Austin Contested Divorce Attorney
Austin spouses who cannot agree on the house, the children, or the money have a decision to make before anything is filed: how hard to fight, and over what. The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm that represents clients in contested divorces in Austin and across Travis, Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties. A contested divorce attorney in Austin earns their fee by sorting the disputes that deserve a trial from the ones that are better settled, and by preparing the case so that either path is available.
A divorce is contested when the spouses disagree about even one major issue, whether that is who has the right to designate the children’s primary residence, whether one spouse qualifies for maintenance, or how a business, a retirement account, or a house is divided. Disagreement does not mean every issue is in dispute. Many contested cases narrow to one or two real fights once the paperwork is exchanged and temporary orders are in place, and the early work is largely about figuring out which fights those are.
What Makes a Texas Divorce Contested, and What Is Actually Decided
Texas does not require both spouses to want the divorce, and it does not require the spouses to agree on anything for the court to end the marriage. Once one spouse meets the residency rules, which require six months as a Texas domiciliary and 90 days as a resident of the county where the case is filed, the case can proceed even if the other spouse objects. Only one spouse has to satisfy both requirements. Contested litigation is therefore not about whether the marriage ends. It is about the terms.
Those terms fall into a few buckets. The court characterizes property as community or separate and then divides the community estate in a manner it finds just and right, which does not mean a mandatory 50/50 split. Where children are involved, the court decides conservatorship, the possession schedule, and child support. The court may also decide whether spousal maintenance is warranted. Each bucket has its own legal standard, its own evidence, and its own strategy, and a contested case can involve all of them at once.
The 60-day waiting period is worth understanding because it shapes expectations. The court cannot grant a divorce before the 60th day after the petition is filed, and the clock runs from the filing date, not the date the other spouse is served. Agreement between the spouses does not shorten it. The narrow exceptions involve family violence, such as a conviction or deferred adjudication for a family violence offense against the petitioner or a member of the household, or an active protective order or emergency protective order based on a finding of family violence during the marriage. In a truly contested case the 60 days are rarely the limiting factor; discovery, hearings, and the court’s calendar are.
Why Choose Oprea & Weber for a Contested Divorce in Austin
The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm serving Austin and Central Texas, with clients from Travis, Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties. Kevin Weber and Karen Oprea are the firm’s attorneys, and each case is handled personally by an attorney from the first consultation through the final decree. The caseload is intentionally manageable, and clients are not passed to layers of staff or junior associates. Clients get direct attorney access and explanations in plain language.
Both Kevin Weber and Karen Oprea graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. Kevin trained in complex commercial litigation and negotiation at Latham & Watkins in Manhattan, which is directly relevant when a divorce turns on a closely held business, competing financial experts, or a dense paper trail. Karen 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. In a contested divorce, that appellate background matters because a decree is only as durable as the record and the legal arguments behind it.
The firm prepares every case for trial while pursuing cooperative resolution when it is realistic. That preparation is what gives a client leverage at the negotiating table. Kevin also mediates family law disputes and represents clients in mediation, so he sees settlement from both sides of the table. Clients describe the firm as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring, and one client wrote that Kevin translates legal language into information a person can actually use, and that he made sure she felt supported and heard during a heartbreaking process.
The Disputes That Drive a Contested Austin Divorce
- Community Versus Separate Property: Texas presumes that property held by either spouse at the time of divorce is community property, so a spouse claiming something is separate, such as an inheritance, a pre-marriage account, or a gift, carries the burden of proving it. Tracing money through commingled accounts is often where these fights are won or lost.
- Business Interests and Professional Practices: Austin’s technology, startup, and professional-services economy means many contested cases involve equity, stock options, or a closely held company. The disputes center on valuation, on how much of the value was built during the marriage, and on whether one spouse keeps the business or is paid for their share.
- Retirement Accounts and Deferred Compensation: Pensions, 401(k)s, and similar accounts are divided by a qualified order that must be drafted precisely, and the portion earned during the marriage is generally the community share.
- The Family Home: Who stays, who is bought out, whether the house is sold, and who carries the mortgage during the case are common flashpoints, often addressed first through temporary orders.
- Conservatorship and the Possession Schedule: The court looks to the child’s best interest. Parents who cannot agree often fight over who has the right to designate the primary residence, whether the schedule should be equal, and whether the Expanded Standard Possession Order, with Thursday overnights and weekends running through Monday morning, fits the family. That expanded schedule is now the default for new orders when parents live within 50 miles of each other.
- Child Support: Support is calculated as a percentage of the paying parent’s net monthly resources, 20 percent for one child, 25 for two, 30 for three, 35 for four, and 40 for five, with a statutory cap on the income to which the percentages apply. Disputes tend to arise over what counts as income, including bonuses, commissions, and self-employment earnings.
