San Antonio Divorce Lawyers — Bexar County Divorce & Separation

Ending a marriage is one of the most consequential legal decisions a family makes, and in Texas it is decided by statute, by local court rules, and by the judge assigned to your case. As San Antonio divorce lawyers, Barton & Associates represents spouses in Bexar County from the first filing to the final decree. Our trial attorneys handle the property, custody and support questions that determine how your life looks afterward, and our family law attorney in San Antonio team prepares every case for settlement and for trial at the same time.

This page explains how a Texas divorce works in the Bexar County courts: who can file, what the grounds are, how a judge divides property, how custody, child support and spousal maintenance are decided, and what to do in the first weeks. The rules come from the Texas Family Code guide and the Bexar County local rules, and we cite the sections so you can check them yourself. If you have already been served with papers, start with the answer deadline in the first section below.

What a Divorce Looks Like in Bexar County, From Filing to Decree

Every divorce follows the same basic path, but the order of events and the deadlines matter more than most people expect. A Bexar County divorce attorney should walk you through each stage before it happens, not after.

1. Eligibility. Under Texas Family Code Section 6.301, either spouse must have been a Texas domiciliary for the preceding six months and a resident of the county where the case is filed for the preceding 90 days. Only one spouse has to meet both requirements.
2. The petition and the standing order. The case begins when a petition is filed with the Bexar County District Clerk. Under the Bexar County local rules, the petitioner must attach the Bexar County Standing Order Regarding Children, Property and Conduct of the Parties to the petition and to every copy served.
3. Service and the answer. The other spouse is formally served. A written answer is due by 10:00 a.m. on the first Monday after 20 days have passed from the date of service. A spouse who ignores the papers does not stop the case. The court can hear evidence and enter orders without them.
4. Temporary orders. While the case is pending, the court can enter temporary orders on support, who lives in the home, and the children’s schedule. We cover these in more detail below.
5. Information gathering. Both sides exchange financial records and sworn statements. If property is tried to the court, the Bexar County local rules call for a sworn inventory and appraisement, and a contested support hearing requires an income and expense summary with recent wage and tax information.
6. Mediation and parenting education. Contested cases are routinely sent to mediation. Under the local rules, a case set on the jury docket must be mediated no later than 45 days before the trial date. Parents of minor children must also complete the parenting course the local rules describe, such as Helping Children Cope with Divorce, before the divorce is granted unless the court orders otherwise.
7. The waiting period and final hearing. Section 6.702 prevents a court from granting a divorce before the 60th day after the suit was filed. After that, the case ends in an agreed decree or a trial.

Our divorce timeline tool shows how these stages stack up in different kinds of cases, and our guide to filing for divorce in Texas covers the paperwork in more detail.

Grounds for Divorce in Texas: No-Fault, Fault, and Why It Matters

Most Texas divorces are filed on the no-fault ground of insupportability under Section 6.001, which means the marriage has become unsustainable because of discord or a conflict of personalities and there is no reasonable expectation of reconciliation. You do not have to prove that your spouse did anything wrong, and your spouse cannot block the divorce by disagreeing that the marriage is over.

Sections 6.002 through 6.007 also allow a divorce on fault grounds: cruelty, adultery, conviction of a felony, abandonment, living apart for three years, and confinement in a mental hospital. Fault is optional, and it is not required to get divorced. It can matter, however, because a court may consider fault when it divides the community estate. When a spouse has wasted marital funds, hidden assets, or engaged in conduct that harmed the family, a fault-based divorce may support a more favorable division of property.

How Texas Divides Property in a Divorce

Texas is a community property state. Property either spouse acquired during the marriage is presumed to be community property, and the court divides it in a manner it considers “just and right” under Section 7.001. That standard does not mean a 50/50 split. Judges look at factors such as each spouse’s earning capacity, the size of each spouse’s separate property, age and health, the needs of the children, the nature of the assets, and in some cases fault. Texas courts have relied on these factors since the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Murff v. Murff.

The first question is almost always community property versus separate property. Property owned before the marriage, and property received during the marriage as a gift or inheritance, is separate. A spouse who claims separate property has to prove it by clear and convincing evidence, usually with tracing records, which is why documents matter from the first week.

