Federal Civil Service Divorce

An Inventory and Appraisement (I&A) is required by Courts in any final hearing that involves division of marital property and confirmation of separate property at divorce.  An I&A conveys three important elements of information about each asset or debt, as follows:

1. It IDENTIFIES the assets and debts (e.g.
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In military divorce, a former spouse who gets a fixed dollar award (e.g., "former spouse is awarded $1,000.
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Is it possible to get divorced while one or both spouses are in the midst of a bankruptcy proceeding?  Yes, but there are limitations.

Those familiar with bankruptcy law, which is detailed in Title 11 of the United States Code, know that upon the filing of the bankruptcy application, an "automatic stay" goes into effect.¹  In short, the party applying and creditors are prohibited from taking any action that affects the filer's bankruptcy estate since doing so would prejudice the bankruptcy trustee's right to manage the bankruptcy estate.  See id.

There are some exceptions to that apply to divorce.²

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 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 include the following:

1. Payment of the other spouse's child support, alimony or spousal maintenance obligation.
2. Payment of the other spouse's living expenses or living expenses of a stepchild.
3. Payments or other contributions of property of "nominal value.

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Yes, it can.  The requestor or movant must file a Motion to Modify Post-Divorce Spousal Maintenance in the Court that made the initial order.  Procedures for filing an original suit apply, which means the former spouse receiving maintenance must be served with citation.  At an evidentiary hearing, the movant bears the burden of proving that a material and substantial change has occurred such that the movant no longer can longer afford to pay the Court-ordered amount.  In proving that a material and substantial change has occurred, the movant must prove the facts and circumstances that existed at time of the original order and the facts and circumstances that exist now.
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The cap for "net resources" when calculating guideline child support increases from $8,550 to $9,200, effective September 1, 2019.  The Office of the Attorney General Child Support Division (OAG) recently announced the coming change. 

OAG manages the child support system for Texas.
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After a military divorce, when a Former Spouse predeceases the Servicemember, the Former Spouse's share of disposable retired pay returns to the Servicemember.¹  Former Spouse retired pay cannot be "sold, assigned, transferred, or otherwise disposed of (including by inheritance).²"

Ironically, the same cannot be said for a Former Spouse's share of a Read more . . .

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.

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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.

In Texas, the answer is "no.

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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 the counselor may give in the report is whether a reasonable chance for reconciliation exits and, if so, whether additional counseling may prove beneficial.  A copy of the counselor's report must be given to each party/attorney of record. 

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In the vast majority of cases, the answer to whether there is a "cap" to child support in divorce is, "yes."  The Texas Family Code caps "net resources" available for child support at $8,550.00.  In determining "net resources," the Family Code includes the following:

1. Wages, salary, commissions, overtime pay, tips and bonuses;
2. Interests, dividends, and royalties;
3. Self-employment income;
4. Severance pay, retirement benefits, Social Security benefits (other than Supplemental Security Income or SSI), and VA disability compensation.

In Texas, if one child is at issue (and assuming the paying parent has no other children from prior marriages or relationships for which that parent has a legal duty of support), child support is as follows:

1. One child: 20% of net resources, which equals $1,710.

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