An agreed divorce is a divorce in which the spouses have reached an agreement on all of the issues that must be resolved before the case can be finalized.

Depending on the family, that agreement may cover property and debts, children, child support, possession schedules, spousal support, and other matters.

An agreed divorce does not necessarily mean that the spouses agreed from the beginning or that the process was easy. Many cases become agreed only after information has been exchanged, negotiations have taken place, or the parties have attended mediation.

Even in an agreed divorce, the Final Decree should accurately reflect the agreement and satisfy Texas law before it is submitted to the court.

An Answer is a document filed by the Respondent to formally participate in the case and respond to the divorce lawsuit.

Filing an Answer does not mean the Respondent agrees or disagrees with everything requested in the Original Petition for Divorce. It generally lets the court and the other party know that the Respondent intends to participate in the case and should receive notice of future proceedings.

Texas law:Texas Family Code § 6.403.

The best interest of the child is the court's primary consideration when deciding issues involving conservatorship and possession and access.

There is no single fact that automatically determines what is best for a child. Courts may consider the child's circumstances, each parent's circumstances, safety concerns, stability, parenting abilities, the child's needs, and other facts that are important in the particular case.

The goal is to make decisions based on the child's welfare rather than simply deciding what either parent wants. Texas Family Code § 153.002 expressly makes the child's best interest the primary consideration in these decisions.

Texas law:Texas Family Code § 153.002.

Child support is financial support that a court may order a parent to provide for a child.

Texas law contains guidelines that courts commonly use when calculating child support, but the amount can depend on the facts of the case, including the parent's resources, the number of children being supported, and other circumstances recognized by law.

Child support is separate from a parent's right to spend time with a child. A disagreement about possession or access does not automatically eliminate a child-support obligation, and a child-support dispute does not automatically eliminate a parent's possession rights.

Texas law authorizes courts to order either or both parents to support a child as provided by Chapter 154.

Texas law: Texas Family Code § 154.001.

Property acquired by either spouse during the marriage that is not separate property.

Texas generally presumes that property possessed by either spouse during or at the end of the marriage is community property unless a spouse proves that particular property is separate property.

Being community property does not automatically mean that an asset will be divided exactly 50/50 in a divorce.

Texas law: Texas Family Code §§ 3.002–3.003.

Texas Family Code § 3.002 — Community Property

Texas Family Code § 3.003 — Presumption of Community Property

Conservatorship is the term Texas law uses for the legal rights and responsibilities adults have concerning a child. It is similar to what people often mean when they use the word “custody.”

A court may appoint one parent as the sole managing conservator or appoint both parents as joint managing conservators. A parent may also be appointed as a possessory conservator.

Conservatorship deals with issues such as who has the right to make certain decisions for the child. It does not, by itself, describe the exact schedule for when the child will be with each parent.

Texas law:Texas Family Code § 153.005.

A contested divorce is a divorce in which the spouses do not agree on one or more issues that must be resolved before the case can be finalized.

The disagreement might involve property, debts, children, child support, spousal maintenance, or another issue.

A contested divorce does not necessarily mean the case will go all the way to trial. Many contested cases are eventually resolved through negotiation, discovery, mediation, or settlement.

If the parties still cannot agree, the court will decide the remaining disputed issues.

The process the parties use to request and exchange information and evidence during a case.

Discovery may include written questions, requests for documents, financial records, sworn statements, depositions, and other information that may be relevant to the issues the court must decide.

Not every case requires the same amount of discovery. A divorce involving significant property, a business, disputed finances, or complicated parenting issues may require considerably more information than a relatively simple agreed divorce.

Enforcement is the legal process used when someone is not following a court order.

For example, enforcement may be requested when a person fails to:

• pay ordered child support;

• follow a possession schedule;

• comply with conservatorship provisions;

• provide required medical support; or

• perform obligations required by a divorce decree.

The remedy available depends on the type of order, what the order actually says, and the nature of the alleged violation.

For orders concerning children and child support, Chapter 157 of the Texas Family Code provides procedures for enforcement.

Property provisions in a divorce decree are handled differently. Chapter 9 allows a party to ask the court that rendered the divorce decree to enforce its property division.

A Final Decree of Divorce is the court order that ends the marriage and sets out the final terms of the divorce.

Depending on the case, the decree may address property and debts, conservatorship of children, possession and access, child support, medical and dental support, spousal maintenance, name changes, and other issues the court must resolve.

Once the judge signs the decree, it becomes a court order. That is why it is important to read and understand the decree before agreeing to its terms or asking the court to sign it.

