divorce

What is the name of your state? texas
i have been married for 20 years to an alcoholic who never could keep a job for more than two years at a time. a majority of the time he did not work at all. we have two daughters. one will be going to college next year and one will be going to law school. i would like to file for divorce and give him the minimum that i can since he did not contribute much to the marriage. i pay the house payment and all the bills. he was paying the utilities but stopped doing so last year. we have had utilities cut off and i have to go have them reconnected. we do not speak and i have asked him repeatedly to leave. he has nowhere to go. Will i have to give him half of everything? is it possible that i will have to give him some support for 2 or 3 years? it is unbearable living with him but i don't want to give up my house. i have a 401k but i borrow from it to pay my children's education. i am very concerned that my husband will get a dwi or hurt someone in an accident. i do not want to deprive my children of anything and i don't feel my husband deserves anything. when he did not work, he also did not take care of my children. he was never a stay at home dad. Thanks for any advise you might give.

jpotter590 said:

What is the name of your state? texas
i have been married for 20 years to an alcoholic who never could keep a job for more than two years at a time. a majority of the time he did not work at all. we have two daughters. one will be going to college next year and one will be going to law school. i would like to file for divorce and give him the minimum that i can since he did not contribute much to the marriage. i pay the house payment and all the bills. he was paying the utilities but stopped doing so last year. we have had utilities cut off and i have to go have them reconnected. we do not speak and i have asked him repeatedly to leave. he has nowhere to go. Will i have to give him half of everything? is it possible that i will have to give him some support for 2 or 3 years? it is unbearable living with him but i don't want to give up my house. i have a 401k but i borrow from it to pay my children's education. i am very concerned that my husband will get a dwi or hurt someone in an accident. i do not want to deprive my children of anything and i don't feel my husband deserves anything. when he did not work, he also did not take care of my children. he was never a stay at home dad. Thanks for any advise you might give.

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Texas is a community property state. That means that all property upon dissolution of the marriage is presumed to be community property and each spouse owns undivided one-half interest in the property. The spouse claiming the property to be their separate property has the burden to trace and clearly prove that the property was acquired prior to marriage, acquired subsequent to marriage by gift, devise or descent or was the proceeds for personal bodily injury. You are making no such claim.

The court, however, has the authority to divide the property in a manner which it deems just and equitable having due regards for the parties and the minor children of the marriage. That means that the court does not have to divide the property 50/50 but can divide it based upon equitable factors. The spouse who takes the property takes the debt that goes with it.

While Texas does have spousal support, it is not favored under the law and your situation doesn't appear to fit either of two categories for spousal support. (Alcoholism doesn't qualify as inability to support oneself.) So I think that you can forget about spousal support.

Texas doesn't make divorce difficult. You don't have to live separate for any period of time. In fact, you don't have to live apart. You just have to have "ceased living together as husband and wife."