money 256281 1280

Financial Advice during a Divorce


When a couple gets into a divorce, it is possible that one or both of the spouses lack in funds.

Admittedly, it will cost so much once one gets into a divorce. There are so many fees and charges that need to be covered for the whole duration of its approval. Some of the costs include court costs, fees for counter-claims, child support, etc.

Waiver of Court Fees

However, in the state of Texas, there is an option for one of the spouses to have the court fees waived, if it is justified that the members in the family only earn with a low-income job. Courts in Texas present citizens with a form that they need to fill out in order to clearly state that they cannot afford court fees during the divorce.

Support pendente lite

There are three types of financial support that a spouse can get from the other which can be demanded in court. These are:

  1. Temporary spousal support
  2. Contractual alimony
  3. Spousal maintenance

Temporary spousal support is where the court can demand that one of the spouses pay for the fees of the other spouse. This is to be done only for a short period of time as this is only temporary. This is mostly done when it is recognized by the judge that one of the parties cannot support themselves individually while the divorce is ongoing.

Contractual Alimony is when one of the spouses is ordered directly from the court to pay for the support of the spouse only under the condition that the spouses agree on the divorce

Lastly, Spousal maintenance is ordered by the court if the condition is that the spouses do not agree on the arrangement of the divorce. Spouses who have been convicted for violence against one of the spouses will apply here. Some spouses may also specifically ask for maintenance if it is recognized by court that said spouse is unable to work or to earn enough income to be able to make ends meet on a daily basis. However, there is also a case that the marriage may have already gone through a duration of 10 years. In this case, one of the spouses also has not enough property or money to provide for his or her needs individually.

In order to know the specific responsibilities in a financial context for both parties, it is very important to consult an attorney at law whose area of expertise is in divorce.

The following two tabs change content below.
Mr. Hutton is a Divorce and Custody Lawyer based out of Round Rock, TX. His background is with child psychology at Arizona State University where he received a B.S. in 2006, and he continued this by working with the Children’s Right’s Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law where he received his J.D. in 2009. Throughout his practice, he has been a strong proponent of utilizing modern technology to improve his practice and the representation of his clients. He currently is the technology chair of CAFA of Travis County and is committed to improving and modernizing the practice of law in Texas. If you have any questions you can contact him at timothy.hutton@austintexaslegal.com

Leave a Reply