How to Talk to Your Kids About Your Divorce
Telling the kids is often one of the most difficult parts of divorce. While every family has different circumstances, the children’s ages certainly affect how this step is handled.
Details
Pokemon Go and Divorce: What Should I Avoid Posting on Social Media?
It may sound ridiculous, but when you’re engaged in divorce proceedings, any amount of digital evidence can be used in your divorce case. As one young man learned the hard way, even Pokemon Go can cause relationship strife.
Obviously, the cases in which Pokemon Go holds truly incriminating data are few and far between. But as technology like this wildly popular app surround our day-to-day routines, it certainly raises an important question.
Details
Claiming Dependents on Taxes After a Divorce
When divorced parents come to live in different residences, only one parent can claim a child as a dependent. The IRS provides information about this matter in Publication 504, which covers divorced and separated individuals. You and your former spouse should talk about these things as they affect the issue at hand, specifically well before tax season.
Details
Mediation vs. Arbitration in a Collaborative Divorce
A collaborative divorce is often a great option to reduce your legal costs and any lingering feelings of resentment after a divorce. While the goal of a collaborative divorce is to settle every issue, sometimes that isn’t possible.
If you can’t come to a full agreement, you don’t need to go to a family law judge. Arbitration or mediation can help you find a fair resolution to your disagreements.
Is Occasional Alone Time the Key to Healthy Parenting?
A study found that moms in 1965 played with and taught their children for 36 minutes each day, and in 1998 moms were playing with and teaching their children for nearly 130 minutes each day.
Given the difficulties of balancing work and family life, are today’s parents getting enough alone time?
Details3 Basic Tips for Co-Parenting During the Holidays
With the holiday season now underway, parents across Texas have begun planning a warm and cheery time for their children — a time to make happy memories that kids can reflect upon for years to come. That said, the holidays can also be stressful, perhaps especially if you and your co-parent are divorced or separated.
At the Vaught Law Firm, we understand the time-sharing challenges parents face during the holidays, and we’d like to discuss some child-centered tips for reducing your stress and ensuring that your kids have a warm and merry experience.
DetailsA Rundown of Issues in and Not in Guy Pearce’s Remarkably Polite Divorce
If you follow celebrity divorces, then you probably know that it’s rare to find one that doesn’t involve some bit of scandal. Fame has a way of drawing divorcing couples’ private issues into the spotlight.
Because divorce for celebrities and everyday people is often contentious, it’s refreshing every once in a while to hear of a divorce that is apparently going as well as possible for both parties. Actor Guy Pearce and his wife of 18 years, Kate Mestitz, recently announced their divorce, and according to Pearce, the now-ex-spouses still “couldn’t be closer.”
Details3 Things Texans Should Know About Family Law Appeals
When your family situation or financial future is at stake, resolving a family law dispute can be very difficult and emotional work, especially if the case goes to trial. Unfortunately, not every family law case ends with both sides feeling comfortable and satisfied with the judge’s decision.
It is possible, though, in some cases, to successfully appeal a ruling related to divorce, child custody, property division or another contested family law issue. There are important distinctions to be aware of, however, regarding the initial trial process and the appellate process.
DetailsLegal Issues of Divorce Already Affect Legal Same-Sex Marriages
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that legalizes same-sex marriage in all fifty states, many same-sex couples have rushed to get a marriage license. But, as with heterosexual marriages, divorces among same-sex couples will undoubtedly follow. In fact, one week prior to the U.S. Court’s ruling declaring same-sex marriage constitutional, the Texas Supreme Court upheld a divorce granted in 2009 between a same-sex couple in Travis County. And at least two Texas couples filed for divorce within days after the Supreme Court’s ruling was announced.
DetailsTexas Child Custody Laws: Maintaining Relationships
Texas laws on child custody make it very clear that when dealing with a child custody dispute, courts are primarily concerned with the best interests of the child. The laws are equally as clear in the belief that maintaining the relationship between the child and both parents should be the goal of child custody orders handed down by courts in the state.
Details