Texas's most commonly used no-fault ground for divorce. In plain English, it means the marriage has broken down because of conflict or differences between the spouses and there is no reasonable expectation that they will reconcile.

A person does not have to prove that the other spouse committed adultery, cruelty, or some other wrongdoing in order to obtain a divorce based on insupportability.

Texas law: Texas Family Code § 6.001

A Joint Managing Conservator is a parent who shares certain parental rights and responsibilities with another managing conservator.

Joint managing conservatorship does not necessarily mean that the parents have equal rights on every issue or that the child spends exactly half of the time with each parent. A court order may give some rights to both parents, some rights to each parent independently, and some rights exclusively to one parent.

Texas law creates a rebuttable presumption that appointing both parents as joint managing conservators is in the child's best interest, although that presumption does not apply in every case.

Texas law:Texas Family Code § 153.131 — Presumption Regarding Managing Conservators

The legal standard Texas courts use when dividing the community estate in a divorce.

Texas law does not require the court simply to divide everything equally. Instead, the judge must divide the marital estate in a way the court considers just and right after considering the circumstances of the parties and the case.

That is why a Texas property division may sometimes be 50/50 and sometimes may not be.

Texas law:Texas Family Code § 7.001.

Texas does not have a formal legal status called “legal separation.” Spouses may live apart and may have agreements or court orders addressing property, finances, support, or children, but they remain legally married until a court grants a divorce.

Mediation is a process in which the parties work with a neutral mediator to try to resolve some or all of the disputed issues in their case.

The mediator does not act as the judge and does not decide who should win. Instead, the mediator helps the parties explore possible agreements.

Mediation can be used to resolve issues involving property, children, support, and other matters. Some courts require parties to attempt mediation before trial.

Texas law specifically allows divorce cases to be referred to mediation.

Texas Family Code § 6.602 — Mediation Procedures

A Mediated Settlement Agreement, often called an MSA, is a written agreement reached during mediation.

Texas law gives qualifying MSAs significant legal effect. If the agreement meets the statutory requirements, including the required language stating that it is not subject to revocation and the necessary signatures, it is generally binding on the parties.

Because an MSA can become binding when it is signed, a person should make sure they understand the terms before agreeing to and signing the document.

Texas law:Texas Family Code § 6.602.

Texas child-support orders generally also address medical support and dental support for the child.

These orders can determine responsibility for health and dental insurance and how certain health-care expenses are handled. Medical and dental support are related to child support but are separate obligations that should be addressed in the court's order. Texas law separately requires medical and dental support orders in applicable parent-child proceedings.

Texas law: Texas Family Code §§ 154.181 and 154.1815.

Texas Family Code § 154.181 — Medical Support

Texas Family Code § 154.1815 — Dental Support

A modification is a request to change certain parts of an existing family-law order after the order has already been signed.

For example, Texas law allows courts with continuing jurisdiction to modify orders involving:

• conservatorship;

• possession and access; and

• child support.

A court does not change an order simply because one party would prefer different terms. The person requesting the change generally must satisfy the legal requirements that apply to the particular type of modification.

Some spousal-maintenance orders may also be modified under specific circumstances.

Importantly, the division of property in a final divorce decree is generally not something that can simply be modified later. Property issues are treated differently from ongoing orders involving children or maintenance.

Texas law: Texas Family Code § 156.001 addresses modification of orders concerning conservatorship, child support, and possession and access.

For spousal maintenance, Texas Family Code § 8.057 provides for modification in specified circumstances.

The document that begins a divorce case. The spouse filing the petition provides the court with basic information about the marriage and tells the court what types of orders or relief may be requested.

Filing the petition does not mean that every issue in the divorce has already been decided or that the person filing will necessarily receive everything requested in the petition.

The person who starts the case by filing the Original Petition for Divorce.

Being the Petitioner does not give a spouse greater rights or mean that the court favors that person. It simply identifies which party filed the case first.

Possession and access refers to when a parent has the child and when a parent is entitled to spend time with the child. People commonly refer to this as a custody schedule or visitation schedule.

Texas law contains a Standard Possession Order, but parents may agree to different arrangements, and courts may order different schedules when appropriate for the particular child and family.

The possession schedule is related to conservatorship, but they are not the same thing. Conservatorship generally concerns legal rights and decision-making, while possession and access concerns time with the child.

Texas law:Texas Family Code § 153.311.

A Possessory Conservator is generally a parent who has parental rights and possession or access to the child but who has not been appointed as a sole or joint managing conservator.

The court order determines the particular rights, duties, and parenting time of the possessory conservator.

Texas law generally provides that a parent who is not appointed as a sole or joint managing conservator should be appointed as a possessory conservator unless the court finds that doing so would not be in the child's best interest and that the parent's possession or access would endanger the child's physical or emotional welfare.

