Posted on July 11, 2016 in Custody

Substance abuse is a serious problem that not only affects abusers' physical and mental wellbeing, but also affects the wellbeing of those around them-especially their children. Drugs and alcohol can impair one's ability to properly care for a child, and chronic substance abuse can even pose a threat to a child's safety. Because of this, the Texas courts will often deny physical and legal custody to a parent with untreated drug or alcohol addictions. However, sometimes an addiction will creep up after the custody hearing, and although both parents may have been clean during the custody suit, one or both may fall victim to mind-altering substances after primary custody has already been established.

If you are the non-custodial parent and you know for certain that your child's custodial parent is abusing drugs or alcohol, an attorney fcan help you remove your child from the situation before any harm comes to his or her physical and emotional wellbeing.

How Drug Addiction Affects Children

According to the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, 'parental substance abuse interrupts a child's normal development, which places [them] at a higher risk for emotional, physical, and mental health problems.' According to the same article, children of substance abuse (COA) are:

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 Posted on June 18, 2016 in Custody

Child custody orders are never permanent, and so long as your shared children are under the age of 18, there is always the potential to make changes to your orders to accommodate the changes in your life. Establishing new lives post-divorce can be exciting yet challenging, and can come with a number of unexpected opportunities, such as job offers out of state, work transfers, or just the simple need to create a new life for yourself.

However, many parents find it difficult to make any of the aforementioned changes, as they believe themselves to be 'stuck' where their child's other parent lives-or at least within 30 miles of there. This does not have to be the case. With a little give and take and an experienced Dallas, Texas custody lawyer on your side, you and your former spouse can come up with a long-distance custody agreement that keeps your child's best interests the number one priority, but that also allows you to reach your full potential as a parent, an employee, and an individual.

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 Posted on June 15, 2016 in Child Support

Typically, when determining the amount of child support to be paid each month, a judge follows statutory guidelines based off a percentage of each parent's net income. However, when one or both parents take home a significant amount of money each month, it does not make sense to follow the typical guidelines set forth by the Texas Family Code. In high-income cases, the courts will deviate from the statutory guidelines and come up with an amount that is fair and satisfactory to both parties.

To learn more about how child support is determined in high-income cases, consult with the Dallas child custody attorneys at the Clark Law Group today.

Deviating from Texas's Child Support Guidelines

According to Section 154.125 of the Texas Family Code, an obligor owes 20% of his or her net resources in child support for just one child. For two children, they owe 25%, for three children, 30%. The amount they owe increases in 5% increments for each additional child, and will cap off at not less than 40% for five or more children. To learn more about how net resources are computed, refer to Section 154.061.

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 Posted on June 13, 2016 in Custody

There are many instances in which an individual will seek to lower child support payments, such as the loss of a job, an increase in expenses, the birth of a new child, or the fact that they have the shared child more often than the other parent. Whatever your reason for wanting to lower your child support in Dallas, Texas, you must follow the Texas Family Code and get the change approved by the court before any change in payment is made - even if you and your child's other parent come to a mutual agreement regarding the lower amount. Many individuals find it helpful to have an experienced family law attorney on their side to help come up with a reasonable child support order that will benefit all parties involved.

The Court Must Approve all Modifications to Child Support Orders

According to the Texas Family Code, Chapter 156, there are two circumstances in which a modification to child support will be granted:

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 Posted on June 06, 2016 in Custody

For many couples going through a divorce in Dallas, Texas, their biggest concern is their children. How are they going to react to Mom and Dad splitting up? Who is going to get them on Christmas? Will I be able to take care of them and pay all the bills on one income alone? These are normal concerns that most parents in normal circumstances have when deciding to go through with a divorce. However, there are some parents whose circumstances are not so normal - such as the truck driver who is gone all night, the older father with chronic health issues, the mother whose job requires her to be away three-quarters of the year, or the parent with a physical disability that disallows them to do activities that most parents can and should be able to do. For these parents, their concerns are a little more urgent, as they go from 'when will I get to see my kids?' to 'will I get to see my kids?'

Custody is Determined by What the Courts Feel is in the Child's Best Interests

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 Posted on June 06, 2016 in Custody

In the state of Texas, modifying an existing child custody agreement can only be done under limited circumstances. According to the Texas Family Code, Chapter 156, a child custody agreement can be modified if the following occur:

• The circumstances of the child or parent(s) have substantially changed since the original court order agreement was finalized;
• The child is at least 12 years old and has requested a change in the agreement;
• The custodial parent has voluntarily relinquished care and custody to the other parent.

