Houston Divorce Temporary Orders Attorney
Protecting Your Rights before Divorce
The best way to protect you rights before a divorce is filed, a very good idea, is to come into an attorney’s office for a detailed consultation. At my law office, I spend an hour to an hour and a half with you, for a fee of $300, and we will discuss the Law and the Procedure of divorce in Texas, your options and I will answer all of your questions. No one has ever in 38 years indicated that the time and money was not well-spent. My consultation makes you intelligent, intelligent enough to call me back with additional questions that crop up with further thought.
I will entertain those further questions, within reason, though there have been times when prospective clients can back to me a second or third time for a consult. Once the divorce is filed, if it is filed, Temporary orders may be issued by the court before a divorce is finalized to ensure certain needs and rights are protected, pending the divorce. Temporary orders can also be used to temporarily separate finances, other property (like the house and vehicles) and debt, You will get temporary, exclusive possession of that property. The Temporary Order will also prevent one spouse from running up debts on the community. The Temporary Order will also enter injunctions that protect you personally from assaultive conduct, but I have to tell you that the Temporary Order is only a piece of paper.
If your spouse is hell-bent on harming you, he may be unconcerned that he or she may go to jail for contempt of that Temporary Order. A temporary Order will not stop a bullet, knife or poison. The same thing is true if you need to pursue a Protective Order, which is much, much better injunction (Thou shall not…) to protect you and your children, but is still only a piece of paper, but a much stronger piece of paper with a much faster response time. In regard to children, temporary orders may be issued to ensure that both parents have access to their children and both parents support their children.
In this regard, temporary orders are an effective means for protecting your rights and interests until your divorce is finalized. As your divorce lawyer, my office can review your financial and personal situation and determine what temporary orders are in the best interests of you and your children. If you have no place to go and would like to stay in your home or apartment, a temporary order can instruct your future ex-spouse to continue making payments on the home until after your divorce and to stay away from the home during the pendency of the case.
If you are concerned about child support, parenting time, or other issues in relation to your pending divorce, contact Houston, Texas temporary orders attorney Leonard M. Roth today to schedule an appointment and learn how I can help you.
Using Temporary Orders to Protect You and Your Children
The court will look at your situation and what is in the best interests of your child/children when issuing temporary orders. In general, temporary orders can be requested for the following:
- Spousal support
- Child support
- Parenting time
- Child custody
- Insurance and medical coverage
- Separation of bank accounts and credit cards
- Right to marital home or dwelling
- Right to use of family car
- Cease and desist orders regarding attempted parental relocation
- Injunctions to protect you person and property and credit rating
Providing Financial Support and Parenting Time
In cases where one spouse stays at home or earns substantially less than the other spouse, the court may order temporary alimony. Texas law requires that spouses support each other while the case is pending. Additionally, if a spouse is covered under the health benefits of the other spouse, the court may order that he or she continue to provide health insurance coverage during the pendency of the case, as well.
At the time of divorce, ex-spouses come off of the other spouses' medical insurance and are relegated to COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) coverage, or their own health coverage. Where children are involved, temporary, primary custody may be awarded to one parent (the primary joint managing conservator, or the PJMC, who has the right to designate where the child/children will reside) until a final custody arrangement can be entered into by agreement of ruled upon by the judge and finally ordered in a Decree of Divorce or a SAPCR Order. Until then, parenting time will usually be ordered as well to allow the non-custodial parent time with his or her child.
This is especially important if the custodial parent attempts to take out a restraining order for the purposes of keeping the other parent away from their children. The court may intervene and determine that the restraining order is simply a ruse designed to prevent contact between a parent and his or her child. A TRO cannot be used to give exclusive custody rights, remove him/her from the home or other matters the Temporary Order is used for, but it can put into place Injunctions that bind the other side and perhaps you.
TROs last for 14 days and by law can be extended to 14 days, The purpose of the TRO is to preserve the status quo until the Temporary Orders are entered. A TRO is not a Protective Order and they are not mutually exclusive. If you prove the need for a Protective Order and a P.O. is actually issued, it lasts for 2 years and is severely limiting for the party enjoined. Law enforcement keeps track of these Protective Orders and can quickly come to your assistance and remove the violating party and take him/her to jail BEFORE there is a hearing before the issuing court. A special Family Court, the 280th District Court, hears and issues all protective Orders in Harris County. A protective Order application is a separate lawsuit and a separate fee.
Contact Houston, Texas Temporary Orders Attorney Leonard M. Roth
If your future ex-spouse has threatened to cut you off financially or deny you access to your children, contact temporary orders attorney Leonard M. Roth today to schedule an appointment and learn how I can help protect your rights and financial stability.