People seek a divorce for many reasons. Some reasons include personality conflict, infidelity, lack of trust, and money problems. There are two general types of divorces in Texas: fault-based divorces and no-fault divorces. Most divorces in Texas are considered no-fault divorces. This blog will discuss what is a no-fault divorce under Texas law.
No-fault divorce
Under Texas law, parties can have what is called a no-fault divorce. A no-fault divorce means you and your spouse can no longer get along because your personalities conflict. Furthermore, you and your spouse do not reasonably expect that you will get back together.
In every divorce, the parties must file a document called an Original Petition for Divorce. In the petition, the parties must state the grounds for the divorce. The most common ground for divorce is that there is a conflict of personalities. The exact language in a no-fault divorce petition, which is the most common language used in petitions for divorce, is the following:
The marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities between Petitioner and Respondent that destroys the legitimate ends of the marriage relationship and prevents any reasonable expectation of reconciliation.
The Petitioner is the spouse who files for divorce while the other spouse who receives the Original Petition for Divorce is called the Respondent.
Parties do not need to provide any additional information or details in the grounds for divorce section than the information above when filing for divorce. Oftentimes, people feel the need to state all the “wrongs” their spouse did to them during the divorce. While it is understandable to feel hurt and upset with your spouse about their behavior, most of the pleadings filed with the court will not include a lot of information about why the marriage came to an end.
At the end of the day, the family law courts are focused on two main things during a divorce: property division and child issues. While having a spouse lie to you might feel hurtful, courts do not place much importance on the more minute details of a relationship unless that lying included hiding assets in the marital estate or somehow greatly impacted the children’s wellbeing. Another example might be that a spouse does not like how their spouse parents their children, leading to arguments that might have played a role in the marriage ending. Co-parenting can be frustrating. However, courts will not spend a lot of time trying to dissect minor co-parenting conflicts between spouses during a divorce.
Courts must stay efficient with their time and therefore focus on the bigger issues at play, specifically how to divide the marital estate and how to make determine conservatorship, possession and access, and child support in a way that reflects the child’s best interest.
Why File a No-Fault Divorce
As previously mentioned, people file for a no-fault divorce even in situations where there were deeper issues between the spouses, such as infidelity. You might be thinking why would someone choose a no-fault divorce over a fault-based divorce?
As a person navigates the divorce process, there are many different strategies the person can implement to have the outcome they desire. It is important for you to discuss all your options with your attorney. However, the most common reason a person might choose to file for a no-fault divorce rather than a fault-based divorce is to not cause possibly unnecessary fighting and tension with their spouse.
In most cases, once a party decides that they need a divorce they want to get through the process as efficiently as possible so that they can move on to a new beginning. Filing a fault-based divorce might cause unnecessary conflict that would actually further delay the divorce.
When people are served with the Original Petition for Divorce, they are often taken aback by the legal language included in the petition. People often misconstrue the language contained in the petition, even a no-fault divorce petition, and believe that their spouse is being more aggressive than they really intend. This misunderstanding occurs because of the language required for a petition. Therefore, once a party starts making allegations in a fault-based divorce petition, this might unnecessarily upset the other side even more and make it harder to come to an agreement or work together to find a resolution.
Why File for a Fault-Based Divorce
When filing for divorce, make sure that the language in your petition aligns with what your ultimate goal is for the divorce. For some people, it makes sense to file for a fault-based divorce. The main reason a person would file for a fault-based divorce is to get a couple more percentage points more of the community estate.
There are two types of property under Texas family law: community property and separate property. Everything spouses own when they get a divorce is presumed to be community property under Texas law. The person stating that property is their separate property has the burden to prove to the court that the property is indeed separate property. Separate property is anything a person owns before marriage or received during marriage as a gift, inheritance, or part of a personal injury settlement.
During the divorce, the parties will create a spreadsheet called an inventory. The inventory will have all the parties’ assets. People typically believe that their community property will be divided 50-50. While this often happens, Texas law actually requires courts to divide the community estate in a just and right manner. This leaves family courts with some discretion on how to divide the community estate that might not result in an exact 50-50 division.
If a person alleges a fault-based divorce, such as adultery, then they can request a disproportionate share of the community estate. That means that instead of a 50-50 or 49-51 division of the marital estate, the party might get a 47-53 division of the community estate.
However, it is very important to remember that just because you allege a fault-based divorce does not mean that a court will grant you a fault-based divorce. You would need to prove the allegations you allege in your Original Petition for Divorce to prevail on a fault-based divorce.
Furthermore, people often think that they are entitled to a fault-based divorce, and therefore a disproportionate share of the community estate, just because their spouse cheated on them. From a personal standpoint, infidelity in a marriage is very difficult. However, from a legal standpoint, many family law courts today do not place as much importance on infidelity as they did in the past. Unfortunately, many marriages end because of infidelity. Barring more extreme facts, such as giving a spouse an incurable sexually transmitted disease, a court is unlikely to give a spouse a disproportionate share of the community estate based solely on the fact that one spouse had an extramarital affair.
If you find yourself going through a divorce, think about whether you want to file for a no-fault divorce or a fault-based divorce. No two divorces are exactly the same. Consulting with a family law attorney can help you decide on how you should proceed in your divorce matter. An attorney can help strategize with you about which option, a no-fault divorce or a fault-based divorce, would be more beneficial in your case.