With Strength And Compassion
Powers Kerr & Rashidi, PLLC
In many respects, a stick of dynamite and a high-asset divorce have a great deal in common. Prior to the inevitable explosion, there is a burning fuse. Sometimes the fuse is very short; for example, there may have been an extramarital affair or an outburst of physical violence. Other times, the fuse is considerably longer, as differences simmer and eventually…
The child support guideline amounts in Section 154 are presumed to be reasonable. But consider the following situations: The obligor parent is a server at a local restaurant; the obligee parent is an engineer at a large technology company; Father is now financially responsible for three stepchildren after a subsequent remarriage; Mother must travel to another state to see the…
The more assets you and your spouse have, the more complicated your divorce will be. Trying to manage the emotions as well as the future financial impact of the breakup of your marriage is a big job. Before you get too far into discussion about how to split up the property or how support should be paid, make sure you…
It appears that the United States Navy may be the latest organization to jump on the bandwagon of extended paternity leave for new fathers. During a recent visit to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Admiral John Richardson presided over an impromptu meeting that included himself, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Mike Stevens, and ten sailors who had become new fathers…
A growing number of high-asset divorce cases are resolved through the still-controversial method of collaborative law, during which the parties work together to find mutual solutions to problems stemming from child custody, spousal support, property division, and other complex property litigation issues. The method is controversial because it totally eschews the traditional adversarial model. Assume that, instead of playing a…
While many states are restricting their alimony laws under tremendous pressure from advocacy groups, Texas has expanded its spousal support laws in recent years, albeit not by much. As a result, spousal support is still rather difficult to obtain. In other states, alimony is an important element of almost every property settlement in a high-asset divorce, but that is simply…
Adoption is one of the most delicate legal procedures in the Texas Family Code. Properly executed, this process brings a lifetime of joy to an adopting family. But if done improperly, this complex child custody proceeding can mean an almost unheard of amount of heartache and disappointment, to say nothing of an incredibly high financial cost. Given the amount of…
It is no secret that the higher the account balance, and more diverse the assets inside a 401k, the harder the division is in a high-asset divorce. Recent changes to the law, as well as the interpretation of existing law, has fundamentally changed the way that these retirement accounts are valued and divided pursuant to a marriage dissolution action. Valuation…
The Texas Family Code states that all visitation and custody orders must be in the best interests of the children, but the law gives little direction in terms of making that determination. Thirty years ago, the Texas Supreme Court released its landmark decision in Holly v. Adams. Parents, practitioners, and judges still rely on this opinion to legally determine the…
Texas is one of the few states that recognize informal marriages for all purposes, although most jurisdictions do give legal force and effect to common-law marriages from other states. As the name implies, an informal marriage does not require a license or ceremony. However, to dissolve one of these relationships, there must be a legal divorce and perhaps even a…