- Spousal Maintenance: Maintenance is court-ordered support after divorce, and it is available only in limited circumstances, such as a marriage of 10 years or longer where the requesting spouse cannot earn enough to meet minimum reasonable needs, a recent family violence conviction, or an incapacitating disability. Even when eligible, the monthly amount is capped at the lesser of $5,000 or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income.
- Informal Marriage Claims: Occasionally the first fight is whether a marriage exists at all. A couple can be married informally by agreeing to be married, living together in Texas as spouses, and representing to others that they are married, and a proceeding to prove it that is not started within two years of separation faces a rebuttable presumption against it.
What to Do in the First Weeks of a Contested Divorce
Start by collecting financial documents before the other side controls access to them: several years of tax returns, recent bank, brokerage, and retirement statements, pay records, credit card statements, mortgage and loan documents, business financials if either spouse owns a company, and records of any separate property you intend to claim. Photograph or list major assets and note which accounts are in whose name. Do not move or hide money, and do not drain accounts; judges notice, and it damages credibility on every other issue.
Your first meeting with a lawyer should settle the strategic questions: whether to file first, what temporary orders to request, and whether any safety issue calls for a protective order. Filing first is not always necessary, but it controls timing, and the 60-day clock starts at filing. Temporary orders matter more than most people expect, because the arrangements put in place while the case is pending, such as where the children sleep, who pays which bills, and who stays in the home, often become the practical baseline for the final outcome.
Contested divorces in Travis County are filed in the district courts and heard at the Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility in downtown Austin. Travis County has twelve district courts, including the 200th, 201st, 250th, 261st, 345th, 353rd, 419th, 455th, and 459th, along with associate courts that handle many preliminary hearings. Unless the parties agree otherwise or the judge notifies you, contested hearings and trials there are held in person, and the courts publish a standing order for family law cases that governs conduct while a case is pending. Read it before you do anything that touches the children or the property.
If you live in Williamson County, your case is heard in the district courts in Georgetown; in Hays County, in San Marcos; and in Bastrop County, in Bastrop, where the 423rd District Court hears only matters arising within the county. A divorce is filed in the county that satisfies the 90-day residency rule, and that choice can affect which judges and local practices you deal with.
The most common mistakes are practical, not legal: posting about the case on social media, using the children as messengers, signing a proposed temporary order without understanding it, and treating a settlement offer as an insult instead of information. Evaluate every offer against the realistic range of outcomes at trial, which is exactly what preparation allows.
Discovery, Mediation, and Trial: How a Disputed Case Moves
After the petition is filed and the other spouse answers, contested cases move into discovery. Each side requests documents, answers written questions, and may take depositions. In a case with a business or significant assets, discovery often involves forensic accountants or valuation experts. In a custody dispute, it may involve parenting evidence, school and medical records, and sometimes a court-appointed child custody evaluator or amicus attorney. The goal is to put a disciplined, well-organized record behind your position.
Most contested divorces settle, and mediation is usually where that happens. A neutral mediator works with both sides, often in a single day, and an agreement reached there is written into a binding settlement. Settlement does not mean surrender: the strongest settlements come from the side that has done the work and is visibly ready to try the case. When mediation fails, the court may rule on specific disputes at hearings, and a final trial resolves whatever remains, ending with a Final Decree of Divorce.
The decree is a precise document. Property awards, retirement division orders, conservatorship terms, possession schedules, and support provisions all have to be drafted so they can be enforced without a second lawsuit. Ambiguity at this stage is what produces the enforcement and modification fights that follow. If circumstances change later, orders on children and support can be modified, generally on a material and substantial change, so the decree should be drafted with that future in mind.
Contested Divorce Questions Austin Residents Ask
How long does a contested divorce take in Travis County?
The 60-day waiting period is the floor, not the typical result. A contested divorce involving children, a business, or significant assets commonly takes many months, and sometimes longer, depending on how fast information is exchanged, whether mediation succeeds, and the court’s calendar. Cases that narrow to a single issue move faster than those with several.
Can my spouse stop the divorce by refusing to cooperate?
No. Texas does not require both spouses to agree to a divorce. If one spouse meets the residency requirements and files, the case can proceed even if the other spouse objects or does not participate. A spouse who is properly served and does not answer risks a default, in which the court can grant the filing spouse’s requests.
Is property always divided 50/50 in Texas?
No. The court divides the community estate in a way that is just and right, which can be unequal when the facts justify it. Courts consider factors such as the disparity in earning power, fault in the breakup in some situations, waste of community assets, and the needs of the children. Separate property is not divided at all, but it must be proved.
