Divorce Process

Filing the petition is the first step of the process. You must file it in the court that has jurisdiction based on you or your spouse’s residency. The legal name for the petition is the “Original Petition for Divorce.” The petition should contain the grounds for divorce along with other information such as the date of marriage and your proposed terms for property division, child custody and support along with spousal support (if applicable).

You must serve the divorce petition to your spouse and file proof of notice with the court. In most cases, your lawyer will handle serving notice for you. Your spouse can sign a waiver of citation if they do not want a process server to serve them. Otherwise, your lawyer would hire a process server to track down the spouse and serve the divorce papers. The third option is typically the last resort. It is notification by mail or by publication in a local newspaper or posting. When you cannot locate the spouse, you would use this method.

The legal name for the spouse filing the divorce is the petitioner. The spouse receiving the petition is the respondent. The respondent may file a counter-petition if they want to propose different terms for the divorce. They have 20 days from the date they received notice to file their answer. The court must wait 60 days before it can grant a petition for divorce. This wait allows a cool-down period for the spouses in case they might reconcile. It also allows them time to negotiate an agreement on the divorce terms. If temporary orders are necessary for custody or visitation, they can also request them so the court will issue them during this time. Also during this time, lawyers will conduct discovery, which is a fact gathering process to acquire evidence. After the 60 days has passed, the court would hold a hearing. If the couple has negotiated a settlement, they can present their settlement agreement to the court for finalization. If not, their lawyers prepare for trial to argue their case.

During discovery, lawyers gather information to support their case. To acquire information, they can have the other spouse provide documentation or answer interrogatories. An interrogatory is a list of written questions sent to the other party, who must meet a timeline and provide written responses under oath. A deposition is another fact-finding method that is an out-of-court testimony done in person. Lawyers ask questions and the person provides answers to the questions under oath. The period of discovery would end 30 days before the final trial.

When a couple disagrees on issues involved with their divorce, most Texas courts order mediation to see if they can resolve their issues without going to trial.

If a couple cannot settle on terms for their divorce, they must resort to litigation. Both sides will present their arguments along with evidence and witness testimony. The judge will render decisions to rule on the issues brought before the court.

After resolving all the divorce issues either through trial or settlement, the court issues the final decree. The time it takes to reach this step varies greatly, depending on whether the couple resolved their matters amicably through an uncontested divorce or through trial. Cases that go to trial are generally lengthier and involve greater expense than cases resolved through negotiation or mediation.