Family Law & Probate

Uncontested divorces — where both sides agree on assets, debts, and custody and contested matters are billed hourly because the cost depends entirely on how much the parties fight. We give you an honest range at the first consultation, and we push toward settlement wherever it serves you.

There’s a mandatory 60-day waiting period after filing the original petition — the absolute minimum, and only applies to uncontested cases where both parties have already agreed on everything. Contested divorces typically run six months to two years depending on the complexity of assets, custody disputes, and how aggressively the other side litigates. The fastest path is usually the cooperative one.

Community property is the default rule in Texas. Anything either spouse earned or acquired during the marriage (paychecks, investment gains, real estate purchases, retirement contributions) is presumed jointly owned and gets divided at divorce. Separate property — what you owned before marriage, inheritances, certain gifts — stays with the original spouse, but proving it requires documentation. We trace assets back to their source to keep what’s separate from being absorbed.

The state calls it conservatorship rather than custody, and the default presumption is that both parents share joint managing conservatorship unless there’s a reason not to. The court then sets a possession schedule — the Standard Possession Order is the starting point — and decides which parent’s home will be the child’s primary residence. Every decision is anchored to one legal standard: the best interest of the child.

An affidavit of heirship is a sworn statement identifying a deceased person’s heirs — used to clear title to real estate without going through formal probate. It works best for smaller estates where the heirs agree, there are no creditor claims, and the property is the main asset. We use it routinely for Houston-area families settling a parent’s estate when the cost and timeline of probate would dwarf what’s actually being transferred.

A divorce ends a valid marriage. An annulment declares the marriage void as if it never legally existed — but Texas grants annulments only in narrow circumstances: fraud, duress, mental incapacity, underage marriage, or impotence at the time of marriage. Most people who think they want an annulment actually need a divorce. We assess which path is realistic at the first meeting.

Yes, as long as you’ve been a Texas resident for at least six months and a county resident for at least 90 days. Texas can grant the divorce and rule on Texas property, but child custody and out-of-state property rulings depend on whether Texas has jurisdiction over your spouse. We work through the jurisdictional analysis at intake so the strategy is clear before anything gets filed.