Texas law:Texas Family Code § 153.191 — Possessory Conservator

A prove-up is a short court proceeding commonly used to finalize an agreed divorce.

During a prove-up, the court receives enough information to determine that the legal requirements for the divorce have been met and that the proposed Final Decree should be approved.

Depending on the court, the process may involve live testimony, remote appearance, written evidence, or another procedure. Not every Texas court handles agreed divorces in exactly the same way.

The other spouse in the divorce case, the person who did not file the Original Petition for Divorce.

The Respondent may file an answer, make requests of the court, present evidence, negotiate a settlement, and otherwise participate fully in the case.

Property that belongs to one spouse rather than to the community estate.

Separate property generally includes property a spouse owned before marriage and property received during the marriage by gift or inheritance. Certain personal injury recoveries may also qualify as separate property.

Whether property is truly separate can become complicated when money or assets have been mixed together during a marriage. A spouse claiming that property is separate may need records or other evidence to prove its separate character.

Texas law: Texas Family Code § 3.001.

Service of process is the formal method of giving a person legal notice that a lawsuit has been filed against them.

In a divorce, this usually involves delivering the required court papers to the Respondent through a person authorized to serve legal documents.

There are situations where formal service may not be necessary, such as when the Respondent properly waives service. The rules for serving court papers are primarily found in the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure rather than in a single Family Code provision.

Texas generally requires a waiting period before a divorce may be granted. In most cases, the court cannot grant the divorce until at least 60 days have passed after the divorce case was filed.

The 60 days are a minimum waiting period, not a promise that the divorce will be completed in 60 days. Contested or complicated divorces often take considerably longer.

Texas law provides limited exceptions to the waiting period in certain cases involving family violence.

Texas law: Texas Family Code § 6.702.

A Sole Managing Conservator is a parent who has been given certain exclusive parental rights and responsibilities by the court.

Depending on the order, those rights may include the exclusive right to determine the child's primary residence and make certain important medical, educational, or legal decisions for the child.

A sole managing conservatorship does not necessarily mean that the other parent has no rights or parenting time. The other parent may still be appointed as a possessory conservator.

Texas law: Texas Family Code § 153.132 — Rights and Duties of Sole Managing Conservator

Spousal maintenance is the term Texas law uses for certain court-ordered payments from the future income of one spouse for the support of the other spouse after divorce.

Spousal maintenance is not automatically available because one spouse earns more than the other. A spouse asking the court to order maintenance must satisfy specific requirements under Texas law.

Eligibility, the amount that may be ordered, and how long maintenance may continue depend on the circumstances of the case.

Texas Family Code § 8.001 defines maintenance, and § 8.051 addresses eligibility.

The Standard Possession Order, often called the SPO, is a possession schedule established by the Texas Family Code that courts commonly use when setting parenting time.

It provides a framework for regular weekends, holidays, summer possession, and other periods of time with the child.

The Standard Possession Order is not automatically the right schedule for every family. Parents may agree to other arrangements, and a court may order a different schedule when appropriate. Texas law states that the standard order is intended to provide reasonable minimum possession and encourage frequent contact between children and their parents.

Texas law: Texas Family Code § 153.251 — Standard Possession Guidelines

A Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship, commonly called a SAPCR, is a court case involving legal issues concerning a child.

A SAPCR may ask a court to establish or change matters such as conservatorship, possession and access, child support, or the legal parent-child relationship.

When parents divorce and have children whose rights and support must be decided, the divorce generally includes a SAPCR. A SAPCR can also be filed separately when the parents are not married or when child-related orders are needed outside a divorce. Texas Family Code § 101.032 defines the term.

Texas law: Texas Family Code § 101.032 — Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship

Court orders that may be entered while a divorce or other family law case is still pending. Temporary orders provide rules and structure until the parties reach an agreement or the court enters final orders.

Depending on the case, temporary orders may address issues such as who remains in the home, payment of bills, use of property, temporary support, possession of children, decision-making responsibilities, and other matters that cannot reasonably wait until the case is finished.

Temporary orders generally do not determine what the final outcome of the case must be.

Texas law: Texas Family Code § 6.502

A Waiver of Service is a document a person may sign after a divorce case has been filed acknowledging receipt of the filed petition and waiving formal issuance or service of process.

Signing a waiver does not automatically mean that the person agrees with the divorce or with everything requested by the other spouse.

A waiver can affect procedural rights, so it is important to understand the document before signing it.

Texas Family Code § 6.4035 sets out specific requirements for waivers of service in divorce cases.