A divorce can be a lengthy legal process in itself. Married couples who decide to separate must undergo a legal process to dissolve their marriage, which is necessary for both parties to be legally single again and have the freedom to remarry in the future. During the divorce, the ex-couple must decide how to divide the assets they’ve acquired during their marriage and own jointly. More importantly, they must also decide on custody, living arrangements, and visitation rights if they have children.
These details are ideally hashed out during the divorce. However, if one or both parties are unhappy with the initial settlement or court decisions, they can petition for a contested divorce hearing.
Read on to find out what is a contested divorce and the process you must undergo if you wish to amend the terms of your divorce.
What Is a Contested Divorce?
A contested divorce is a legal process that allows one or both spouses to contest or dispute some aspect of their divorce. These disagreements often surface soon after the conclusion of a divorce, but some issues may emerge later as ex-spouses experience changes in their respective lives that make the original terms of their divorce difficult.
In a contested divorce, ex-spouses dispute terms or arrangements they don’t like or find unjust. These disputes generally involve property division, child custody, and matters concerning child support. Each spouse in a contested divorce will need an attorney to represent their interests during the divorce process.
The Dallas-Fort Worth divorce attorneys at Marx, Altman & Johnson, represent people in all sorts of divorce cases in Texas, including contested divorces.
The Process of a Contested Divorce
What happens in a contested divorce? A contested divorce enters a new set of rules and procedures that are still very similar to the original divorce process. Spouses will have to go through numerous steps to challenge the outcome of their divorce settlement and change the terms they oppose.
Filing and Serving
- Interview and hire a contested divorce attorney.
- With your attorney’s help, prepare and file the divorce petition to your county courthouse. The petition should include the reasons for the divorce. Include other requests related to your divorce, like putting a restraining order on the other party or asking for a child support hearing.
- Legally authorized persons will serve your ex-spouse the contested divorce petition.
- Once served, the ex-spouse will have to hire their own divorce attorney and respond to the petition for a contested divorce. They have 20 days to file their answer to the petition.
Temporary Orders Hearing
- Discovery or the process of gathering information and evidence through legal methods begin. Both parties may obtain publicly available information and witnesses to support their arguments.
- Write pre-trial legal motions and attend quick hearings on matters that will offer relief to one or both parties as quickly as possible. These are necessary for things like temporary custody, visitation arrangements, and who pays urgent bills like school fees and home utilities while the contested divorce is ongoing.
Settlement and Negotiation
- Both parties present settlement proposals. The attorneys on both sides will figure prominently during this stage, negotiating for their clients and protecting their interests as individuals and parents. It often goes down to the attorneys’ experience and skills at the negotiation table, so you must hire attorneys you can trust to do well during your contested divorce hearing.
- Ex-spouses don’t need to face each other during settlement and negotiation. An unaffiliated mediation attorney is appointed to go back and forth between the two parties until they agree on the terms under contention.
- If everything goes well, the contested divorce process ends here.
Court Trial
- If both parties fail to compromise and agree on the contested divorce terms, the case will proceed to family court. The family court judge may encourage spouses to work things out, but if that fails, both parties must then prepare for trial.
- Once in court, it will be up to the judge to decide on the contested details. There will be no opportunity to make agreements during the trial (that chance was given during settlement).
- Both parties will present witnesses who will undergo cross-examination by both sides’ divorce attorneys.
- The judge will review both spouse’s requests, testimonies, and evidence. Remember that the family court places the children’s interests above all, so expect their decision to lean toward what the state thinks is best for your children.
- After the trial is over, the court will issue a final order memorializing all of the judge’s decisions and finalize the divorce.
- IMPORTANT: Once the family court judge has given a ruling, it is final, and the case will be closed.
Connect With Marx, Altman & Johson
Divorces, especially contested divorces, are complex. It takes finesse and experience in legal negotiations to persuade the opposite party to agree to your terms. If the contested divorce goes to court, you’ll have limited time to present credible evidence and convince a judge to rule in your favor.
A party unhappy with the final ruling of a contested divorce can no longer file an appeal to dispute the trial judge’s decision(s). Therefore, it is crucial to find an experienced and highly-trusted contested divorce attorney who will stand firmly by their client’s side, protect their rights, and negotiate skillfully on their behalf while keeping the children’s best interests in mind.
This blog is purely for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Contact our attorneys to get more in-depth information on what happens in a contested divorce and legitimate advice, given your unique circumstances. Find the nearest of our six offices in Texas, and book an appointment with our experienced family divorce attorneys.
