can I file for child support while still married

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mrodrigue2

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Have a strong feeling my husband is going to leave me & my 4mth baby. If my husband & I are separated but still legally married would I still be able to file for child support or would we need to get a divorce in order for him to pay me child support. (have economic & other reasons why don't want to get a divorce & neither one of us are willing to pay for divorce due to neither one sees how its fair that we blame each other for our separation.)
 
Have a strong feeling my husband is going to leave me & my 4mth baby. If my husband & I are separated but still legally married would I still be able to file for child support or would we need to get a divorce in order for him to pay me child support. (have economic & other reasons why don't want to get a divorce & neither one of us are willing to pay for divorce due to neither one sees how its fair that we blame each other for our separation.)



Texas will allow you to apply for temporary child support payments and temporary spousal support in contemplation of a divorce.

But, you must file for divorce to ask the court to order him to pay such support.

Bottom line, without an official filing of divorce or separation in contemplation of divorce; you'll receive no court ordered support.

And, this will make you scream, as long as you are married there is very little a court can do to make him pay rent, utilities, medical payments, food, anything!

So, in order for a court to order him to pay support, you have to bring a divorce action.
 
Nope, you can file before you are divorced. Call your local courthouse and they will tell you which forms you need.

By the way, nobody needs to blame anyone else - Texas does have what's called "no-fault" divorce.
 
Proserpina, I've never heard of child support without a divorce. There is no grounds for the courts to order support upon until there is an ACTION ;) They can agree to support in a legal separation but as long as they are married there will be no support.

A "no-fault" divorce is one where you don't have to prove that either party did anything wrong, but that the marriage is "irretrievably" broken. It is a convenient quiet way to get out of a marriage without airing your dirty laundry in the public record.
 
Proserpina, I've never heard of child support without a divorce. There is no grounds for the courts to order support upon until there is an ACTION ;) They can agree to support in a legal separation but as long as they are married there will be no support.

A "no-fault" divorce is one where you don't have to prove that either party did anything wrong, but that the marriage is "irretrievably" broken. It is a convenient quiet way to get out of a marriage without airing your dirty laundry in the public record.



I apologize. I meant:

It's absolutely possible to get child support before the divorce is finalized.

All that needs to happen is that the divorce is filed.
 
I'm sorry I've never heard of the no fault divorce can you please explain it to me??? Thank you lots....



This will get you started, mrodrigue2!

You can do your own divorce in Texas.

There are many websites that will sell you pro se forms for your do it yourself divorce.

But, if you are the "wronged" party, you can file using an attorney; and the court will make the offender pay YOUR legal fees!

Any Texas lawyer will describe how to do thta.

So, you can hire a lawyer and make the BUM pay for the lawyer, too!




Texas law allows for "no-fault" divorces. However, if one party is at "fault" for the breakup of the marriage, the court may take that into consideration in determining what is an "equitable" division of the property. For that reason, the other spouse may want to plead fault grounds in their petition. The statutory grounds for divorce are: Adultery, Cruel treatment (that renders further living together insupportable), Abandonment (for at least one year with the intent to abandon), Long-term incarceration (more than one year), Confinement to a mental hospital for at least 3 years, Living apart for at least 3 years, or Insupportability (which is the no-fault ground), defined as discord or conflict of personalities that destroys the legitimate ends of the marriage and prevents any reasonable expectation of reconciliation.


Temporary spousal support is often awarded at a temporary orders hearing on a temporary basis, where one spouse is unemployed or earning significantly less than the other spouse. There are no guidelines to set temporary spousal support, so the party seeking support should be prepared to show what his/her needs are and what resources are available to the other spouse to meet those needs.


A typical divorce in Texas requires the following steps:

* The Original Petition for Divorce is filed with the court and personally served on the Respondent (the Respondent can waive service in writing if the parties are working together toward settlement from the beginning - this saves on cost and on conflict).
* At the time of filing, the Petitioner can request that a standard Temporary Restraining Order (or an extraordinary order if circumstances warrant) be issued, which basically freezes the status quo of the parties and requires that no assets start to disappear before they can be divided by the court, requires that the parties act civilly toward each other and do not threaten or harass each other, steal each other's cars or mail, cut off each other's utilities, credit cards or insurance, or hide the children from each other.
* If there was no Temporary Restraining Order issued, the Respondent has twenty days plus the following Monday to file an Answer. If a Temporary Restraining Order was issued, the court must set a hearing within 14 days of issuance (in Travis County, these are always held on Fridays). At that time, the court will make the Temporary Restraining Order into a temporary injunction against both parties and will usually consider temporary orders, which are the set of rules the parties will live under while the divorce is pending. Temporary orders usually involve temporary custody, visitation and support of the children, and temporary use of property and servicing of debt. It can include temporary spousal support and the payment of interim attorney's fees as well.
* The parties then engage in discovery, which is the process by which parties exchange information and documents that are relevant to the case. Common types of discovery are interrogatories (written questions), requests for admissions (true/false type statements), requests for production of documents, and depositions (oral interrogations under oath).
* After the discovery is completed the parties and their attorneys (if they are represented) will discuss settlement of the case. If the case is resolved by agreement, one of the attorneys will prepare an Agreed Decree of Divorce, which will contain all of the terms of the agreement. This is signed by the spouses and their attorneys, and then eventually by the judge.
* If the parties are not able to agree on all of the issues in the case, a trial date will likely be set.
* Prior to trial, the parties will be required to attempt mediation. Mediation is an informal process allowing parties to work with a neutral third party (the "mediator") to attempt to negotiate and settle all terms of their conflict. All communications (with very limited exception) made during the mediation process are protected by rules confidentiality and cannot be used at trial. Parties can propose and agree to creative settlements that could not otherwise be ordered by a court during litigation.
* If the parties fail to reach an agreement in mediation, the case goes to trial. At the conclusion of the trial, one of the attorneys will prepare a Final Decree of Divorce to present to the judge for signature. This will contain all of the courts rulings and (hopefully) will have resolved all issues pertaining to the divorce.



There is a 60 waiting period in Texas from the date of filing of the petition with the court. That means that a divorce cannot be final for at least 60 days after filing - it does not mean that the divorce is automatically final on the 61st day. If the parties are in agreement as to all the terms of their divorce, the final decree of divorce can be prepared and signed by the parties during the 60 day period and can be entered by the court on the 61st day. The divorce is final as soon as the judge pronounces it so in open court and signs the decree of divorce. If the parties are not in agreement, the average time it takes to finalize a divorce is about 6 months to one year or longer, depending on the complexity of the issues and the degree of dispute.
 
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OP..you are going to have to file for divorce and ask for temporary child support. I agree just do a no fault divorce, there doesn't have to be blame or finger pointing. Most states allow no fault anyways and Texas is one of them. You can try this website

http://www.oag.state.tx.us/cs/parents/apply_services.shtml

you should google the family court in your county to see how you would go about filing for divorce.
 
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