This is the first in a two-part blog series that looks at the difference between civil and criminal contempt proceedings during enforcement actions. In civil and criminal contempt proceedings, both contain the possibility that the "contemnor" (i.e. the person found to be in contempt) might be jailed. The story doesn't end there. Let's...
At What Age Can A Child Be Left Home Alone in Texas?
It is not uncommon to get into legal disputes involving children's issues where one parent alleges that the other parent routinely fails to provide adequate supervision because a child is left alone at home occasionally. For example, I've been involved in squabbles in court involving an 8 year old being alone for as little...
Military Divorce and Former Spouse Retired Pay: Situations Where DFAS Might Be Unable to Make Full Payment
When facing military divorce, there are two scenarios where the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) might be unable to make full payment to a former spouse. The first scenario is where the Servicemember's retired pay is subject to garnishment for more than one former spouse's retired pay entitlement. The second scenario is...
Collaborative Divorce – An Alternative to Contested Litigation
The collaborative divorce model is an alternative to traditional “contested litigation” in that it is based on resolving a divorce using open discussion and cooperation in a private environment. The Collaborative Family Law Act is specified in Chapter 15 of the Texas Family Code. In collaborative divorce, each party is represented by...
Military and Federal Civil Service Pay Raises for 2017
Pay raises for military and Federal civil service families will be modest in 2017.
Active duty members will receive a 1.6% pay increase, while military retirees will only see a 0.3% increase.
Federal civil servicemember will receive a 1% across the board pay increase with an additional 0.6% increase in locality pay. Federal retirees, like...
How Long is the Divorce Process?
If you are seeking a divorce in Texas and you satisfy the residency requirements (i.e., lived in Texas for at least 6 months and the county in which you intend to file for at least 90 days), there is a mandatory 60-day waiting period from the date the divorce petition is filed until...
How is a Will Proven to be Valid During Probate?
You have a valid Will, what steps must be taken to make sure that it can properly be admitted into probate?
For a valid Will to be admitted into probate, it must be proven to the court to be the Last Will and Testament of the testator. Before I explain that, here are...
How Does the Servicemember Recoup the Former Spouse’s Share of Retired Pay if the Former Spouse Dies First?
When a former spouse (FS) passes away first, how long does it take for the retired servicemember (SM) to recover the FS's share of retired pay? As discussed in a previous blog, a FS's share of military retired pay will only terminate in one of two ways: On the death of the...
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Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) Divorce: Basic Employee Death Benefit
In our previous blog about Federal Civil Service Divorce, we discussed that the Employee must have at least 10 years of creditable service before a Former Spouse qualifies in divorce for award of a Former Spouse Survivor Annuity (FSSA). To read that blog, click here.
When a Former Spouse does not qualify for...
Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) Divorce: Former Spouse Survivor Annity (FSSA) Qualification
In a Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) divorce, the former spouse’s share of the Employee’s annuity stops on the death of the Employee. Award of a Former Spouse Survivor Annuity (FSSA) provides a continuing stream of income to the Former Spouse after death of the Employee. But, certain benchmarks must...
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