If you decide to divorce in Texas and cannot reach an agreement with your former spouse, the court determines custody, support payments, property division and debt payment. In Texas, divorce proceedings take about 60 days.
Learn more about ending your marriage in the state of Texas.
Eligibility for divorce
Texas requires you or your spouse to live in the state for six months or longer before filing for divorce. You or your spouse must live in the filing county for 90 days. The filing spouse is the petitioner; the responding spouse is the respondent.
Texas grants a divorce 60 days after you file the petition. Courts waive this waiting period in cases of family violence convictions or active protection orders (for family violence).
Reasons for divorce
Texas allows no-fault divorces if you and your spouse either declare you are unable to reconcile your marriage or live apart for three years.
In Texas, grounds for fault include:
- Adultery
- Cruel treatment
- Abandonment
- Felony conviction or incarceration of 12 months or longer
- Mental hospital stay of at least 3 years
The court may consider fault when dividing property. Texas presumes community property comprises all property acquired during the marriage. The courts also presume equal property division.
Texas courts allow uncontested divorces or divorce by trial court. Trial court is for couples who do not agree on the issues. The parties go to mediation before a trial. When mediation does not work, the trial judge will settle all terms of the divorce. The parties are bound to this divorce decree.
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