San Antonio Divorce FAQs

The mandatory waiting period is 60 days from the date your divorce petition is filed. This means that absent certain circumstances where a court can waive the mandatory waiting period, you must wait at least 60 days to finalize your divorce.

Community property generally means all assets and property acquired during the marriage. Separate property is assets or property acquired before the marriage, or certain property acquired during the marriage through gift, inheritance, or through certain personal injury claims. In order to prove separate property, the requesting party must prove the property was his or hers by “clear and convincing evidence.”

Texas allows for “no-fault” divorces in the form of insupportability. However, you may wish to receive a disproportionate share of the community estate if one party is more at fault for the divorce. The court can consider the following grounds in order to consider a disproportionate division of the community estate:

• Adultery
• Cruel treatment
• Abandonment (for at least one year with the intent to abandon)
• Long term incarceration (for at least one year)
• Confinement to a psychiatric institution for at least 3 years or
• Living apart for at least 3 years.

Yes! You can go to court to order a party to leave the residence, pay temporary child support, pay temporary spousal support, establish visitation schedules for the parents, or order the parties to abide by certain parameters during the pendency of the divorce.

Yes. The party requesting alimony must show one of the following:

• The paying spouse was convicted of family violence within two years of the date of the filing of divorce;
• The marriage was 10 years or longer, and the requesting spouse lacks sufficient property to provide for minimal needs (including property awarded in the divorce) and cannot support himself or herself through appropriate employment because of an incapacitating physical or mental disability;
• The marriage was 10 years or longer, and the requesting spouse lacks sufficient property to provide for minimal needs (including property awarded in the divorce) and is the custodian of a child who requires substantial care and personal supervision, making it necessary for that spouse to remain at home with that child; or
• The marriage was 10 years or longer, and the requesting spouse lacks sufficient property to provide for minimal needs (including property awarded in the divorce) and lacks earning ability in the labor market adequate to provide for minimal needs.