Fight For What's Yours
You Worked Hard for What You Have; Don’t Let It Go Without a Fight!
If you are facing a divorce and own substantial assets, it’s understandable that you would be concerned about how much you will be able to keep. This is especially true for wealthy business people, sports professionals, well-to-do individuals, and the spouses who helped contribute to their success.
Logically, you want to retain as much of your rightful share of the marital wealth as possible. In order to defend your assets and your rights while reaching a suitable and amicable result, it is essential that you retain a Houston divorce attorney who has exceptional negotiation skills, real-world courtroom experience, and a dedication to your rights under Texas law.
At The Law Offices of Douglas Ray York, P.C., our team of Houston divorce attorneys are prepared to provide dedicated legal counsel as you deal with your divorce. We have more than 20 years of experience in high-asset divorces and family law, with a focus on complex property division matters.
Houston Divorce Attorneys Helping You Retain Your Fair Share
Texas is a community property state, which means that every asset and debt that is categorized as jointly owned by the divorcees is divided equally. Assets that are NOT jointly owned are known as separate property and go to the spouse who owns it.
Our Houston divorce attorneys for high asset owning individuals will work diligently to accurately identify communal property assets, ensuring an accurate valuation of each item and effectively negotiate a settlement with your former spouse.
Because the division of property can be contentious, especially in divorces between affluent spouses, we work hard to accurately follow all specific laws defining community and separate property, while helping you retain your property rights over your assets, including:
- Family-owned businesses;
- 401(k)s, Roth IRAs and other retirement portfolios;
- The family home, vacation homes, commercial properties, and other real estate holdings;
- Valuable chattels such as artwork and antiques.
Please note that you do not have to earn the majority of household income during the marriage in order to be considered to have earned half the value of the community property. You may be entitled to an equal share if you indirectly contributed, such as being the primary household keeper and child raiser.
Your Children are Your Priority, and Our Houston Divorce Lawyers Work Hard to Protect Them During Divorce
Our divorce attorneys are capable of resolving more than property division issues. We always have your children’s best interests at heart, offering sustainable and practical child custody and child support plans.
We recognize that often children are, unfortunately, used as bargaining tools by disgruntled spouses, so we do everything within our power to minimize emotional upheaval. A divorce can be challenging enough for a child, and we want to do what we can to limit this issue.
Our experienced Houston divorce attorneys also frequently work with parents in resolving international child custody disputes as quickly as possible.
How Our Divorce Lawyers in Houston Can Help
Divorces can be emotionally challenging and, at times, legally complex, especially when involving individuals who may have substantial amounts of assets. It is for this reason that we work diligently with our clients to help them understand the full depth of their options and potential outcomes that can arise from their divorce.
Our Houston divorce attorneys take great pride in helping you:
- Evaluate your finances and determine the impact of any potential child support or alimony that you may have in your situation.
- Educate you on Texas property and debt division guidelines.
- Explain how Texas laws and property guidelines will affect the division of your assets, including retirement plans such as IRA plans and traditional pensions, investments, and business interests.
- Discover if your spouse may have any hidden assets or sources of incomes they have not revealed during the divorce process.
- Work with child custody professionals and our clients to help develop favorable child custody and visitation plans.
- Evaluate future tax implications of the divorce.
Our attorneys are focused on resolving divorce-related issues that support our clients’ best interests and work to prevent the divorce from draining critical assets.
Filing for Divorce in Texas
There are certain residency requirements a petitioner (or petitioners) must meet in order for a court to grant a divorce:
- Texas Family Code requires one of the two spouses to have been a resident of the county in which they file in for at least 90 days.
- One of the spouses must have lived in Texas for at least six (6) months before filing for a divorce.
If an individual meets these initial requirements, our Houston divorce attorneys can determine under which grounds they may be able to file for divorce:
- Insupportability: A conflict of personalities that has not allowed for a reasonable expectation of reconciliation.
- Cruelty: A willful causing of pain or suffering to a spouse. For a judge to uphold grounds of cruelty, it must be willful and persistent.
- Adultery: Clear and positive proof that a spouse was having an affair can prove grounds for divorce.
- Felony Criminal Conviction: If your spouse was convicted of a felony crime, then this is grounds for divorce.
- Abandonment: If one spouse has left the other spouse and remained away for at least a year, then this can be considered grounds for a divorce.
- Confinement: Proof of confinement in a mental hospital (private or state) for at least three (3) years and that the mental disorder is unlikely to improve.
- Living Apart: A court may grant a divorce if it can be proven that the two parties have not cohabitated for at least three (3) years.