Modification to your court ordered child custody agreement is much more complicated than simply changing the visitation schedule. You and the other parent or guardian will have to go before a judge, who will evaluate the changed circumstances and make a decision based on what is in the best interests of the child. In the best possible scenario, both parents will agree to a change in the child custody agreement, in which case they will present the judge with an agreed-upon signed parenting plan. In the instance that both parties cannot agree, you should seek the help of an experienced Dallas, Texas family lawyer, who will do everything possible to ensure the best outcome for you, the other parent and, most importantly, your child.

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 Posted on May 31, 2016 in Alimony

Divorce is never easy, but one of the trickiest and most emotional aspects of any divorce is dividing financial assets. When you are married to an individual for any great length of time, you work together to make your current lifestyle possible. For some, this means giving up a career entirely to help raise a family. For others, it means relocating to an entirely new part of the country where friends and family can only be reached by phone or email, if it means a better paying job for the working spouse. For others still, it means putting their own education on hold while their spouse pursues their educational goals first.

For many couples, this sort of give-and-take works well, as it allows both individuals to contribute to the relationship and family unit in a way that makes sense for the time being. However, when that same couple decides to part ways before the second spouse has a chance to pursue certain goals, all that sacrifice they made seems fruitless, as now they are left with no financial support, and no real job experience to list on their resume. Which leads to the big question: is that spouse entitled to spousal support?

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 Posted on May 23, 2016 in Custody

Planning for and bringing home a new baby is a challenging task on its own. Adding a breakup or divorce to the equation only amplifies those challenges. If you have found yourself in the middle of a breakup, a separation, or a divorce prior to the birth of your baby, or shortly thereafter, crafting a visitation plan for a newborn can be tricky. Unfortunately, most states, including Texas, do not have set visitation or custody plans in place to help guide new parents.

Assuming both parents want to be an active part of their child's life from the beginning, hopefully, they can put aside any differences and acrimony and act in the best interest of the newborn. If not, it will be up to a court make the tough decisions related to the custody and care of the newborn. As with many states, Texas courts use the best interest of the child standard when determining custodial issues. A determination of a child's best interest includes, but is not limited to, the child's needs, the ability of the child's parents to cooperate in decision-making, the level of each parent's participation, distance between parents' residences, and any other factor the court finds relevant.

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 Posted on May 19, 2016 in Property Division

While divorce rates in the United States are on a small decline in the last decade, marriages still go south. What happens when your marriage ends before you even reach your five-year anniversary? It is estimated that 20% of marriages end in divorce before the couple reaches a half decade of being married.

Luckily, for marriages that end before the five-year mark, there is likely less to divide among the divorcees. Younger couples are less likely to worry about dividing property, money, and children. The '50% of all marriages end in divorce' statistic is bloated by those with second, third and sometimes even fourth marriages. In fact, that number is hardly accurate for first marriages.

While 20% of marriages end before five years, 32% end within 10 years, 40% end within 15 years and 48% end within 20 years. So while you are less likely to get divorced while you're still in your 'honeymoon phase,' you are not alone.

The same general principles apply in all divorces, regardless of the length of the marriage. However, as a practical matter, couples who divorce after a short union often have similar concerns that differ from the longer married.

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 Posted on February 15, 2016 in Uncategorized

Once a business has been determined to be marital property, the biggest issue in its disposition during a divorce proceeding becomes to assign a value to the business. This, by its very nature, is a highly technical and complex process that requires not only experts in the law but experts with knowledge of business and asset valuation. Not only do businesses have a current value, they have the potential to realize income for the owners for a long time into the future, and because of this an otherwise amicable proceeding can quickly turn adversarial. The party who is attempting to retain ownership in the business will want to argue it has as little value as possible, while the party who is entitled to a percentage of the value will want to inflate its worth to the greatest degree that they can.

Approaches to Valuation

Determining the worth of a business will often require a number of different sorts of consultants to do correctly, from experts to appraise it from a hard asset standpoint to consultants knowledgeable with running similar businesses within the geographical area to forensic accountants to go over the books and reach a conclusion about the business' future earnings potential. There are three basic methods for coming to an accurate valuation of a business entity:

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