Carlton Hughes

PRIMARY CONTACT

CARLTON HUGHES
401 Corporate Dr., Suite 100
Lewisville, Texas 75057
Office: (972) 384-4505
Fax: (972) 384-4507
Email: CarltonHughes@aol.com

6060 N. Central, Suite 560
Dallas, Texas 75206

555 Republic, Suite 200
Plano, TX 75074

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DIVORCE AND CUSTODY FAQS

Question: Is it possible to have legal separation to avoid a divorce?
Answer: Texas law does not recognize “legal separation”. The court may issue temporary orders that establish a temporary set of rules or orders for the exclusive use of assets (such as the residence and motor vehicles), payment of child support, child custody, visitation and other issues. This is what one might think of as legal separation and provides a temporary set of rules and orders until the court makes a final determination of all matters at a later time.

Question: What is divorce?
Answer: Divorce is a lawsuit to dissolve a marriage. A divorce may involve dividing the community assets and provide orders for child custody and support.

Question: How soon may I remarry after a divorce?
Answer: Under Texas law, a party may not remarry until more than 30 days from the date the divorce is granted. Some courts may grant a waiver so that a party may remarry prior to that time.

Question: Where do I file my divorce suit?
Answer: You or your spouse must first have resided in Texas for at least 6 months. Then the divorce suit may be filed in either a county that you have resided in for 90 days or your spouse has resided in for 90 days. At the time of filing, the case is assigned to a district court.

Question: When is the earliest that I may be divorced after the suit is filed?
Answer: Texas law will not permit a court to grant a divorce until the suit has been on file for at least 60 days. It is not usual that a court will grant a divorce on the 60th day because many divorce cases involve complex matters such as division of community property and child custody. The preparation for such matters takes some time and results in a final hearing being much later than 60 days.

Question: How much are the attorney’s fees?
Answer: Divorce proceedings can be expensive. This firm charges by the amount of time spent on a case as well as flat fees for documents prepared. We make monthly statements so that you may be aware of our work on your case. Some times it is not possible to predict the time and exact cost of your case. Only you can determine the value of these matters in your life.

Question: Do I get to stay in my home?
Answer: The court at the temporary orders hearing determines who may stay in the home. There are many factors for the court to consider. At the final hearing, the court may determine that one party is to stay in the house, pay the other party, pay the mortgage or sell the house and divide the monies.

Question: Who gets custody of the child (ren)?
Answer: The court determines custody in the best interests of the children. The custodial parent is either referred to as the co-managing conservator with the right to determine residency or sole managing conservator.

Question: How are possession times determined for the non-custodial parent?
Answer: Assuming the parents live within 100 miles of each other, the non-custodial parent may opt for either standard or extended standard possession. Standard possession for non-custodial parent typically covers every Thursday night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and every first, third and fifth Friday from 6 p.m. until Sunday at 6 p.m. Extended standard possession typically covers every Thursday from the time the child’s school lets out until the following Friday at the time school resumes and every first, third and fifth Friday from the time school recesses until the following Monday when school resumes. Holidays are alternating between the parents.

Question: May a court imposed supervised possession on a non-custodial parent and under what circumstances?
Answer: Yes. It may be based upon the age of the child or violence of the non-custodial parent or lack of a safe place for the non-custodial parent to take the children to.

Question: May a court impose geographic restrictions for custody of child (ren)?
Answer: Yes. The court may impose geographic restrictions such as requiring the custodial parent to keep the child (ren) in the county of the divorce or the adjoining counties to that county of the divorce.

Question: What is a guardian ad litem and may the court appoint a guardian ad litem?
Answer: A guardian ad litem may be another attorney or a trained child advocate but typically is someone with a masters in social work or comparable decree. The court may appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the best interests of the child (ren).

Question: What is spousal maintenance or alimony? May the court order it?
Answer: It’s an award of payments from one spouse to the other. The court may order in temporary orders and upon final hearing may award it up to a maximum of three years.

Question: May I make changes to my divorce decree?
Answer: If it involves the amount of child support, custody or possession, then you may request the court to make changes.

Question: May court grant me a divorce for no fault of either spouse?
Answer: Yes. In most divorces, the court will grant a divorce if one party asserts that there is a conflict of personalities and no hope of reconciliation.

Question: May a court consider a fault basis for divorce?
Answer: Yes. A court will grant a divorce where there is cruelty or violence or adultery and such grounds may affect the division of community property.

Question: What the chances for settling my divorce case?
Answer: Many cases settle.

Question: What if my spouse and I agree on everything?
Answer: The agreement is reduced to writing and incorporated into the final divorce decree. At the final hearing, the court will approve and adopt the agreement into the final judgment of the court.

Question: What if my spouse and I decide we don’t want to divorce after we have filed?
Answer: You and your spouse may direct your attorneys to file motions to dismiss the divorce proceedings.

Question: When may I date again?
Answer: You shouldn’t date until the divorce is final. Adultery is a basis for a divorce. Many judges are lenient about such matters but it can be very risky to date during the course of the divorce.

Question: What is separate property and community property?
Answer: Separate property is property a spouse had prior to the marriage, obtained through inheritance or obtained as gift. Community property is all property acquired during the time of the marriage.

Question: How is child support determined?
Answer: It is a percent based upon the non-custodial parent’s income after taxes and some other monies taken from that parent’s pay check.
The guidelines provide the following percentages, depending on the number of children:
One child-20%
Two children-25%
Three children-30%
Four children-35%
Five children-40%

Question: Does Texas allow for alimony and how is it determined?
Answer: The court may order one spouse to pay support to the other spouse after the divorce is final. This is limited to cases (1) where marriage lasted at least 10 years, (2) the spouse seeking support lacks sufficient means to provide for his or her minimum reasonable needs, and (3) that spouse (a) is unable to support herself or himself because of an incapacitation preventing the spouse from being employed or (b) lacks earning ability adequate to support his or her minimum reasonable needs.

A spouse may also seek alimony if the other spouse has been convicted of or received deferred adjudication for a criminal offense involving family violence within two years before the divorce was filed or during the pendency of the suit.

Unless the spouse seeking alimony has a serious physical mental disability, the court may not order support for more than three years.

The amount of court-ordered alimony is not to exceed the lesser of $2,500 per month or 20% of the spouse’s average gross monthly income and should not exceed the minimum reasonable needs of the spouse seeking support.