Liberty Hill Family Law Attorney

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber represents Liberty Hill parents, spouses, and unmarried partners in divorce, custody, support, paternity, and marital agreement cases, working with families across Williamson County and the surrounding Central Texas counties. Whether you are separating after a long marriage or sorting out parenting time with a former partner, you work directly with the lawyer handling your case.

A Liberty Hill family law attorney has to think about more than the dispute in front of you. Liberty Hill sits in Williamson County, but many residents commute into Austin, own acreage or a home built in the last several years, and have children enrolled in local schools. Those facts shape real decisions: which county’s court hears the case, whether a possession schedule works when one parent drives a long distance each day, and how a house with a large mortgage and a modest down payment is divided.

Texas also changed the default rules for parenting time. For new orders where the parents live within 50 miles of each other, the Expanded Standard Possession Order, with Thursday overnights and weekends running through Monday morning, is now the starting point. That matters in a community where both parents often stay in the same part of Williamson County after a split.

Why Choose Oprea & Weber for Family Law Cases in Liberty Hill

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm serving clients in Liberty Hill and throughout Williamson, Travis, Hays, and Bastrop Counties. The firm’s attorneys, Kevin Weber and Karen Oprea, both graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. Your attorney personally handles your case from the first consultation to the final decree, and the firm keeps its caseload intentionally manageable so that clients are not passed off to layers of staff or junior associates.

Kevin Weber trained in complex commercial litigation and negotiation at Latham & Watkins in Manhattan, which shows up in how he approaches property division, business interests, and settlement strategy. He also mediates family law disputes and represents clients in mediation, so he understands both sides of the table when an agreement is being built. Karen Oprea has briefed and argued cases before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Courts of Appeals, and the New York appellate courts, an appellate background that sharpens how orders are drafted and how legal arguments are made when a case cannot settle.

Clients consistently describe the firm as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring. One client wrote that Kevin translates legal language into applicable information and made sure she felt supported and heard throughout her divorce. Another, who came to the firm through a personal referral in a custody matter, said Kevin held them steady through a very emotional situation. The firm prepares every case as though it may be tried, but pursues cooperative, collaborative, or mediated resolution whenever the other side will engage in good faith.

Family Law Issues That Come Up for Liberty Hill Families

Divorce and Community Property Division: Texas divides the community estate in a manner the court considers just and right, which does not always mean 50/50. Homes, retirement accounts, business interests, and debts all require careful characterization as community or separate property.
Child Custody and Possession Schedules: Texas uses the terms conservatorship and possession and access. Parents with a commute into Austin often need schedules that account for school pickup, work hours, and drive time rather than a template.
Child Support: Guideline support is a percentage of the paying parent’s net monthly resources, 20 percent for one child and 25 percent for two, rising with each additional child, applied only up to a periodically adjusted income cap. Courts may depart from guidelines when they would be unjust, such as when a child has extraordinary medical needs.
Spousal Maintenance: Post-divorce support is limited. The requesting spouse must generally lack enough property to meet minimum reasonable needs and qualify under a specific ground, such as a marriage of ten years or more, a disability, or family violence.
Paternity and SAPCR Suits: Unmarried parents must establish legal parentage before a court will order custody, visitation, or support, and an acknowledgment of paternity can only be rescinded within 60 days of signing.
Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements: These agreements clarify what is separate property and how a future divorce would be handled, which is especially useful for couples with a business, inherited land, or children from a prior relationship.
Modifications, Relocation, and Enforcement: Existing orders can be changed when circumstances materially and substantially change, and orders that are being ignored can be enforced through the court.
Informal Marriage: Texas recognizes marriage without a license when a couple agreed to be married, lived together in Texas as spouses, and held themselves out as married, which can create divorce obligations some people did not expect.

What to Do and Where Your Case Will Be Heard

The first decision is whether you actually want to file, and the second is where. A Texas divorce requires that at least one spouse has lived in Texas for six months and in the county where the case is filed for 90 days. Only one spouse has to meet both requirements, and the other spouse does not have to agree to the divorce. For Liberty Hill residents, the county of filing is typically Williamson County, whose district courts and county courts at law sit in Georgetown, though residency in another county can change the proper venue.

Before you meet with a lawyer, gather what a court will eventually ask for: recent tax returns, pay stubs, bank and retirement statements, mortgage and loan records, a list of vehicles and real estate, and any prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. If children are involved, write down the current schedule, school information, and any events that bear on parenting. If safety is a concern, tell your attorney immediately, because a protective order or a family violence history changes both the waiting period and the available remedies.

Two common mistakes cost people leverage. The first is moving out or agreeing to an informal arrangement before temporary orders are in place; the status quo you create can become the baseline a judge looks at. The second is signing a settlement or mediated agreement without understanding it, since agreements reached in mediation are generally binding and difficult to undo.

Once a petition is filed, the 60-day waiting period runs from the filing date, not the service date, and agreement between spouses does not shorten it. The only exceptions involve family violence. A served spouse generally has until the Monday following 20 days after service to file an answer. During the waiting period, either spouse can request temporary orders covering where the children live, who pays which bills, and who stays in the home. Williamson County judges handle these disputes in Georgetown, and in-person contested hearings are the norm unless the judge or the parties arrange otherwise.

Changing an Existing Order After Life Shifts

Many families contact a Liberty Hill family law attorney years after a decree because the order no longer fits. Texas sets different thresholds depending on what you want to change.

