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.
They can agree to support in a legal separation but as long as they are married there will be no support.