Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

Re: Legal Seperation

The State of Texas does not have Legal Separation like many other states.

You can go to the Texas A. G. and get court ordered child support and visitation but not get a divorce. It is a slow process but it is also free. If you then need a divorce, it reduces the cost of the divorce since you've already dealt with the minor children of the marriage.

If you live in the Houston area, please call me at 713-847-6000.

Re: Legal Seperation

Depends. For property issues, you may enter into a post marriage partition contract. Of course, enforceability by a court can be an issue later and there are certain hoops you need to jump through to increase enforceability, but that is the mechanism to use (please get an attorney if you need one - I rarely see people do one that is likely to be enforceable by themselves). For children's issues, you file a Suit Affecting the Parent Child Relationship. Although these are normally associated with a divorce action, they do not have to be. Of course, the procedure and the cost will be about the same (but you won't have to deal with the property issues which could decrease the cost if those are an issue). I hope this helps.