Tarrant County Divorce Law Blog

The ability to move forward after a prolonged divorce can be truly gratifying. While you'll undoubtedly have to adjust to new circumstances, you will no longer have to spend time worrying about how property division, child support and other vital divorce issues will unfold.

However, while you may be tempted to put your feet up and take a much-needed mental break from examining any divorce-related matters, it's important not to end up overlooking certain areas over the long run.

One area in particular that divorcees will want to consider devoting some attention to is repairing or even establishing their own credit after a divorce. For example, a spouse who is obligated to make payments on a jointly held account in the divorce agreement may potentially fail to do so, damaging both parties credit in the process. Alternatively, it could be that a spouse has never had any financial/credit accounts in their name whatsoever.

Today's post -- the first in a series -- will briefly examine some basic steps offered by financial experts for building credit in the wake of a divorce.

Although January's title as "Divorce Month" has always been bandied about as an occupational joke among divorce attorneys, new statistics are suggesting there's some validity to the title.

According to statistics compiled and released by eDivorcePapers.com, January leads all months of the year in terms of the number of divorces filed.

One attorney said that the influx of new divorce filings in January put a strain on the lawyers handling the cases, adding so much of a workload that "some attorneys take the last two weeks of the year off to get ready for the rush."

According to the Legal Services Commission, a specific day for the greatest number of filings can also be identified: the Monday of the week that kids return to school after their winter break.

Any couple going through a divorce is bound to experience a variety of emotions from sadness and anger to anxiety and even guilt. However, does this last emotion -- guilt -- somehow serve to make the divorce proceedings progress in a much more smooth and altogether amicable manner?

According to researchers at Ghent University in Belgium, the answer is a resounding yes.

These researchers recently published an intriguing and innovative study in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships examining the impact that certain negative emotions had on divorce.

Specifically, they looked at 457 divorcing couples who were an average age of 43.5, and whose marriages lasted an average of 15.5 years to determine how feelings of guilt and shame affected their divorce proceedings.

In regard to guilt, the researchers found that it actually fostered greater cooperation among the former spouses, with the suffering party more amenable to resolving issues peacefully than engaging in a prolonged legal battle.

It's never easy to handle property division in a divorce. But the matter of dividing property between former spouses can be even more challenging when pets are involved.

According to a recent story on Petside.com, pets are placed in the same category as household items like furniture when couples are dividing assets during divorce proceedings. In some cases, then, the debate can get heated when both soon-to-be-former spouses want custody of the family dog, cat or other pet.

According to the story, courts typically consider the person who registered the pet with the city or the person who is listed as the pet's owner during the vaccination process to be the lawful owner of an animal. This method of determining ownership, though, is hardly foolproof. As the story says, in many cases, one spouse may be listed as the owner on city records while another may be listed on veterinary or microchip records.

Those couples who are considering ending their marriage may be uncertain as to what their options actually are. For instance, they may wonder if they are better candidates for divorce or better candidates for an annulment. The simple truth is that every couples' circumstances are unique, and that an annulment may not be the best option or even be possible.

Today's post will take a brief look at annulments, providing some very basic background information designed to clarify some common misconceptions.

Divorce vs. annulment

Simply put, a divorce means that a marriage took place in the eyes of the law, and that it had both a definitive beginning and end. An annulment, on the other hand, makes the marriage null and void, meaning that it never even existed in the eyes of the law.

Grounds for an annulment

Contrary to popular belief, it is not altogether easy to secure an annulment. Typically, a couple must meet certain grounds established by the state such as fraud or concealment by one spouse, or lack of consent.

In addition, many of these grounds for an annulment are subject to strict time limits in certain states, meaning if enough time has passed, you may not be able to claim that particular ground for an annulment.

If asked to define the type of couple typically involved in a complex divorce, most people would probably describe a relatively wealthy husband and wife with several children who have accumulated significant debts and assets over the course of their marriage. While this is certainly accurate, another description may simply involve a couple who has been married for many, many years.

To illustrate, consider a recent messy case out of Italy, where an elderly couple is now poised to become the world's oldest divorcees.

The 99-year-old man filed for divorce after 77 years of marriage upon discovering letters that his wife wrote to a secret lover back in the 1940s. The couple had originally met in Naples, where the wife lived back in the 1930s when the husband was stationed as a Carabinieri officer.

Interestingly enough, this is not the first time the husband has contemplated divorce.

From Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant to former Dallas Cowboy great Deion Sanders, it seems as if the sports section of nearly every major newspaper has carried some sort of item discussing the impending divorce of a famous athlete over the last few weeks. In fact, these types of sports stories don't seem to be confined to just divorce but other areas of family law as well.

To illustrate, consider the case of former NBA superstar Antoine Walker who was summoned to a Chicago courthouse in late December over his failure to pay child support and tuition.

According to court documents filed by Donna G., the mother of Walker's 13-year-old daughter, he has not paid his monthly child support amount of $4,195 in over two years and owes his daughter's school $27,817 in unpaid tuition.

In fact, Donna G. also presented a letter from the University of Chicago Laboratory School indicating that unless the amount is paid, the daughter will no longer be allowed to attend.

"It's not about him, it's just for my daughter's education," said Donna G., who has been working in real estate to try to make the tuition payments. "I just want her to stay in school. I don't want her to have to transfer. Her education is important, and it's not being treated like it's important."

With Christmas now a few days behind us, many parents are undoubtedly breathing a sigh of relief and taking a few seconds to rest from their hectic - but ultimately fulfilling - holiday schedule. While the holidays are a wonderful time to celebrate with children, they can also sometimes prove to be a bit stressful for divorced families. This is largely because both children and parents must adapt to new routines and the emotional toll of spending time apart from their loved ones.

In light of this difficulty, family experts have offered a few simple tips for helping parents and children of divorce successfully manage some of this stress and enjoy the holiday season.

Establish new traditions/routines

Family experts recommend that parents take the time to establish new holiday traditions. This not only helps to make the celebration fun for the children, but also helps alleviate any anxiety or sadness they may be experiencing. Furthermore, it can help create a sense of excitement/anticipation for next year's festivities.

To illustrate, parents who don't actually get to spend Christmas with their children may want to pick a day or two around the holidays (if possible) to spend time together, perhaps opening presents, decorating the tree, making cookies or driving around to look at Christmas lights.