January is the month of renewal - closing the door on the negativity of the prior year and planning for the challenges of the new year. Many commit to weight loss, exercise, or stopping smoking at the start of a new year as an opportunity to make improvements in their lives. On the other hand, some people use the beginning of a new year to make new personal beginnings, such as ending their marriage.… Continue Reading
Texas marital property law is different than most other states because it is based on a scheme of community property. In dealing with filing of tax returns, this difference can cause a significant impact on divorcing spouses. In community property states, each spouse, if filing separately, reports one half of the other spouse’s community income, … Continue Reading
Filing income tax returns while a divorce pends can be an especially contentious issue. When one spouse lacks trust in the other spouse, even filing a joint return can be troublesome. Usually filing jointly results in reduced overall tax burden for the still-married couple. But, sometimes filing jointly may result in a greater benefit to … Continue Reading
The question often arises after a divorce in Texas — which parent gets to claim the child as a dependent for tax purposes? Often this issue is settled by the obvious split of parenting time greatly in favor of one parent, but as we have seen a rise in equal time splits for parents and … Continue Reading
In divorce cases in Dallas or, really anywhere in Texas, it is sometimes necessary to hire a professional to offer expert witness testimony on a subject. An expert is someone who is qualified through education or experience on a subject unknown to lay persons and whose opinion would be helpful to the factfinder (judge or … Continue Reading
With the aging of the Baby Boomer generation and the increase in "gray divorces" that we are seeing in the Dallas, Texas area, I am more frequently being asked about the effect of social security benefits in divorces.… Continue Reading
Dictionaries generally define "bank" as a financial establishment for the deposit, loan, exchange, or issue of money and for the transmission of funds. In contrast, "broker" is defined as an agent who acts as an intermediary or negotiator, especially between prospective buyers and sellers; a person employed to make bargains and contracts between other persons in matters of trade, commerce, or navigation. According to the Houston Court, these definitions illustrate that banks and brokers are distinguishable, particularly with respect to the scope of their respective services; banks tend to offer a broader spectrum of financial services than brokerage firms.… Continue Reading
Michelle May O'Neil, a Dallas divorce attorney and Shareholder at Godwin Lewis PC, publishes a monthly newsletter. Here is the August 2014 edition.… Continue Reading
Oftentimes, people going through a custody dispute want to have psychological evaluations to show the judge "who is lying" to the court about some issue or another. Conversely, some people going through psychological evaluations in a custody case become concerned that the other person will "lie" to the evaluator through charm or outright deception and sway the results of the evaluation.… Continue Reading
What happens if, after the divorce is final, a party discovers that the other party failed to disclose certain assets in the divorce proceedings?… Continue Reading
What happens when a spouse contributes or loans separate property to the community estate during marriage, then seeks reimbursement of those contributions/loans at divorce?… Continue Reading
Here is the list of action items that a divorced party may still need to address once the decree is entered. Ms. Gammill points out that a person doesn't need to face this list alone. He or she can employ professionals to accomplish many of these tasks.… Continue Reading
All too frequently, the issue of pornography comes up in divorces across the state of Texas. Whether it is an addiction to pornography, sexting a photo to a spouse or paramour, or videos of sexual acts, pornography has taken the divorce stage front and center.… Continue Reading
Far too many times I have seen clients' postings, comments, and pictures on Facebook and other forms of social media be used against them in a divorce proceeding.… Continue Reading
It's that time of year again - tax season is upon us. As discussed in my previous blog, it is important when preparing for a divorce in Texas to be aware of your assets and debts before you meet with a lawyer. It is my recommendation to have the two prior year tax returns in your possession at your initial consultation.… Continue Reading
Any person who is on the receiving end of a lawsuit in Texas is entitled to what is called "personal service." Personal service is where a constable or a private process server comes up to the person on the receiving end of a lawsuit, asks if they are that person, and personally hands them a copy of the original petition and citation.… Continue Reading
This is the second in my line of posts responding to the questions posed by Carla Schiff Donnelly in her article about hiring the right divorce lawyer. There, she poses several questions that a person should ask a divorce lawyer in the initial interview. Here is my answer to question #2… Continue Reading
The focus of the article centered on women preparing themselves and their finances during the divorce process and to become educated on what assets they are entitled to at the conclusion of the divorce.… Continue Reading
One of the toughest moments in a divorce is telling the children. Although it is better to tell the children together, sometimes one parent selfishly decides to tell the children his or her story alone, without involving the other parent.… Continue Reading
The Texas Family Code states that a person is entitled to receive spousal maintenance if the person can prove that the other spouse was convicted of or received deferred adjudication for a criminal offense that constitutes family violence. The act of family violence has to have been committed against the other spouse or a child of the other spouse and the act of family violence has to have been committed during the marriage within than two years before filing for divorce or while the divorce action was pending.… Continue Reading
