Texas offers both fault and no-fault grounds for divorce. In addition, parties will have to meet jurisdictional requirements to be able to file for either a fault or no-fault divorce. Generally, this means that at least one of the parties resided in Texas for the past 6 months and resided in the county they want to file in for the last 90 days. An experienced Divorce Attorney can discuss any jurisdiction issues with you. No-fault divorce means that the parties do not have to state a reason for the divorce. In a no-fault divorce, the parties only need to state that the marriage has become “insupportable due to conflict between the parties and that there is no reasonable expectation of reconciliation.” In more straightforward terms, this means that the parties are no longer getting along and no longer in a relationship together.
Texas law allows for 6 grounds in a fault divorce. These 6 grounds are: cruelty, adultery, conviction of a felony, abandonment, living apart, and confinement in a mental hospital. The Texas Family Code defines each of the fault grounds for divorce. In the case of cruelty, the party will have to show that one spouse is guilty of cruel treatment to the other. This could be things like emotional and verbal abuse, physical abuse, or neglect of the relationship.
Adultery is when one spouse cheats on the other. The third grounds for a fault divorce, conviction of a felony, means a fault divorce will be granted if your spouse was convicted of a felony and imprisoned for more than one year. The fourth ground for divorce is abandonment, this is when your spouse intended to leave and abandon the other party and has been away for at least a year. Living apart is similar to abandonment but there is no intention to abandon the other spouse, parties have mutually agreed on the separation. In addition, parties have to be living apart for three years. Finally, confinement in a mental hospital is a valid grounds for divorce if the spouse has been confined for at least 3 years and the spouse’s condition is not expected to get better.
A divorce attorney can work with you to determine the best grounds to file for divorce. If you are looking for a Divorce Attorney in Austin, TX contact The Jackson Law Firm today.
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