Plano Family Law Blog

Parents in Texas will likely do whatever it takes to secure custody rights of a child. When an ex violates a visitation or custodial agreement, it can be a devastating breach of trust. Further, it can be challenging to restore the parent-child relationship that may have been interrupted. The situation can get even more complex when the subject of a custody battle is not a child, but a pet.

In all states, pets are considered to be property. In the event of a break up or divorce, many judges may consider a shared pet to be more like a piece of furniture than a child. However, increasingly, couples are fighting for custody of pets with the same passion and emotion as they would for custody of a child.

Establishing the credibility of child care costs during a child support hearing can be very important. These payments are made by a non-custodial parent in order to provide financial support to sustain the well being of a child. In Texas courts, there is a relatively straightforward method to calculating these child support payments, but the court can always decide to raise or lower that amount.

However, determining what is and is not a legitimate child-related expense can be difficult. This may be especially true when each of the parents enjoys a fairly lavish lifestyle to begin with. For example, supermodel Linda Evangelista claims that 24-hour child care and bodyguards are needed for her son. Therefore, it was rumored that she was requesting $46,000 a month in child support payments from the father, who is a French billionaire.

The deadline is looming for Texas fathers who want to seek a termination of a parental relationship. Men who believe they are not the biological father of a child have until Sept. 1, 2012 to challenge paternity thanks to a new law passed last year.

The statute was passed in order to give men who have been legally declared to be the father of a child the opportunity to challenge the relationship. Paternity fraud is not uncommon, unfortunately, and there are many fathers who are paying child support for a child that is not biologically theirs. By filing for a termination of the parental relationship, these men are given a paternity test.

Much has been discussed lately about the necessity of standardized divorce forms. The Texas state Supreme Court is debating whether or not to start accepting these so-called do-it-yourself divorce forms in uncontested divorces. There are certainly pros and cons to having these forms available, but it depends on the complexity of the divorce.

Supporters of the forms say that they will help low-income Texans file for a divorce in a more cost-efficient manner. Those who use the forms would be able to represent themselves in court. Some want the court to allow the forms in court if there is no property or children involved in the split.