Texas Family Law, Answered Plainly
These are the questions clients ask most often in a first consultation. They are general answers about Texas law, not advice about your case — the facts of a particular matter change the answer more often than not.
What makes the best McKinney divorce lawyer?
The best McKinney divorce lawyer identifies what the marital estate holds, what the Texas Family Code requires, and how the court is likely to rule on each contested issue. That means gathering the financial record, documenting the history of care for the children, and presenting both against the standards a Collin County judge applies.
How long does a divorce take in Texas?
Texas requires a minimum sixty-day waiting period from the date of filing. An agreed divorce often finishes in two to three months. A contested case involving custody, a business valuation or separate-property tracing commonly runs six to twelve months or longer, depending on the court's docket.
How is property divided in a Texas divorce?
Texas is a community property state, and the court divides the community estate in a manner it deems just and right, which is not automatically fifty-fifty. Separate property stays with the spouse who owns it, provided it can be traced and documented.
How do Texas courts decide child custody?
The standard is the best interest of the child. Courts weigh each parent's history of care, stability, the ability to co-parent, the child's needs and, where the child is twelve or older, the child's preference. Most orders name joint managing conservators with one parent holding the exclusive right to determine primary residence.
How is child support calculated?
Guidelines apply a percentage of the paying parent's net monthly resources: twenty per cent for one child, twenty-five for two, thirty for three, subject to a statutory cap. Courts may deviate where a child has extraordinary needs or a parent is intentionally underemployed.
Can a custody or support order be changed later?
Yes. Modification requires a material and substantial change in circumstances since the last order, or for support, three years elapsed with a guideline difference of twenty per cent or one hundred dollars. Where an order is simply being ignored, enforcement is the remedy instead.
What should I bring to my first consultation?
The last two years of tax returns, recent pay stubs, statements for bank, retirement and brokerage accounts, a list of real property and vehicles with loan balances, any existing court orders, and a short written timeline of events.
Do I need a lawyer for an agreed divorce?
You are not required to have one, but a decree is a permanent order that governs your property, your retirement and your children for years. Agreed cases are where drafting errors do the most damage, because nobody is scrutinising the terms until they fail.
Will my case go to trial?
Most family law matters resolve in mediation, and Collin County courts generally require mediation before a contested final hearing. Cases here are prepared as though they will be tried, because a matter built for trial negotiates from a stronger position.
Which counties and courts do you cover?
McKinney and Collin County primarily, with matters also accepted in Denton, Dallas and Rockwall Counties, in the family district courts and on the associate judge dockets.
What does a divorce cost?
Cost tracks conflict. An uncontested divorce with agreed terms is the least expensive path; contested valuation, custody disputes and repeated hearings drive it up. Willingness to compromise on lower-value issues is the largest factor a client controls.
How early should an attorney be involved?
Earlier is better wherever the record can still be preserved. Accounts get moved, messages get deleted and a parent's day-to-day involvement becomes harder to prove months later, so early documentation produces a far stronger case.
Still have a question? Send it through the contact form or call (972) 529-5707. Detailed guidance by topic is on the divorce, child custody, child support and property division pages.