Travis County Family Law Attorney

A Travis County family case is not decided by the county you live in so much as by the courtroom your case lands in, and the choices you make in the first weeks tend to set the direction for everything after. The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm that represents clients in Travis County and across Central Texas, handling divorce, child custody, child support, spousal maintenance, property division, paternity, and the agreements and modifications that follow.

For a Travis County family law attorney, the work divides into two kinds of decisions: the ones that are fixed by Texas statute and cannot be negotiated away, and the ones that belong to you and your spouse or co-parent. Knowing which is which saves money and prevents a lot of avoidable conflict. The 60-day waiting period before a divorce can be granted is fixed. How your children’s time is divided, how a business is valued, and whether you resolve things privately or in front of a judge are choices with real room to maneuver.

Why Choose Oprea & Weber for Travis County Family Law

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm serving Austin, Travis County, and the neighboring Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties. Kevin Weber and Karen Oprea, both attorneys, each graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. The firm keeps its caseload intentionally manageable, and your attorney personally handles your case from the first consultation to the final decree. You are not passed to layers of staff or junior associates, and you get direct access to the lawyer who knows your file, with explanations in plain language.

The training behind that approach matters in family court. Kevin Weber trained in complex commercial litigation and negotiation at Latham & Watkins in Manhattan, which is useful when a divorce turns on a closely held business, a deferred compensation package, or a contested valuation. 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, which shapes how the firm builds a record and anticipates what an appeal would look like. Kevin also mediates family law disputes as well as representing clients in mediation, so he understands from both sides of the table what makes a settlement hold.

The firm prepares every case as though it may be tried, and pursues cooperative resolution whenever the other side makes that possible. Clients describe the attorneys as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring, and several mention feeling supported and heard during an emotional process and having legal language translated into usable information.

The Family Law Issues That Bring Travis County Clients In

• Divorce: Agreed and contested divorces both run through the district courts. Either spouse can file, and the court cannot grant the divorce before the 60th day after filing, even if everything is agreed on day one.
• Property Division: Texas is a community property state, and a court divides the marital estate in a manner it considers just and right, which is not the same as an even split. Businesses, retirement accounts, and real estate are where these disputes get complicated.
• Child Custody and Possession: Texas speaks of conservatorship and possession and access. New orders for parents living within 50 miles of each other now default to the Expanded Standard Possession Order, which adds Thursday overnights and runs weekends through Monday morning.
• Child Support: Guideline support is a percentage of the paying parent’s net monthly resources, 20 percent for one child and 25, 30, 35, and 40 percent for two through five, applied up to a cap the state adjusts periodically.
• Spousal Maintenance: Post-divorce support under Chapter 8 is limited. A spouse generally must show insufficient property to meet minimum reasonable needs plus a qualifying ground such as a marriage of 10 years or more, a disability, or family violence.
• Paternity and SAPCR Suits: Unmarried parents use a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship to establish parentage and obtain custody, visitation, and support orders. Deadlines tied to a child’s birth can close off challenges.
• Modification, Relocation, and Enforcement: Existing orders can be changed when circumstances shift, and an order that is being ignored can be enforced. Each has its own legal threshold.
• Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements: Written marital agreements let couples set financial terms before a dispute exists, which is far easier than negotiating them during one.

What to Do and Where to Go When a Family Case Begins in Travis County

The first decision is whether you are filing or responding, because the roles carry different timing. A divorce filed in Travis County requires that at least one spouse has lived in Texas for six months and in Travis County for 90 days. Only one spouse has to meet that test, and the other spouse’s agreement is not required. If you have been served, the answer deadline is short, and ignoring it allows the case to move forward by default on the other side’s requests. A default decree can lock in terms on property and children that are hard to undo.

Before you do anything else, gather documents: recent tax returns, bank and retirement statements, mortgage and loan records, pay records, and anything showing the ownership and value of a business or real estate. Separate what you owned before marriage from what was acquired during it, because that distinction drives the property division. If your safety is at issue, tell your attorney immediately. An active protective order or a qualifying family violence conviction is one of the narrow exceptions to the 60-day waiting period, and a protective order can be issued for up to two years in most cases, with longer terms available on specific findings.

Contested hearings and trials in Travis County’s civil and family courts are generally held in person at the Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility in downtown Austin, unless the parties agree otherwise or the judge directs differently. The county has twelve district courts, four associate courts, two county courts at law, and two Title IV-D child support courts. Several district courts, including the 200th, 345th, and 126th, are housed in that facility. The courts publish a Standing Order for Family Law Cases, and you should read it with your attorney early, since it governs conduct while the case is pending.

The mistakes that cost people the most are predictable. Moving assets or running up debt after filing invites sanctions. Posting about the case on social media hands the other side evidence. Signing a decree you do not fully understand, particularly one that divides retirement accounts or allocates debt, is difficult to reverse. And assuming that agreement lets you skip the waiting period will only delay your plans. Temporary orders, covering where children live, who pays which bills, and who stays in the home, are often the most consequential early step, because they tend to become the baseline the court later considers.

Choosing Between Collaborative, Mediated, and Litigated Paths

Travis County judges expect parents to put children first and encourage spouses to settle, and most divorces resolve before trial. That makes the choice of process a strategic one. In collaborative and cooperative divorce, spouses work together toward an agreement. In a cooperative divorce, Kevin Weber represents one spouse while working with both to resolve issues, and the other spouse proceeds without separate counsel. That saves money and suits couples committed to transparency, but it is a poor fit when conflict is high or either spouse is uncomfortable without their own lawyer.