• The home. The court can award it to one spouse, order it sold, or delay a sale while a parent stays with the children. Our guide to what happens to the house explains how equity, the mortgage and the children’s needs interact.
• Retirement and pensions. These are divided with court orders, not by writing a check, and the order has to be drafted correctly or it will not be accepted by the plan. See our page on retirement accounts and pensions.
• Debt. Debts incurred during the marriage are divided too, and a divorce decree does not bind a creditor. Read about dividing debt in Texas before you agree to a split.
• Hidden or wasted assets. When one spouse is concealing money or spending community funds, the remedies include formal discovery, subpoenas to banks and employers, forensic accounting, and a claim for fraud on the community under Section 7.009. Our guide to hidden assets in a divorce shows what that process looks like.

Large estates, businesses and complex holdings raise additional questions about valuation and tax. A property division lawyer in San Antonio can explain how those issues are handled before the case reaches a courtroom.

Custody and Child Support in a Divorce Case

Texas does not use the word custody in its statutes. The court decides conservatorship, which covers decision-making rights and duties, and possession and access, which is the parenting schedule. Texas presumes that appointing both parents as joint managing conservators is in a child’s best interest, and the court’s guiding standard is always the best interest of the child. Unless the parents agree otherwise or the court finds a reason to change it, the schedule defaults to the Standard Possession Order in Chapter 153 of the Family Code.

Child support follows a guideline formula based on the paying parent’s net resources and the number of children, with health insurance and medical support handled separately. You can estimate it with our child support calculator before you meet with an attorney. If custody or support is the heart of your case, our San Antonio child custody lawyer and San Antonio child support lawyer pages cover those issues in detail.

Bexar County judges also set expectations for how parents behave while a case is pending. The local rules discourage calling minor children as witnesses and call for custody and psychological evaluations to be completed within 90 days unless the court allows more time. If one parent plans to relocate, see our guide to moving away with children, because geographic restrictions are often decided in the divorce decree itself.

Spousal Maintenance: When Alimony Is Available in Texas

Spousal maintenance, which most people call alimony, is not automatic in Texas and is more limited than many people assume. Under Section 8.051, the spouse asking for it must first show that he or she will lack enough property, including separate property, to meet minimum reasonable needs after the divorce. The spouse must also meet one of the statutory conditions: the other spouse was convicted of or received deferred adjudication for family violence within the time the statute describes, the requesting spouse has an incapacitating disability, the marriage lasted 10 years or longer and the spouse cannot earn enough to meet basic needs, or the spouse cares for a child of the marriage who has a disability that prevents the spouse from earning enough.

If the court orders it, Section 8.055 caps maintenance at the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income. Duration is also limited under Section 8.054, with the maximum term tied to the length of the marriage, and a spouse generally has to show diligence in earning an income or developing the skills to do so. Our spousal maintenance page explains how courts apply these rules, and you can test a scenario in the Texas alimony calculator.

Temporary Orders and Protecting Yourself Early

The weeks after a divorce is filed are when many people make costly mistakes. Under Section 6.501, a temporary restraining order is not automatic. A court may issue one only on a party’s motion or on its own motion. In Bexar County, the standing order attached to the petition addresses the children, the property and the conduct of the parties, but it is a general order, and we often ask for a restraining order that fits the facts, such as protecting accounts, preventing a sale of property, or stopping a spouse from deleting messages or tracking a vehicle.

Temporary orders under Section 6.502 can then set temporary child support and spousal support, decide who lives in the home, establish the children’s schedule, and allocate who pays which bills while the case is pending. These orders often shape the final result because they set the pattern the court sees. In the meantime, a few rules protect most clients:

• Do not move, hide, or spend money outside your normal routine.
• Do not delete texts, emails, photos, or social media posts, even if they are embarrassing.
• Do not take the children out of the area or restrict the other parent’s access without a court order.
• Gather statements, tax returns, and account records now, before access becomes contested.
• If you are afraid for your safety, say so at your first consultation. A protective order can change the timeline and the waiting period.

Types of Divorce Cases We Handle

No two divorces are the same, and the right strategy depends on what is at stake and how much the spouses agree on. These are the kinds of cases we handle most often, and each has its own page with more detail.

