What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX
My husband and I may be getting a divorce. I would like to avoid if possible, but so far, counseling is not working and my mental stability is really starting to suffer so it may be in the best interests of me and my children to end it. Not a done deal, but seriously being discussed. (Not proud to say, I actually screamed this at him this morning....not my best moment.)
We have been married for 2 years 4 months, no children of the marriage, and I have been the only person working throughout the marriage. Although, he is currently looking for work as he has recently been medically cleared to be fully employed. I am not attempting to kick him out in the near future, I want him to have time to find somewhere to go and not be on the streets. I realize, unless there is strong evidence, Texas is mainly a no fault state so the reasons behind the divorce don't matter....at least not in the courts' eyes. No drug use, abuse, incarceration, or anything of that nature.
1) We are in the process of having a house built. The contract has been signed but it has not yet been closed on. Obviously, there will be no equity in the house by the time we close and the location chosen for the house was so that I could be within a few miles of my kids' dad and share 50/50 physical custody with him. Since I am the only one able to afford the mortgage (in fact, only my name is going to be on it b/c he does not qualify), it was purchased to be near my kids and there is no equity to be split - do I have a decent chance of being awarded the house? If he were to be awarded the house, it would actually wind up being foreclosed on with only my name on the mortgage. I strongly suspect he will actually leave the state and move closer to either his mom or other family.
2) I realize we do not meet the 10 year minimum for spousal support but could he be awarded temporary support during the divorce process if I am allowing him to remain in the same residence as me until everything is finalized and he is able to make alternate plans? (Again, I'm not wanting to be vindictive by any means.) I'm asking because, at the moment, there is no extra money. We are strapped for cash due to the lawsuit we just finished and simply making minimum payments on the debt we accumulated is difficult. I am expecting a bonus within the next month that will take a large part of that strain off....it's going straight towards those credit cards.
3) I owned the majority of the items within the household before we were married. There are photos of our apartment when I first moved in, a month before the date on our marriage certificate. If he were to fight this, would these time stamped photos be sufficient evidence or do I need to start tracking down receipts? I know exactly what was his before our marriage and have absolutely no issue handing those things over to him. There are a couple of small items that we have bought since our marriage such as a dresser and bookshelf for my children (which I will be requesting to keep), two dressers for the master BR (I will offer him the larger one) and our two dogs. Honestly, I think we will argue over the dogs more than anything else. I am moving to a place where they will have a backyard to run around in whereas he has no idea where he will be going and it will likely be couch to couch for a while. I know they're not children by any means, but that still doesn't sit well with me. However, I have no idea how things are decided when it comes to pets. I'm also going to offer him the larger of the two older TV's. It was mine before marriage but I'll have my living room one and the kids have a small one in their room....I don't even watch TV in the bedroom, he does.
4) I have a very small 401K since I withdrew the majority to help him fight a visitation case for his son. If he wants to fight over the $300 vested amount that remains, I'll give him his half...not a big deal in the long run.
5) I will also offer to carry his current medical/dental/vision insurance on him until the next open enrollment so that he has plenty of time to find another option, if my employer will allow that once the divorce goes through.
6) I am asking to keep our only vehicle. It was purchased after we were married, he does not have a license (not until next calendar year) and there is no equity built up in the vehicle. I use it to get to and from work each day and chauffeur (sp?) my kids wherever they need to go. Any reason why keeping this might not be possible?
I'm sure this is far from everything that is involved but all that comes to mind at the moment. Is there anything else that I should be thinking of and preparing for? I believe that we will be able to do this without lawyers as the possibility really isn't an option for either of us (I just spent over $30,000 on his child visitation lawyer which is why we're in such financial strain right now.....trying to not go down that road again.).
My husband and I may be getting a divorce. I would like to avoid if possible, but so far, counseling is not working and my mental stability is really starting to suffer so it may be in the best interests of me and my children to end it. Not a done deal, but seriously being discussed. (Not proud to say, I actually screamed this at him this morning....not my best moment.)
We have been married for 2 years 4 months, no children of the marriage, and I have been the only person working throughout the marriage. Although, he is currently looking for work as he has recently been medically cleared to be fully employed. I am not attempting to kick him out in the near future, I want him to have time to find somewhere to go and not be on the streets. I realize, unless there is strong evidence, Texas is mainly a no fault state so the reasons behind the divorce don't matter....at least not in the courts' eyes. No drug use, abuse, incarceration, or anything of that nature.
1) We are in the process of having a house built. The contract has been signed but it has not yet been closed on. Obviously, there will be no equity in the house by the time we close and the location chosen for the house was so that I could be within a few miles of my kids' dad and share 50/50 physical custody with him. Since I am the only one able to afford the mortgage (in fact, only my name is going to be on it b/c he does not qualify), it was purchased to be near my kids and there is no equity to be split - do I have a decent chance of being awarded the house? If he were to be awarded the house, it would actually wind up being foreclosed on with only my name on the mortgage. I strongly suspect he will actually leave the state and move closer to either his mom or other family.
2) I realize we do not meet the 10 year minimum for spousal support but could he be awarded temporary support during the divorce process if I am allowing him to remain in the same residence as me until everything is finalized and he is able to make alternate plans? (Again, I'm not wanting to be vindictive by any means.) I'm asking because, at the moment, there is no extra money. We are strapped for cash due to the lawsuit we just finished and simply making minimum payments on the debt we accumulated is difficult. I am expecting a bonus within the next month that will take a large part of that strain off....it's going straight towards those credit cards.
3) I owned the majority of the items within the household before we were married. There are photos of our apartment when I first moved in, a month before the date on our marriage certificate. If he were to fight this, would these time stamped photos be sufficient evidence or do I need to start tracking down receipts? I know exactly what was his before our marriage and have absolutely no issue handing those things over to him. There are a couple of small items that we have bought since our marriage such as a dresser and bookshelf for my children (which I will be requesting to keep), two dressers for the master BR (I will offer him the larger one) and our two dogs. Honestly, I think we will argue over the dogs more than anything else. I am moving to a place where they will have a backyard to run around in whereas he has no idea where he will be going and it will likely be couch to couch for a while. I know they're not children by any means, but that still doesn't sit well with me. However, I have no idea how things are decided when it comes to pets. I'm also going to offer him the larger of the two older TV's. It was mine before marriage but I'll have my living room one and the kids have a small one in their room....I don't even watch TV in the bedroom, he does.
4) I have a very small 401K since I withdrew the majority to help him fight a visitation case for his son. If he wants to fight over the $300 vested amount that remains, I'll give him his half...not a big deal in the long run.
5) I will also offer to carry his current medical/dental/vision insurance on him until the next open enrollment so that he has plenty of time to find another option, if my employer will allow that once the divorce goes through.
6) I am asking to keep our only vehicle. It was purchased after we were married, he does not have a license (not until next calendar year) and there is no equity built up in the vehicle. I use it to get to and from work each day and chauffeur (sp?) my kids wherever they need to go. Any reason why keeping this might not be possible?
I'm sure this is far from everything that is involved but all that comes to mind at the moment. Is there anything else that I should be thinking of and preparing for? I believe that we will be able to do this without lawyers as the possibility really isn't an option for either of us (I just spent over $30,000 on his child visitation lawyer which is why we're in such financial strain right now.....trying to not go down that road again.).