Mediation uses a neutral third party to help spouses reach a settlement, and it is usually faster, cheaper, and less stressful than trial. Litigation becomes necessary when the other side will not disclose assets, disputes custody in a way that cannot be bridged, or refuses reasonable terms. Preparing for trial from the beginning gives you leverage in every one of those paths, because the other side knows your case does not depend on their cooperation.

Modifying and Enforcing Orders After the Decree

A decree is not always the end. Child support can be modified when three years have passed since the order was set and the monthly amount differs from the guideline amount by 20 percent or $100, or on a material and substantial change in circumstances, which has no minimum waiting period. Incarceration for more than 180 days counts as such a change. Where parents agreed to support that departs from the guidelines, the court can modify only on a material and substantial change since the order.

Changing conservatorship or possession requires a material and substantial change and a finding that modification serves the child’s best interest. A child 12 or older who tells the judge in chambers which parent they prefer can support a change in primary residence, as can a primary conservator voluntarily giving up primary care for at least six months. A request to change the primary-residence designation within a year of the original order requires a supporting affidavit with specific allegations. Parents with older possession orders who want the expanded schedule must file to modify.

Travis County Family Law FAQs

Is custody in Texas always split 50/50?

No. Texas favors frequent and continuing contact with both parents but does not guarantee an equal split. Many families use a standard possession order in which one parent designates the primary residence and the other has scheduled time. Parents can agree to an equal schedule, and courts approve it when it serves the child’s best interest.

How long does a divorce take in Travis County?

The 60-day waiting period is the floor, counted from the date of filing and not the date of service. An agreed divorce can often be finalized shortly after that. Contested cases involving children, businesses, or significant assets commonly take many months, depending on how fast the disputes resolve and the court’s calendar.

Can we skip the 60-day wait if we agree on everything?

No. Agreement does not waive it. The exceptions involve family violence, such as a conviction or deferred adjudication for a family violence offense against the petitioner or a household member, or an active protective order or emergency protective order based on family violence during the marriage.

How is child support calculated?

The guidelines apply a percentage to 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 not less than the five-child percentage for six or more. Net resources include wages, commissions, overtime, tips, and bonuses. A cap applies and is adjusted periodically, and courts can depart from the guidelines when they would be unjust.

Who qualifies for spousal maintenance?

The requesting spouse must lack enough property, including separate property, to meet minimum reasonable needs, and must fit a ground: a marriage of 10 years or more with an inability to earn enough, an incapacitating disability, or family violence by the other spouse. For the 10-year ground, the court presumes against maintenance unless the requesting spouse shows diligence in earning income or developing skills.

How long can maintenance last, and how much can be ordered?

Monthly maintenance cannot exceed the lesser of $5,000 or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income. Duration is capped at five years for marriages of 10 to under 20 years, seven years for 20 to under 30, and ten years for 30 or more. Family violence cases can reach five years even for shorter marriages, and disability-based maintenance can continue as long as the disability does, subject to periodic review.

Can I be treated as married without a ceremony?

Yes. Texas recognizes informal marriage if a declaration was signed and filed, or if the couple agreed to be married, lived together in Texas as spouses, and held themselves out as married. There is no minimum period of living together. If no proceeding to prove the marriage is started within two years after separating, the law presumes the couple never agreed to be married.

Does signing an acknowledgment of paternity end the question?

Not necessarily, but it is hard to undo. An acknowledgment can be rescinded within 60 days of signing. After that, a signatory can challenge it only for fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. A person who did not sign and wants to adjudicate paternity generally must act within four years of the acknowledgment’s effective date.

What changed for stepparents and other non-parents seeking custody?

Texas narrowed standing for non-parents such as stepparents. The law now focuses on exclusive care, control, and possession of the child, where the earlier standard turned on actual care, control, and possession for at least six months. Whether someone has standing is a threshold question the court decides before it reaches the child’s best interest.

If my ex ignores the order, can I enforce it, and should I modify instead?

Those are different tools. Enforcement asks the court to make a party comply with an order as written. Modification asks the court to change the order because circumstances have changed. Mixing them up is a common mistake: a parent who stops paying cannot unilaterally treat a hoped-for modification as permission, and the unpaid amounts can remain owed.

Am I responsible for my spouse’s credit card debt?

It depends on whose name is on the account and how the debt arose. A creditor’s rights and the court’s division of debt between spouses are separate questions, so a decree allocating a debt to your spouse does not necessarily bind the creditor. Your attorney should review each account before you sign anything.

Serving Family Law Clients Across Travis County and Central Texas

Our work for Travis County families extends through Austin and its surrounding communities, from downtown, East Austin, and South Austin to Zilker, Hyde Park, Tarrytown, and Mueller. We represent clients in Westlake, Lakeway, Bee Cave, Pflugerville, Manor, Lago Vista, Jonestown, and Del Valle, along with neighborhoods across North and Northwest Austin and Southwest Austin.

The firm also serves families in neighboring Williamson County, including Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown, and Hutto, where district courts sit in Georgetown. In Hays County we represent clients in San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Dripping Springs, and Wimberley, with family cases handled through the district courts in San Marcos. And in Bastrop County we serve clients in Bastrop, Elgin, and Smithville, where the 423rd District Court hears matters arising within the county. Whichever county your case belongs in, our attorneys handle it personally from start to finish.

Speak With a Travis County Family Law Lawyer Before Your Next Decision

The right moment to talk with a Travis County family law lawyer is before you file, sign, or respond, because the earliest choices on process, temporary orders, and documentation are the hardest to revisit. Call the Law Office of Oprea & Weber to schedule a consultation, and you will speak directly with an attorney who will explain your options in plain language, tell you what is fixed by Texas law and what is yours to decide, and help you build a strategy around what matters most to your family.