A common question I get is whether a client who paid the soon-to-be former spouse's student loan(s) is entitled to reimbursement. The Texas Family Code answers this question directly -- "no," a reimbursement claim for payment of the other spouse's student loan(s) is prohibited by statute.
Other potential reimbursement claims that are prohibited by statute...
Yes. First, let's look at some definitions. The "Obligor" is the person ordered to pay spousal maintenance. The "Obligee" is the person receiving court-ordered spousal maintenance.
As long as the Obligor is not in arrears, the Obligee must return any overpayments received.1 This is true whether the overpayment was made before, on,...
Whether a live-in partner can get court-ordered maintenance after the relationship breaks up increasingly becomes an important questions. According to a 2018 article in Psychology Today, some 17.1 percent of women and 15.9 percent of men were cohabiting.1
In Texas, the answer is "no." According to the Family Code, "An order for maintenance is...
Yes. Texas Family Code Section 6.505 addresses this subject and provides the authority.
While a suit for divorce is pending, the Court may order the parties into marriage counseling with a person named by the Court. The counselor must submit a written report to the Court prior to a final hearing. The only opinion...
What is the difference between a divorce and an annulment of a marriage? Divorce is based on a defect that provides "grounds" for divorce that emerges during the marriage. The most basic ground for divorce is "insupportability." Insupportability is Texas' version of "no-fault" divorce; it simply means the bonds of marriage have been...
Military divorce and Federal Civil Service divorce involves more than division of the Servicemember's disposable military retired pay or the Federal Employee's annuity. In military divorce, it also involves treatment of the Former Spouse Survivor Benefit Plan annuity. In Federal Civil Service divorce, it also involves treatment of the Former...
Our firm has helped many military former spouses clarify a domestic relations order so that DFAS will begin to pay former spouse retired pay. We've done the same countless times for former spouses of Federal Civil Service employees so OPM will begin to pay the former spouse annuity.
Sometimes serious errors are detected...
Spoliation is the destruction of evidence. In divorce, this mainly centers on deletion of social media content and text messages or video stored in a party's cell phone. In order to prove spoliation, the party making the allegation must prove that the other party had a duty to preserve the information. People generally...
In the first part of this series, we looked at why DFAS cannot honor an award of a percentage of the community value of military retired pay. (emphasis added). To read the first blog before continuing with this blog, click here.
In this second blog, we'll look at what DFAS requires to
Must a party to divorce turn over their medical records in response to a "Request for Production" during discovery? It depends.
In general, production of medical records in a civil proceeding, such as divorce, is prohibited by invoking the "Physician-Patient Privilege" found in Texas Rule of Evidence 509. The rule, as it applies to...