• Uncontested divorce: spouses who agree on all terms can finish after the 60-day waiting period, often without a contested hearing.
• High-conflict divorce: cases with hostility, parental alienation claims, or repeated court filings that require firm case management.
• Divorce with children: cases where custody, support and parenting schedules sit alongside the property division.
• High-net-worth divorce: large estates with investments, real estate, deferred compensation and complicated valuation questions.
• Divorce for business owners: protecting a company and its cash flow while the community interest is valued and divided.
• High-profile divorce: public figures and executives who need privacy and careful handling of court records.
• Annulment in Texas: a narrower option for some marriages, which asks the court to treat the marriage as invalid instead of ending it. Fault-based cases are covered in the grounds section above.
• Cohabitation agreements: written terms for couples who live together and want to define property rights without marrying.

Settling Without a Trial: Mediation, Collaborative Law and Separation Agreements

A trial is the last resort in most family cases, not the first. Mediation puts both spouses and their attorneys in front of a neutral mediator who works toward a written agreement, and the Bexar County local rules build it into the trial schedule. A divorce mediation lawyer in San Antonio can prepare you for that session, because the quality of your preparation often decides how good the agreement is.

Collaborative divorce is a more structured alternative. Each spouse hires an attorney, everyone agrees to resolve the case without going to court, and the attorneys are disqualified from representing either spouse if the process fails and the case is litigated. Our guide to collaborative divorce in Texas describes who it suits and who it does not.

Texas does not recognize legal separation as a formal status. Couples who need structure while living apart generally rely on temporary orders in a pending case or on a written agreement about property, support and the children. Our guide to legal separation in Texas, listed below, explains the options. After a decree is entered, issues such as a change in income or a parent’s move are handled through a divorce modification lawyer in San Antonio.

More About Divorce and Separation

These guides cover situations that come up often in San Antonio families.

• Gray divorce after 50: retirement, Social Security, health coverage and how a late-life divorce is different.
• Legal separation in Texas: why it does not exist as a status and what to do instead.
• Divorce during pregnancy: how the court handles a child who has not yet been born.
• Protective orders and the 60-day waiver: when family violence changes the timeline of a divorce.
• First responder and law enforcement divorce: pensions, shift schedules and the unique pressures on public safety families.
• Credit card and consumer debt division: who is responsible for what when the accounts are in one name.
• Health insurance and COBRA: what happens to your coverage when you are no longer a spouse.

Why San Antonio Families Hire Barton & Associates for Divorce

When you are choosing a divorce attorney in San Antonio, TX, you are choosing someone who will make a series of judgment calls on your behalf. Here is how we approach that work.

• We practice in front of Bexar County judges. Our family law trial attorneys handle contested hearings and trials in the Bexar County district courts, and we work from the local rules and the standing order that govern the courts that will hear your case.
• We plan for trial and negotiate from that position. Settlement is usually the better outcome, but it is stronger when the other side knows your case is ready to be tried.
• We look at the numbers early. Property division and support both turn on financial detail, so we start building the financial picture in the first meeting instead of the last.
• We tell you what is realistic. We cannot promise an outcome in any case, and we will not ask you to choose a path before you understand the risks.

To make the first consultation productive, bring what you can of the following. Do not delay the call if you do not have everything.

• The last three years of tax returns and your most recent pay stubs.
• Recent statements for bank, retirement, brokerage and credit card accounts.
• The deed, mortgage statement and vehicle titles.
• Business records if either spouse owns a company.
• Any prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, and any papers you have been served with.
• A short list of the children’s schedules, schools and activities, and a timeline of the marriage.

Frequently Asked Questions About Divorce in San Antonio and Bexar County

What should I do first if I am thinking about divorce in San Antonio?

Speak with a family law attorney before you file, move money, or tell your spouse. Gather financial records, make a list of accounts and property, and note any safety concerns. A confidential consultation lets you learn how Texas law applies to your situation before you make decisions that are difficult to undo.

Does it matter who files for divorce first in Texas?

It matters for practical reasons, not legal ones. The spouse who files chooses among the counties where the residency rules are met and can ask for temporary orders first. The petitioner also presents evidence first at trial. Filing first does not entitle you to more property or better custody terms, and a judge decides those issues on the evidence.

Can I file for divorce in Bexar County if I just moved here?

You can if either spouse has been a Texas domiciliary for six months and a Bexar County resident for 90 days. Only one spouse needs to meet both requirements. Service members stationed at a Texas installation may have additional options, and if your spouse lives in another state, a different set of jurisdiction questions applies. Read about what happens when your spouse lives in another state before you file.

