Montgomery County Family Law Blog

Dissolving a marriage in Texas is one of the hardest things a person may experience in life. However, the truth is, about half of marriages end in divorce. For this reason, it might be helpful for people in Texas to acknowledge that staying married together forever is a rarely attainable accomplishment, as this may save them from the feelings of guilt, stress and anguish often associated with divorce.

Before people get married, it may be a good idea for them to communicate about their expectations for marriage. For instance, even though they desire for their marriage to last, they may also plan for the situation where the marriage does not last, by creating a prenuptial agreement. Likewise, those who have already gotten married might want to develop a postnuptial agreement that protects their interests in the event they decide to get divorced down the road.

The marital dissolution process can quickly take a toll on any family. However, families with children who have special needs face unique financial and emotional challenges during the divorce process. Here is a look at how such families can navigate the divorce process in Texas.

Children who have special needs include those who require extra support from parents. These include, for example, those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, addiction problems, Down syndrome and autism. They also include children who have physical disabilities, like severe or mild physical limitations, hearing loss or diabetes.

Federal officials have reported that 96% of workers in the United States possess Social Security coverage. Unfortunately, many of those who have gone through divorce do not understand how this coverage works in their particular situations. Here is a rundown on the Social Security benefits available to those who have gone through a marital breakup in Texas.

First, those who got divorced after 10 years of marriage may still collect Social Security benefits based on their ex-spouses' records. This is true even if their ex-spouses have already re-married. However, this is possible only if the individuals attempting to collect benefits are still unmarried, they are at least 62 years of age, their ex-spouses are eligible for retirement benefits, and their benefit amounts are less than the benefits they would receive based on their ex-spouses' records.

During the process of getting divorced, two individuals may quickly become at odds with each other over the matter of spousal support. For instance, one spouse may express concern about paying an unreasonable spousal support amount, while the other spouse might worry about not getting enough in support payments every month. Let's take a peek at how a divorce court in Texas handles this type of financial support during the marital dissolution process.

Spousal support, or spousal maintenance, was created with the aim of helping lower-income-earning spouses or  spouses with no income to receive the money they need to stay afloat financially following divorce. In other words, its purpose is to minimize the unfair financial impact of divorce on the less wealthy spouse. State law dictates how much a person should receive in spousal support based on several factors.