone number and also at the bottom of the page. Just give us a call and we will get a consultation scheduled and see what we can do to help you.

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If you want to read something that makes you feel fortunate to be in Texas read this post – “At Least Divorce in Travis County Doesn’t Have This Problem.”
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This is a video explaining how to determine which county you are able to file a divorce case in, based on domicile and residence under the Texas Family Code. If you would rather read the transcript of the video, click here.

• 60% to 80% of NFL marriages end in divorce (significantly higher than the 50% national average)
• Two years after retirement 78% of NFL players are either bankrupt, jobless or divorced
• Michael Jordan’s wife got $168 million in their divorce settlement

There are so many stories of big name professional athletes going broke that I shouldn’t be surprised, but it is still hard to comprehend how so many athletes end up in the poorhouse when their playing days end. You would think the players themselves (as well as their financial advisers) would plan a little better.  Take a look and comment below with your thoughts.

Here is a related article on this site about statistics concerning “regular people” and divorce.

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But as with everything in life, it could always be worse.  You could be divorcing in California.

According to San Francisco divorce lawyer Barry Schneider, massive California state and local budget cuts have left divorcing parties hanging in the balance.  Court staffs have been cut and court hours have been reduced with the remaining staff being overwhelmed with a workload they are incapable of adequately handling.  Says Schneider, “some counties are declaring a typical divorce, which previously could be completed within 6 months, could take 1½ to 2 years or more.”

A “typical” divorce could take longer than two years? Ouch.

You can read more about the lengthy California divorce delays here.  Also check out our video on filing for divorce in the right county.

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• Don’t say bad things about the other parent
• Don’t make me feel bad for loving the other parent
• Learn to get along for big events
• Don’t ask me to spy

Going through a divorce can be a really difficult and emotional time in your life.  But it is important to keep in mind how your own behavior, however justified it might seem to you, can negatively impact your children.  You will eventually move on from the divorce but they only get the one childhood.

Here is a link to the full article.

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• Nevada has the highest rate of currently divorced people (for both men and women)
• The states with the highest rates of married people are the ones most would consider more traditional or boring (Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Utah, etc.)
• Only 5% of people have been married three or more times (I guess professional bias makes me think it would be higher)

Take a look and let me know in the comment section if any of these statistics surprised you. I would like to see specific statistics on divorce in Travis County.  If anyone has a good source for that please let me know.

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Source:LiveScience
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1. How long will my divorce case last?

I recently wrote a lengthy detailed post on how long  a divorce takes.  The short answer is it depends.  A slightly less ambiguous answer is somewhere between two months and over a year. It really is very case dependent and varies a lot, although there are a lot of things that can be done to move the process along.

2. Since Texas is a community property state isn’t it automatically a 50/50 division of the community property?

Most definitely not.  Here is a recent post entitled “Austin Divorce Attorney Debunks Most Common Misconception in Family Law.”  Texas Family Court judges have a tremendous amount of discretion in how to divide community property.

3. Do I need a “legal separation” from my spouse?

While some status have this, in Texas there is no such status as legal separation.  You are married to your spouse until the day the court grants a divorce and the community estate continues to exist until that day as well.

4. What are Temporary Orders?

Temporary Orders are orders from the court (typically entered at the beginning of a case) that govern the behavior of the parties while the case is pending.  They can cover a broad range of issues but most commonly address things like custody and visitation of the children, child support, alimony, exclusive use of property including the residence, injunctions, scheduling certain deadlines in the case, as well as a number of other issues.

5. Where can I file for divorce?

You can file for divorce in the county that either you or your spouse have resided in for the past 90 days, provided that the same spouse has also lived in Texas for the past six months. Another recent post addressed this issue in detail in “Venue: What is the Correct County for Filing My Divorce.”

Please feel free to comment on these and if you have any specific FAQ-type questions let me know and I will try to add them in the next batch of FAQ’s I answer.

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1. The custodial parent is defined as the parent who the child spends the greater number of nights with during a particular tax year. That parent will get the exemption, regardless of what the order says.  This is contrary to the old law, which was dependent on the specific language of the order.
2. If you are the non-custodial parent (you had the child less than half the nights), the only way you can take the exemption is to obtain an executed IRS Form 8332 from custodial parent. You can no longer simply rely on the language of the court order.

My initial thought is that this will create some factual disputes (and consequently some litigation) as to who had the child for the majority of the nights for a given tax year, but so far I have not heard of any onslaught of litigation on this point.  I do think that there will be some cases of both parties claiming the exemption on their respective tax returns and resulting audits of both parties.  At that point the auditing IRS agents will wish this code revision had never occurred, as it creates a fact issue that they will be forced to figure out.

For more information on this topic see this article on thefinancialdivorce.com.

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When the Parties Reach a Quick Agreement

The first answer (and easier answer) applies when the parties are in agreement on all terms of the divorce and the necessary documents are drafted and executed voluntarily by both parties.  In that case, the divorce can be final in as little as 60 days after the filing of the divorce petition.  Texas Family Code Sec. 6.702 states that that a court may not grant a divorce until “the 60th day after the suit was filed.”

Frequently people hear of the 60 day waiting period and think that it means that there is some automatic action that occurs on day 61.  Actually, it is just a threshold and nothing happens on day 61 unless the parties have already agreed and signed all the necessary documents.  In that case, on day 61 the court has the authority to grant the agreed divorce.

When the Parties Do Not Reach a Quick Agreement

The second answer is essentially every other situation other than the situation described above.  In other words, if the parties are not fortunate enough to have arrived at an agreement on all terms and signed the documents within 60 days of filing, then there are a wide range of possibilities.

The possibilities range from reaching an agreement and finalizing the divorce shortly after 60 days pass all the way to being unable to reach an agreement at all and having a trial in which the court (and possibly a jury on certain issues) decide the result in the divorce case. Most cases fall somewhere between the two extremes.  Depending on the complexities of the issues in the case, if a case is tried it is very common for it to take a year or more to reach trial.  Nearly all counties have a number of prerequisites before your first trial setting, commonly including a mandatory mediation, and certain document and information exchanges between the parties’ lawyers. A case that reaches trial will most likely have had extensive written discovery (detailed written questions/answers and document production) on both sides, as well as depositions of the parties and potentially other witnesses. Also, most trials do not occur at the first trial setting for a variety of reasons and it is common for a case to have two, three, or even four trial settings before a trial occurs.

As you can imagine a contested trial is a very time-intensive and expensive proposition. I always advise my clients that a reasonable settlement is almost always better in the long run than an outstanding trial outcome.  For the parties,  the emotional toll and financial cost of a trial is very high.  I have always believed that trials should be reserved for those cases in which you simply cannot get the other side to agree to reasonable terms or if you have an issue in which there is no possible way to agree (for example, one party alleges the other is a substance abuser and should have only supervised visitation and the other spouse denies the allegation).

However Long Your Case Takes it Will Eventually Reach the End

So as you can see there is a broad range of possible answers to the question of “how long will my divorce take?” If you are fortunate your case will be on the short end of the spectrum, but even if your case is one that takes longer, you can rest assured that eventually the process will play out, the divorce will be granted and you can move on with your life.

Check out our related article on why you should hire an Austin divorce attorney and avoid the problems that go along with trying to represent yourself in your divorce case.

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