Texas Divorce Laws

Grounds for Divorce in Texas

Most Texas divorces are granted on insupportability, the state’s no-fault ground. Insupportability means the marriage has broken down because of discord or conflict of personalities, with no reasonable expectation of reconciliation. Tex. Fam. Code sec. 6.001 ^[1]. Neither spouse has to prove misconduct, and one spouse can obtain a divorce even if the other objects.

The Family Code also recognizes additional grounds, including cruelty, adultery, conviction of a felony, abandonment, living apart for at least three years, and confinement in a mental hospital. Tex. Fam. Code secs. 6.002 through 6.007 ^[2]. Fault can still matter even in a no-fault filing, because Texas judges may weigh misconduct when dividing the community estate.

Whether to plead fault is a strategic decision, not an emotional one. In marriages with significant assets, alleging fault can influence the division, but it also raises the evidentiary burden and can extend the timeline. We weigh that tradeoff with you before anything is filed, so the pleading serves the outcome you are protecting.

Residency and the 60-Day Waiting Period

A Texas court can hear your divorce only if you or your spouse has been a domiciliary of Texas for the preceding six months and a resident of the filing county for the preceding 90 days. Tex. Fam. Code sec. 6.301.^[3]
Only one spouse needs to meet both requirements.

Texas also imposes a mandatory waiting period. A court may not grant a divorce before the 60th day after the petition is filed, with narrow exceptions for cases involving a family violence conviction or deferred adjudication, or an active protective order. Tex. Fam. Code sec. 6.702.^[4]

Sixty days is the legal minimum, not a realistic forecast. Agreed divorces often finalize within two to four months, while contested cases involving businesses, real estate portfolios, or disputed parenting terms commonly take a year or longer. Used well, that time is where the groundwork for a durable outcome gets laid.

How the Texas Divorce Process Works

Every Texas divorce follows the same procedural spine, whether it settles quietly or goes to trial. Knowing the sequence in advance is a form of control: each step becomes a decision you prepare for rather than an event that happens to you.

1. Filing. One spouse files an Original Petition for Divorce with the district clerk in a county that meets the residency rules.
2. Notice. The other spouse is formally served or signs a waiver of service.
3. Temporary orders. Where needed, the court enters temporary orders addressing support, use of property, and injunctions that keep assets and accounts intact while the case is pending.
4. Disclosure and discovery. Both spouses exchange financial information so the community estate can be identified and valued.
5. Resolution. Most cases resolve through negotiation, mediation, or a collaborative process. Unresolved issues proceed to trial.
6. Final Decree. The judge signs a Final Decree of Divorce that divides the estate and, when children are involved, sets conservatorship, possession, and support.

Contested, Uncontested, and Out-of-Court Paths

How your divorce resolves shapes what survives it, and Texas offers several structured paths to the Final Decree. Choosing among them is one of the most consequential strategic decisions in the case.

• Uncontested divorce. An uncontested divorce in Texas moves on agreement: both spouses resolve every term, and the case finalizes shortly after the waiting period through a brief prove-up.
• Contested divorce. A contested divorce puts unresolved issues in front of the judge, from the characterization of a business to the terms of a possession schedule. Preparation and valuation discipline drive outcomes here.
• Mediation. Texas courts routinely order mediation before trial, and a well-prepared session of divorce mediation resolves most cases before they ever see a courtroom.
• Collaborative divorce. In a collaborative divorce under Texas’s Collaborative Family Law Act, both spouses sign a participation agreement and are each represented by collaborative counsel, committing to resolve the case privately. Tex. Fam. Code ch. 15.^[5]
  For business owners who value privacy and continuity, it is often the strongest fit.

Some marriages do not allow for agreement. When a spouse conceals assets, drains accounts, or escalates every issue, a high-conflict divorce strategy pairs firm boundaries and court intervention with the same disciplined focus on protecting what you have built. Collaboration is our method of first resort, never a ceiling on how far we will go to protect you.

Dividing Property in a Texas Divorce

Texas is a community property state, and property possessed by either spouse at divorce is presumed to belong to the community estate. Overcoming that presumption requires clear and convincing evidence that an asset is separate property. Tex. Fam. Code sec. 3.003.^[6]

The court divides the community estate in a manner it deems just and right, which is not an automatic 50/50 split. Tex. Fam. Code sec. 7.001.^[7]
Judges weigh factors such as earning capacity, health, fault, and the size of each spouse’s separate estate, and unequal divisions are common when circumstances warrant them.

This is where corporate depth earns its place in a family law case. Closely held businesses, shareholder agreements, executive compensation, stock options, and investment real estate all raise questions of characterization, valuation, and structure that a standard divorce playbook does not answer. We identify, value, and structure the division of complex assets, protecting what you have built through the transition.

Spousal Maintenance in Texas

Court-ordered spousal maintenance is harder to obtain in Texas than in most states. A spouse qualifies only by showing they will lack sufficient property, including their separate property, to provide for their minimum reasonable needs, plus at least one qualifying condition. Tex. Fam. Code sec. 8.051.^[8]

The qualifying conditions include:

• Family violence. The other spouse was convicted of or received deferred adjudication for family violence within the statutory window.
• Disability. The requesting spouse has an incapacitating physical or mental disability.
• A ten-year marriage. The marriage lasted at least ten years and the requesting spouse cannot earn enough to meet minimum reasonable needs.
• Care of a disabled child. The requesting spouse is the custodian of a child of the marriage whose disability prevents the spouse from earning sufficient income.

Many high-asset settlements handle support through contractual alimony instead, negotiated as part of the overall property structure. That flexibility is often worth more than what the statute alone provides.

Divorce With Children in Texas

When children are involved, the divorce includes a suit affecting the parent-child relationship, and every parenting decision is measured against the child’s best interest.

Texas uses its own vocabulary here. Decision-making authority is called conservatorship, parenting time is called possession and access, and both are set alongside child support in the Final Decree.

Parenting terms deserve the same structural care as the estate, because your children’s stability is part of what you have built. Schooling, routines, and the practical rhythm of two households are designed, not improvised, and they are designed for the years ahead.

How Hicks Family Lawyers Approaches Divorce

We bring the depth of a corporate legal background to the heart of family law, backed by 27+ years of corporate law experience. That background changes how a divorce is run: the estate is mapped early, assets are valued on defensible numbers, and settlement positions are structured to preserve what those numbers represent.

We combine big-firm experience with a boutique, family-focused approach. You get strategy. Perspective. Results that last.

We are problem-solvers and skilled negotiators first, and we structure every case to reduce conflict where conflict serves no one. When protection requires firmness, we hold the line without theatrics. Either way, the goal does not change: an orderly transition, and a future that carries forward what matters most.

Related Practice Areas

Divorce rarely travels alone. These related matters carry the same advisory approach:

• Property division. Complex estates deserve their own strategy. Our Texas property division practice covers characterization, tracing, valuation, and structured settlements.
• Child custody. Conservatorship and possession schedules are governed by their own standards, addressed through our Texas child custody practice.
• Spousal maintenance. Eligibility, amounts, duration, and contractual alternatives are covered in depth in our Texas spousal maintenance practice.

Plan What Comes Next

The end of a marriage is not the end of what you have built. With the right structure, your business keeps operating, your estate is divided on defensible numbers, and your family moves into what comes next on steady ground.