For child support, you can seek modification if three years have passed since the order was made or last modified and the monthly amount differs from the guideline amount by 20 percent or $100. Alternatively, you can show a material and substantial change in circumstances, which carries no minimum waiting period. If the existing amount was set by agreement at something other than the guideline, the court can modify only on a material and substantial change. Incarceration of more than 180 days counts as such a change.

Changing conservatorship or possession requires a material and substantial change and a showing that the change serves the child’s best interest. A child who is at least 12 can tell the judge, in chambers, which parent the child prefers to designate the primary residence, and that preference is one recognized ground. Another is a primary conservator voluntarily giving up primary care for at least six months. If you file to change the primary-residence right within a year of the original order, you must attach an affidavit alleging endangerment, consent by the current primary conservator, or voluntary relinquishment.

Parents with orders made before the Expanded Standard Possession Order became the default do not get it automatically. They must file a modification to adopt it.

Liberty Hill Family Law Questions Answered

Is custody in Texas always split 50/50?

No. The law favors frequent and continuing contact with both parents, but it does not require an equal split. Many orders give one parent the right to designate the child’s primary residence, with the other parent having a scheduled possession order. Parents can agree to an equal schedule, and courts will approve it when it serves the child’s best interest.

How long does a divorce take?

The 60-day waiting period is the minimum, and it runs from the date of filing. An agreed divorce can often be finalized soon after it ends. Contested cases involving children, businesses, or significant assets commonly take many months, depending on how quickly issues resolve and the court’s calendar.

How is child support calculated?

Texas applies a percentage to the paying parent’s net monthly resources: 20 percent for one child, 25 percent for two, 30 percent for three, 35 percent for four, 40 percent for five, and not less than that for six or more. The percentage applies only up to a cap that the state adjusts periodically. Lower percentages apply when net resources are very low.

Can I get spousal maintenance?

Only if you meet specific requirements. You must lack sufficient property, including separate property, to meet your minimum reasonable needs, and you must also qualify on a ground such as a marriage of at least ten years with inability to earn enough, an incapacitating disability, or a family violence conviction. Monthly maintenance is capped at the lesser of $5,000 or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s average gross monthly income.

Do we both need a lawyer?

In most cases, yes. In a cooperative divorce, Kevin Weber represents one spouse while working with both spouses toward a shared resolution, and the other spouse proceeds without separate counsel. That works for couples committed to a transparent, respectful process. If there is significant conflict or either spouse is uncomfortable without a lawyer, each should have their own.

What is a SAPCR suit?

A Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship is the court action used to decide conservatorship, possession and access, and child support when parents are not married or are not part of a divorce. It is the usual route for unmarried parents once parentage is established.

How long do I have to challenge paternity?

It depends on the situation. An acknowledgment of paternity can be rescinded within 60 days of signing. After that, a signer can challenge it only on grounds of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact, before an order affecting the child is issued. When a child has a presumed father, a suit to adjudicate parentage generally must be filed before the child’s fourth birthday, with narrow exceptions.

Does living together make us legally married?

Not by itself, and Texas has no minimum cohabitation period. An informal marriage requires an agreement to be married, living together in Texas as spouses, and presenting yourselves as married, or a signed declaration filed with the county. If you separate and do not start a proceeding to prove the marriage within two years, the law presumes there was no agreement to be married.

Can a stepparent seek custody or visitation?

Texas narrowed standing for non-parents such as stepparents. The statute now looks to whether the person has had exclusive care, control, and possession of the child, which is a harder showing than the earlier standard. Whether a stepparent has standing depends heavily on the facts.

How long does a protective order last?

Generally up to two years, or until the second anniversary of issuance if no period is stated. If the respondent is a party to a divorce with the applicant, the order lasts until two years after the final decree is signed. Longer orders are possible when a court finds serious bodily injury or two or more prior protective orders. A renewal application can be filed up to 30 days before expiration.

Is hiring a lawyer worth it for an agreed divorce?

Often, yes. Even when spouses agree, the decree has to address property, debts, conservatorship, and support correctly, and drafting errors surface years later when a retirement account will not transfer or a schedule is unenforceable. A lawyer reviewing or drafting the decree reduces that risk.

Liberty Hill Family Law Representation Across Williamson County and Beyond

Oprea & Weber serves families in Liberty Hill and throughout Williamson County, including Georgetown, Leander, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Hutto, Taylor, Jarrell, Florence, Bartlett, and Granger, along with the communities of Santa Rita Ranch, Sun City, and the Lake Georgetown area. Because many Liberty Hill families have ties to Austin, the firm also represents clients in Travis County, as well as in Hays County, including San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, and Dripping Springs, and in Bastrop County, including Bastrop, Elgin, and Smithville.

Williamson County district courts and county courts at law handle most Liberty Hill family law filings in Georgetown. Cases with a Travis, Hays, or Bastrop County connection are heard in those counties instead, so the firm tailors its approach to the local court and the judge assigned.

Speak With a Liberty Hill Family Law Lawyer

If you are weighing a divorce, working out a parenting plan, or trying to change an order that no longer works, a conversation with a Liberty Hill family law lawyer at Oprea & Weber can clarify where you stand and which path fits your family. Call the firm to schedule a consultation and speak directly with an attorney who will handle your case from start to finish.