Is custody in Texas always split equally?
No. Texas calls custody conservatorship and visitation possession and access. The law favors frequent and continuing contact with both parents but does not guarantee an equal split. The standard schedule gives one parent the right to designate the child’s primary residence, and the other has scheduled possession. Parents can agree to an equal schedule, and courts approve it when it serves the child’s best interest.
What are temporary orders, and why do they matter so much?
Temporary orders govern the period while the divorce is pending, covering where the children live, who pays which expenses, temporary support, and who stays in the home. Either spouse can request them. They matter because they establish the day-to-day reality for months, and judges are often reluctant to disturb a stable arrangement at final trial without good reason.
Can I get spousal maintenance after a short marriage?
Rarely. For most grounds, the marriage must have lasted at least 10 years, and the requesting spouse must also lack enough property and earning ability to meet minimum reasonable needs. Exceptions exist for a recent family violence conviction or deferred adjudication against the spouse or the spouse’s child, and for a spouse or child with an incapacitating disability, where the marriage-length requirement does not apply.
How long can spousal maintenance last if I qualify?
Duration is capped by the length of the marriage: up to five years for marriages of at least 10 but under 20 years, up to seven years for at least 20 but under 30, and up to 10 years for 30 years or more. A family-violence-based award after a marriage under 10 years can last up to five years. Maintenance based on disability can continue as long as the disability does, subject to periodic review.
What if my spouse hides assets or income during the case?
Discovery is the tool for this. Bank and brokerage records, tax returns, business financials, and sworn answers can reveal undisclosed accounts or income, and forensic accountants can trace transfers. Courts treat a spouse’s deliberate dissipation or concealment of community assets seriously when dividing the estate, so documenting suspicious transactions early is worthwhile.
Does a protective order affect my divorce?
It can. A protective order based on family violence can affect temporary orders, possession of the home, and the children’s schedule, and an active order or emergency protective order based on a finding of family violence during the marriage removes the 60-day waiting period. A protective order issued against a party to a divorce is effective until the second anniversary of the date the final decree is signed. Safety concerns should be raised with your attorney immediately.
What if we are not sure we were ever legally married?
Texas recognizes informal marriage if a couple agreed to be married, lived together in Texas as spouses, and held themselves out as married, or if they signed and filed a declaration of informal marriage. There is no minimum period of living together. If you ended the relationship and no proceeding to prove the marriage was started within two years of separating, the law presumes there was no agreement to marry, though that presumption can be rebutted.
Can my kids choose which parent they live with?
Not on their own. A child who is at least 12 can tell the judge in chambers which parent they prefer to have the right to designate the primary residence, and that preference is a recognized ground for modification of an existing order. It is one factor, not a decision, and the court’s focus remains the child’s best interest.
Is it worth contesting a divorce if I expect to settle anyway?
Often, yes, because preparation drives settlement value. A spouse who has gathered records, retained the right experts, and is ready for trial negotiates from a stronger position than one who is hoping for a fair offer. The cost of preparation is generally smaller than the cost of an unfavorable settlement locked into a decree.
Contested Divorce Representation Across Austin and Central Texas
The firm’s contested divorce practice is centered on Austin and Travis County, drawing clients from neighborhoods and communities such as Downtown, Clarksville, Hyde Park, Travis Heights, Zilker, Barton Hills, Bouldin Creek, East Austin, Mueller, Tarrytown, Westlake Hills, Rollingwood, Bee Cave, Lakeway, Manor, Pflugerville, and Del Valle. Spouses in southwest Austin, Circle C, Oak Hill, and Dripping Springs also bring their cases to the firm.
To the north, the firm serves families in Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown, Hutto, Taylor, Liberty Hill, and Brushy Creek in Williamson County, whose district courts sit in Georgetown. In Hays County, clients come from San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Wimberley, and Dripping Springs, with cases heard in San Marcos. In Bastrop County, the firm represents clients in Bastrop, Elgin, Smithville, and Cedar Creek, where the 423rd and other district courts sit in Bastrop. Wherever the case is filed, the work is the same: understanding the local court, preparing the record, and keeping the attorney who knows your case in front of you.
Speak With an Austin Contested Divorce Attorney at Oprea & Weber
If your divorce is going to be contested, the early decisions about filing, temporary orders, and documentation shape everything that follows. The Law Office of Oprea & Weber offers consultations with an Austin contested divorce attorney who will review your situation, explain how the Texas standards apply to your property, children, and support issues, and lay out a realistic plan for both negotiation and trial. Call to schedule a consultation and talk through where your case stands and what it needs.