Family Matters

Latest rulings, news and developments from R. Shane McFarland and industry-wide experts.

I SWEAR IT’s MY SEPARATE PROPERTY

As a general proposition, testimony is sufficient to prove most elements in a family law case if the court or jury believes your testimony.  An important exception is separate property, where mere testimony that property was purchased with separate property funds,...

read more

Bankruptcy and Divorce – Be Very Careful

Adeleye v. Driscal, ___ S.W.3d ___, No. 14-14-00822-CV, 2018 WL 1057482 (Tex. App.— Houston [14th Dist.] 2018, no pet. h.) (02-27-18). The above is a startling reminder that you should be very careful in a divorce case where a bankruptcy is pending.  As background, if...

read more

Preventing International Abduction

The Family Code provides Courts and parents a series of tools to prevent the international abduction of children.  These are found in TFC 153.503. (1) appoint a person other than the parent of the child who presents a risk of abducting the child as the sole managing...

read more

Divorce Jurisdiction vs. UCCJEA Jurisdiction

Rust v. Rust, No. 04-17-00674-CV, 2018 WL 4760157 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2018, Here is an interesting case about the interplay of divorce jurisdiction and the UCCJEA. The underlying facts are the Husband was in the armed services and designated his residence as the...

read more

Social Security and Child Support

As parents have children later in life, I am seeing more situations where a parent has a child support obligation when they are also receiving old age social security.  In such cases, that parent's children are eligible to receive a payment from the social security...

read more

Problems with Post-Divorce Sale of a Home

It's common to enter complete a divorce before a marital residence is sold, but it's important to be specific about the terms of the sale including when the house will be sold and how to determine the sale price.  Here's a case that illustrate why. In Vara v. Vara,...

read more

Helpful Links

Travis County District Courts
Biographies of Judges, local court rules and other useful information.

Travis County Standing Order
This order is entered concurrently with the filing of divorce and child related lawsuits in Travis County.

Williamson County Courts
Biographies of Judges, local court rules and other useful information.

Hays County Court
Biographies of Judges, local court rules and other useful information.

Hays County Standing Order
This order is entered concurrently with the filing of divorce and child related lawsuits in Hays County.

State Bar of Texas
The official site of the organization of attorneys in Texas.