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Online impersonation in Texas divorce suits

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Divorce, Divorce News, Uncategorized
Interesting article in Texas Lawyer this week about the effect of online impersonation having growing relevance in Texas family law. People are increasingly impersonating spouses, paramours, and others online out of spite or to gain leverage. In 2009, Texas made it illegal to pretend to be another person online to harass, stalk, or defraud someone. … Continue Reading

Changes from 2018 and looking ahead to 2019 for Texas family law

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Divorce News, Fault Grounds, Insupportability, Premarital and Postmarital Agreements, standing to sue
The Texas Legislature convenes every two years, with 2019 being one of those. Each session, proposed new laws get introduced that will affect family law in Texas. It is expected that a bill will be introduced to remove no fault divorce and require proof of fault grounds for all Texas divorce and extend the waiting … Continue Reading

Blake Griffin’s child support and reason #1,522 not to live in California

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Alimony and Spousal Support, Child Support, Divorce News
Reports surfaced today that pro-NBA player Blake Griffin has reached a settlement deal with his ex-girlfriend Brynn Cameron to pay child support of $258,000 PER MONTH for their two children. (See reports here from TotalProSports and here from TMZ.) The lawsuit, pending in California, alleges that Griffin ousted Cameron and the kids from his mansion … Continue Reading

WIN: Supreme Court of Texas rules no withholding or seizure of retirement assets for enforcement of non-statutory alimony

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Alimony and Spousal Support, Divorce News, Enforcement of family law orders, Michelle May O'Neil News
In February, Senior Shareholder Michelle May O’Neil presented oral argument to the Supreme Court of Texas in Dalton v. Dalton, a case out of the Nacogdoches trial court and the Tyler Court of Appeals. Today we learned that she WON that case — the Texas Supreme Court in a unanimous decision reversed the judgment and … Continue Reading

Three’s a crowd: The latest Texas Supreme Court ruling and its effect on non-parent standing

By Ryan Segall on Posted in Children and Parenting, Divorce News, standing to sue
Joe and Sue are down on their luck. Joe just lost his job and Sue has health issues. Along with their four-year-old child, Betsy, they move in with Joe’s parents, who are retired. For months, Joe interviews all over town while working odd-jobs to try to supplement his family income and pay for Sue’s medical … Continue Reading

When can a nonparent file suit for custody?

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Children and Parenting, Divorce News, standing to sue
ATTENTION PARENTS!  The Texas Supreme Court recently delivered a split 5-4 opinion that is bound to raise eyebrows. The only issue presented is whether a nonparent, like a grandparent or step-parent, has standing under the Family Code to file a suit seeking custody of a child. But, the longstanding implications of this case might force … Continue Reading

Beneficiary designation after divorce invalid — law upheld by US Supreme Court

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Divorce, Divorce News, Family Law Appellate Issues
The Supreme Court recently issued an opinion parsing out the practical concerns at play in a post-divorce life insurance case.  Specifically, in Sveen v. Melin, a former spouse designated as primary beneficiary in her ex-husband’s life-insurance policy urged the Court to dissect the constitutionality of a Minnesota statute that automatically revoked such designation upon divorce.  … Continue Reading

The Texas Lawyer’s Creed — voluntary standards for attorney professionalism and civility (Part 3 of 4)

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Divorce News, Hiring A Lawyer
The Texas Lawyer’s Creed was adopted by the Supreme Court of Texas and the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas in 1989, then reaffirmed in 2013. Amendments were passed in 2016 to update the creed. Civility is at the heart of the creed – suggesting that the conduct of a lawyer should “be characterized at … Continue Reading

Civility and Family law — are the two concepts compatible? (Part 2 of 4)

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Divorce News, Hiring A Lawyer
Family law, like no other practice area of law, is fraught with emotion, tension, and discourse. After all, if the parties could get along and reach civil resolution, they would probably not need family law attorneys, right? But does the parties’ incivility have to pass along to the lawyer’s behavior toward one another?  In fact, … Continue Reading

New TV Show Divorce with Sarah Jessica Parker

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Divorce News
Have you seen the previews of the new television show Divorce with Sarah Jessica Parker coming soon to HBO? Here’s how one website describes the show: “Taking a hard look at love and marriage through a darkly comedic lens, Divorce is raw and uncomfortable at times… but it’s also one of the best new comedies of … Continue Reading

Is there a divorce season? New research says Yes!

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Divorce News
A new study from sociologists at the University of Washington suggests that there is definitely a divorce season — two per year actually. The researchers found the first quantitative evidence of a seasonal, biannual pattern of divorce filings. They analyzed filings in Washington state from 2001 and 2015 and found that the new divorce filings … Continue Reading

Will you be my Divorce Valentine?

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Divorce News
Valentine’s Day should be the day of love and romance, roses and chocolate. Right? For some yes, but for divorce lawyers, February is well into the swing of Divorce Season. Studies conducted by AVVO cite to a 40% spike in new divorce filings in the days around Valentine’s Day. Cynically, many point to someone not … Continue Reading

Texas Divorce Statistics January 2015

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Divorce News
This from the Office of Court Administration, divorce filings in Texas account for 89% of all cases filed in the District Courts. In the fiscal year 2014, there were 111,409 divorces filed in Texas district courts out of a total of 125,588. Overall, the divorce rate per 1,000 people was 4.7 (meaning 4 or 5 … Continue Reading

Substituted Service Through Facebook

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Divorce News
When a new lawsuit is filed, whether it is a divorce in Dallas County, Texas or any other type of suit, the responding or defending party has a right under the Constitution to be personally service with citation. Also called “service of process”, this means that the party who filed for divorce must request the … Continue Reading

Divorce by murder — the Arlington Texas case

By Michelle O'Neil on Posted in Divorce News
We have all been reading and watching the account of the Arlington, Texas woman who killed her estranged husband this week.  We are just learning that the mother filed for divorce in October and there was a hearing this week over custody of the children.  (See: Domestic dispute led to 2 deaths in Arlington.) The … Continue Reading
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