Questions, answered honestly

A confidential conversation, virtual or in person, about what is happening, what you want, and which path fits. Mediation, an agreed filing, or representation. You leave with a recommended next step and a clear picture of what it costs.

No. Consultations and mediations run over Zoom for families anywhere in Texas. In-person meetings in Austin are available by arrangement when you would rather sit in a room.

Yes. Some situations are genuinely handled better with free court forms or a single mediation session, and we will say so. An honest answer of “you do not need us” costs us an engagement and earns a referral. We will take that trade.

Flat and published. A four hour session is $550 per party and a full day is $1,100 per party. It includes drafting the Mediated Settlement Agreement on the day, so you leave with the document.

Yes. A Mediated Settlement Agreement that meets the Texas Family Code requirements is binding once signed and generally cannot be revoked. It becomes the backbone of your final order.

Optional, but the timing matters. The mediator stays neutral and cannot advise either side, so having your own counsel look at the terms is wise. A Mediated Settlement Agreement that meets the Texas Family Code requirements binds you the moment it is signed, so a review afterwards cannot change what you have agreed. If you want a lawyer’s eyes on the deal, arrange that before or during the session rather than after.

The case simply continues, and what was said in the session stays confidential. Partial agreements still count. Everything you settle narrows what is left for a judge.

In most cases a Texas court cannot grant a divorce before the 60th day after the petition is filed. That wait does not apply where your spouse has been finally convicted of, or received deferred adjudication for, a family violence offence against you or a member of your household, or where you hold an active protective order or a magistrate’s order for emergency protection against them. Tell us at the first conversation if that is your situation. The clock runs from filing rather than from the day you agreed. Agreed cases finish shortly after that window. Contested cases take months longer.

You and your spouse have agreed every term: property, debts, children, support. Nobody is asking a judge to decide anything. One open item makes it contested on that issue, and a single mediation session usually closes it.

No. Most divorces are granted on insupportability, which needs no fault from either of you. Fault grounds exist and can affect how property is divided, and we will tell you if yours is such a case.

Yes, and the simplest route is asking for it inside the decree. The court is directed to restore a name you used before unless it states a reason for refusing. We ask for it as standard whenever you want it.

By the child’s best interest. Texas starts from a rebuttable presumption that both parents should be joint managing conservators, then sets the possession schedule and the decision-making rights. Parents who agree write their own plan.

No. At 12 or older a judge must interview the child about their wishes if a party asks. The statute then says that interview does not reduce the court’s discretion. The child is heard. The child does not decide.

By guideline percentages of the paying parent’s monthly net resources. Twenty per cent for one child, twenty five for two, and upwards from there, applied up to a statutory cap. Where the paying parent’s monthly net resources are under $1,000, a lower schedule applies instead: fifteen per cent for one child, twenty for two, and upwards from there. A court can vary either schedule where the child’s proven needs justify that.

Yes, where the change is in the child’s best interest and circumstances have materially and substantially changed. Agreed modifications move quickly. Inside the first year, changing who decides the child’s primary residence needs a sworn affidavit.

Always in writing, and always before work starts. Mediation has flat published rates that are on this site. Everything else is quoted at the first conversation, once we know which case you have. You get a written strategy so you can see where the work goes.

The district clerk’s filing fee, which varies by county, plus service or a notarised waiver. Special items are quoted separately before any work starts: a QDRO for a retirement account, a deed transfer, or an adoption evaluation.

Often, yes. Ask at the consultation, because the answer depends on the matter, and you will have it in writing before you commit to anything.