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In Texas, the Court cannot grant a divorce without disposing of property issues. Additionally, if children were born to or adopted during the marriage, orders concerning their conservatorship and support will be determined at the same time. The divorce process starts with the filing of a document entitled Original Petition for Divorce. This may be 2 pages or 40 pages, depending on your circumstances and the relief you request. As a general rule, you are not required to sign the petition unless you are acting as your own lawyer. Accordingly, if you want to review it before it is filed and delivered to your spouse, please let your lawyer know.The Petition is required by statutes to contain certain information and must also include certain representations by the party. This petition is filed with the District Clerk, and your case is assigned to a Court. Each county has one or more courts handling family cases. In Dallas, there are seven Family Law District Courts. In Ft. Worth, there are five. The filing of cases is random. Your lawyer cannot select the Court or the Judge. In other counties, the courts that handle divorces also handle general civil cases and also criminal cases; for instance, Collin County has five District Courts that handle family law cases as well as the other types of cases. After processing at the Courthouse, the Original Petition for Divorce must be delivered to your spouse. The most common means of delivery is by having a Sheriff, Constable, or private process server hand your spouse the petition and a Citation. Citation is essentially a cover sheet that tells your spouse a lawsuit has been filed, and there is a limited number of days in which a response must be made. In some instances, you may wish to deliver or mail the papers to your spouse. However, this cannot be done if you have requested a Temporary Restraining Order or a hearing. Additionally, if your spouse does not waive service or file an answer in Court, your delivery does not constitute effective service, and this would have to be accomplished before your case could proceed. |
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Divorce
Visitation Custody Child Support Spouse Support Temperary Orders |
Alimony
Mediation Marital Property >Original Petition Areas of Practice Main |