How long does a divorce take in Bexar County?

The minimum is 60 days from the date of filing under Section 6.702, unless a family violence exception applies. An uncontested divorce can finish soon after that. A contested case takes longer because of discovery, mediation, and the court’s trial calendar, and cases involving businesses, retirement accounts or custody disputes can take many months or more.

What does no-fault divorce mean, and do I still have to prove anything?

No-fault means you ask for a divorce on the ground of insupportability and do not have to prove any wrongdoing. You must still meet the residency requirements, wait out the 60 days, and either reach a written agreement or put on evidence about property, children and support. Your spouse cannot prevent the divorce by refusing to agree to it.

I stayed home with the children or earn less than my spouse. How does a divorce lawyer protect me?

Whether you are the wife or the husband, the law has tools for the lower-earning spouse. A court can order temporary support while the case is pending, and when it divides the community estate it can consider the difference in earning capacities. Spousal maintenance may be available in limited situations, and child support is separate. A lawyer can also help document your contributions, such as caring for the children, so they are part of the record.

Who gets the house in a Texas divorce?

The court decides under the just-and-right standard. Often the home is sold and the proceeds divided, or one spouse buys the other out by refinancing. In cases with children, the court sometimes delays a sale for a period so the children can stay in the house. Which spouse’s name is on the deed or loan does not decide who gets it.

What are temporary orders, and do I need them?

Temporary orders govern the case from the first weeks until the final decree. They can address child support, spousal support, who stays in the home, the children’s schedule, and restrictions on spending and transferring property. Whether you need a hearing depends on whether you and your spouse can agree. If you cannot, the first hearing is where the court sets the terms the case will run on.

How does adultery or dating affect a Texas divorce?

Adultery is a fault ground under Section 6.003, and a court can consider it when dividing property, especially if community money was spent on the affair. It does not decide custody by itself, because custody turns on the child’s best interest, but conduct around the children can matter. No Texas statute bars dating during a divorce, yet it can create property and custody problems, so we advise caution until the decree is signed.

How is child custody decided in a Texas divorce?

The court decides conservatorship and possession according to the child’s best interest. Texas presumes that joint managing conservatorship is in the child’s best interest, and the Standard Possession Order is the usual starting point for the schedule. Parents can agree on a different arrangement, and the court will consider factors such as each parent’s involvement, stability, and any history of family violence.

Am I entitled to alimony in Texas?

Not automatically. A spouse must show a lack of property to meet minimum reasonable needs and also meet a statutory condition, such as a marriage of at least 10 years combined with an inability to earn enough, a disability, or a family violence conviction. The amount is capped at the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s income, and the term is limited.

What if my spouse is hiding money or refuses to cooperate?

Texas gives you formal tools to find the truth, including requests for production, depositions, subpoenas to banks and employers, and forensic accountants. If a spouse wastes or conceals community property, the court can award a larger share to the other spouse. If a spouse refuses to sign anything, you do not need that signature to proceed. Our guide explains how a divorce without spouse’s signature works in practice.

How does divorce work for military families in San Antonio?

San Antonio is home to Joint Base San Antonio, and military divorces add federal rules to the state process. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act can allow an active-duty spouse to request a stay of the case. Military retirement pay can be divided as property under the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act, and direct payment from the government generally requires a marriage of at least 10 years overlapping 10 years of service.

Can I get divorced without going through a trial?

Yes. Many cases are resolved by agreement, either through negotiation, mediation, or the collaborative process. If you and your spouse agree on every term, Bexar County allows uncontested divorces to be submitted with the required affidavit or sworn answers and an agreed decree. The right route depends on how much you agree on and how much trust remains.

Talk With a San Antonio Divorce Lawyer About Your Case

Divorce is easier to manage when you understand the process before it starts, and the first weeks often set the course for everything that follows. Speak with a San Antonio family law attorney at Barton & Associates about your options, the deadlines that apply to you, and the steps to protect your family and your finances.

Call our San Antonio office at 210-500-0000 or contact our office to schedule a free consultation.

Main Category: Family Law
Barton & Associates, Attorneys at Law
115 Camaron St, San Antonio, TX 78205
Office: 210-500-0000