Texas Divorce and Prenuptial Agreement BLOG

On Wednesday we talked about marriage trends amongst Americans entering into adulthood. More and more are afraid of marrying due to a fear of a divorce. They are putting marriage off until they are older, and some adults – the largest number ever in the country – are avoiding marriage altogether. While these findings may reflect current and future trends, Baby Boomers are facing a different situation – higher than average divorce rates. Marriage and divorce rates have declined in general, but those between the ages of 50 and 64 have experienced an increase in divorces. Their divorce numbers almost doubled between 1990 and 2009. Divorce after 50 used to be a rarity, but it is increasingly become commonplace as Baby Boomers transition into retirement. Divorce at this age can be devastating on every front. It can cause financial difficulties for spouses who may have to look for a new job for the first time in years. Employment prospects are poor for everyone right now, so a person who has not upgraded his or her skills in recent times faces particularly daunting prospects. Additionally, in Texas, for example, spousal support is only temporary – it can last three years at…
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When circumstances involving children with divorced parents change, one or both of the parents may find it necessary to make a request to modify a child custody order. These requests are necessary when a major change occurs (for example, a death in the family or substance abuse problems). Voluntary preferences of an older child or the parent with custody can also lead to a child custody modification. Before even thinking about requesting a change in the child custody order, the first order of business is to determine what court has jurisdiction. If no parties have moved, the court with jurisdiction will likely be the one that made the original child custody order. However, if the child has been in another county in Texas or another state for more than six months, a different court will only have the power to modify a child custody order. We recently discussed the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA”). This child custody law will determine what court has jurisdiction and whether a court in Texas will have any power to modify a child custody order at all. Once you know what court has jurisdiction over the child custody order, you will have…
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Perhaps the biggest change in marital trends in recent decades is the number of Americans who are (or are not) getting married. We are at our lowest point ever in terms of married adults in the United States. In 1960, just 15 percent of adults had never been married. Today, that number is nearly 30 percent. The median age at which adults marry has risen to its highest ever – women get married today at 26.5 years old, while men do so at 28.7. These ages are about six years older than that age at which adults married 40 to 50 years ago. Opinions vary widely as to why adults are getting married at an increasingly older age or never getting married at all. The Pew Research Center studied this phenomenon earlier in the month in a survey asking Americans about their thoughts on marriage. Interestingly, the one factor that appeared again and again was a fear of divorce. Almost 70 percent of respondents said that marriage scared them because they were worried about the social, legal, emotional and economic impact that a subsequent divorce would have. These couples in the survey stressed that they wanted to make sure that…
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Former heavyweight champion boxer Evander Holyfield has accomplished (and been through) a lot in his days – he is an Olympic bronze medal winner and a five-time World Heavyweight champion, and he even survived a 1997 fight with Mike Tyson in which Tyson infamously bit off a portion of Holyfield’s ear. Holyfield may now be going through the most difficult period of his life, as he faces severe financial problems relating to home foreclosure and child support payments. Holyfield’s troubles were recently the subject of a post from the family law attorneys of Schneider & Stone, a Chicago area family law firm. Holyfield’s impressive $10 million Atlanta estate went up on the auction block as the boxer has fallen behind on his mortgage and child support payments. The sale of his home should have helped with his financial troubles, as it has 109 rooms, 17 bathrooms, three kitchens and a bowling alley, but Holyfield has still had trouble making his child support payments. Holyfield is currently married to his third wife with whom he has two children. The mother of one of Holyfield’s other children filed a lawsuit against Holyfield in order to get him to keep up with his…
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