Separation

I can help you get a temporary order from a family court designed to stabilize and formalize your separation from your spouse with rules.

Unless there is a protective order in place, you must wait sixty days from the date the divorce is filed before the court can grant your divorce.  However, the law allows those who are separated or about to be separated to move for temporary orders to address urgent considerations and separate the spouses when tempers are hot or exasperations jading.  On agreement or after a hearing on temporary orders the court makes orders for the protection of the parties, the temporary exclusive use of property, and the payment of bills for the preservation of the community estate.  In cases that involve children the court imposes a parenting plan for children that can include allocation of parental authority, support, and a residential schedule.  I’ll talk about this more in the pages to come in the specific sections regarding Children and Property.

Temporary orders are not required for parties who don't need them.  For those who do need them, they can last the duration of the case or be modified by subsequent temporary order as the need arise.  Sometimes temporary orders function to aid in getting information as well.  For example, a court can order a party to submit to a mental health evaluation, to turn over tax returns and complete property inventories, and to participate in counseling and drug and and alcohol screening as well.

Note that Texas does not recognize "legal separation" as some other jurisdictions do.  In Texas you are married until that marriage is dissolved by death, divorce, annulment, or voidance.  That said, while the court can help you clarify who has what rights and responsibilities with respect to property and children with temporary orders during the separation period, the general consequences and privileges of the marriage relationship still apply.