Money continues to be a major source of conflict for couples in Texas and elsewhere. As a result, it is a top reason for divorce in the United States. Massive debt and financial infidelity frequently drive couples to part ways.
In some situations, one spouse may be more apt to save money versus accumulating debt. Meanwhile, the other spouse may have a tendency to spend large sums of money and rack up significant debt on credit cards. These two philosophies can readily cause irreconcilable differences that lead to divorce.
Furthermore, financial infidelity — where one spouse makes covert financial moves that may end up harming the other spouse — can be a major cause of conflict leading to divorce. This may take the form of concealing purchases, being addicted to gambling, not disclosing debt or creating an undisclosed bank account. These types of problems are often the result of unresolved emotional issues in the marriage, but couples may be able to address the problems through marital counseling.
Of course, sometimes marital counseling cannot help, in which case divorce may be inevitable. However, if two divorcing spouses can agree on how they will divide their property during the divorce proceeding, they can create a settlement agreement outside of court. This is usually a lot less stressful than litigating the issues in court. Either way, though, an attorney can guide a client in assertively pursuing the assets to which he or she is entitled. Texas is known as a community property state, which generally means that assets and debts accumulated during the marriage are considered equally owned by (or in the case of debts, the responsibility of) both spouses.
