no answer default

[jesse]

Jurisdiction

Texas

i have a no answer default, it has been 16 mos. since filing. Respondant was served and a return is on file. what are my limits for the final decree? Child support based on minimum wage, supervised visits, health care, drug tests before visits?

 

[ElleMD]

Limits for what? Why do you need limits and for whom? If you do not have an attorney, I strongly suggest you get one.

 

[leslie82]

i have a no answer default, it has been 16 mos. since filing. Respondant was served and a return is on file. what are my limits for the final decree? Child support based on minimum wage, supervised visits, health care, drug tests before visits?

So you got a default hearing for your divorce? Why wasn't child support, visits, etc put into the decree? Yeah you need a lawyer.

I'm in a different state but I had a default decree. My ex didn't show up for any of the hearings. He didn't respond within the time allotted when he was served paperwork. Nothing. Didn't do the online parenting course. I had a lawyer who drafted up child support based on a minimum wage 40 hour work week. I got sole custody. He has no visitation because he didn't do the parenting class online. It's my discretion. I don't know why you don't have a decree 16 months later. My divorce was final 30 days after the decree was filed and then had six months after that of not being able to get remarried to anyone else.

 

[army judge]

A default divorce decree in Texas occurs when the person who was served with the divorce petition fails to file a written answer within the requisite time period. A written answer is a simple document filed with the Court stating you are answering the lawsuit. If an answer is filed, then a default divorce cannot be obtained.

A divorce in Texas has a mandatory sixty day waiting period before you can finalize the divorce. There are ways around that 60 day waiting period, however. However, on day sixty-one, if the person on the receiving end of the divorce has been personally served with the divorce petition and the period in which that person has to answer the lawsuit has expired; the petitioner in the divorce may obtain a default divorce.

When requesting a default divorce, it is required that evidence be presented for each item you are requesting in the divorce decree. For example, if you are requesting the other parent's possession schedule with the children be less than the Standard Possession Order found in the Texas Family Code, evidence must be presented to show why the specific possession schedule you are presenting is in the children's best interest. At the conclusion of all of the evidence, assuming all prerequisites have been met and elements of the law established, the Judge will have the option to grant the divorce.

Given what could happen in terms of a default divorce, it is important to seek legal advice and file an answer if served with a divorce petition in Texas.