Tarrant County Does Not Have a Standing Order

I have filed Divorce Petitions in Collin, Dallas and Denton counties. Today, I am meeting up with a client in Fort Worth to file a Divorce Petition and as I was readying the needed papers, I noticed that Tarrant County does not have standing orders. I checked the Tarrant County clerk's website for a link and even called the Tarrant County Law Library's office and had it confirmed that Tarrant County does not have standing orders must accompany a Divorce Petition. 
The Texas Family Code provides that restraining orders can be requested and served on parties at the beginning of a divorce. To those without a law background, the language present in the standing orders may seem harsh and even accusatory. However, the courts place little significance is attached to it and in most cases the standing orders are more like boilerplate language in an ordinary contract.
In Tarrant County, a party who files for a divorce, may request a "Temporary Restraining Order" (TRO) and an order setting hearing.  This action is needed in Tarrant County because the courts there do not have an immediate "standing order", however,  judges routinely grant TROs and then make them mutual at the first hearing date.
Sometimes parties served with a TRO are worried that they have been accused of a wide range of bad acts. A TRO is just an example of a fairly common approach in the law that warns parties of potential bad behavior, without accusing parties of committing bad behavior. TROs are routine and courts don't put any significance on them as far as proof, or even accusations, of past acts.

How to calculate net income to figure out child support payments?

In Texas, there is a chart/formula created by the Texas Attorney General’s Office (AG) that allows spouses to figure out their "net income." The Texas Attorney General's Office calls the net income chart a "tax chart." 
First, to properly calculate child support you need to come to a yearly gross figure. You can find a gross income from your W-2 form, a year-end paystub, or a calculation based upon your year to date on your paystub. 
Second, that figure will be divided by twelve ("12"), giving you a gross monthly income. 
Third, that figure will then be plugged into the tax table found at: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/cs/attorneys/attorneys_other_tax.shtml. 
Instructions are provided in the link to each years tax chart. 

Can I claim my child's education expenses even though I did not pay my child's tuition?

Question: Can I claim my child's education expenses even though I did not pay my child's tuition?

Answer: If you can claim your child as a dependent and no one else can claim the education expenses, then yes, you may deduct the amount of your child's tuition from your gross income. This is a short answer and is not intended to be legal advice. I received this question via e-mail and researched this particular situation by looking up the rule in the Tax Code. I thought that I would share what I found on my blog. For more information on tax problems and solutions, please visit www.tonyfamlaw.com.

What are Fringe Benefits?

Section 119 of the Internal Revenue Code offers a series of exclusions, where employers can offer fringe benefits to their employees without incurring increased tax liabilities. If employee benefits are not formulated correctly, both employers and employees may incur increased tax liabilities because income was not reported. Sections 119 and 132 offer employers a way to provide fringe benefits without having the value of these benefits count as income for their employees, the following is a short list of exclusions:  meals provided on the job to employees, employee discounts, reimbursement of employee moving expenses and even qualified retirement planning services.
However, employers should use caution when offering employees payments in cash because as the Supreme Court in Commissioner v. Kowalski, 434 U.S. 77 (1977) found, §119 does not include cash payments of any kind. Kowalski was decided before the tax code was revised in 1986 and the current code allows employers a way to offer cash payments to their employees under §125. Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code allows employers the option of setting up a "Cafeteria Plan." A "Cafeteria Plan" offers employees the option of choosing between receiving fringe benefits or cash and the cash received by the employees would not be counted as income. All of this depends on strict adherence to the requirements of §125. For more information about fringe benefits or other tax issues, please visit www.tonyfamlaw.com or call (214) 872-6406.

Amount of Spousal Support

In Texas, a court may not order spousal support that requires one spouse to pay monthly more than the lesser of $2,500 or 20% of the spouse's average monthly gross income. 

Spousal Support Factors

In Texas, a court determines that a spouse is eligible to spousal support based on the following factors:

  (1) the financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance;

  (2) the education and employment skills of the spouses, the time necessary to
  acquire sufficient education or training to enable the spouse seeking
  maintenance to find appropriate employment, the availability of that education
  or training, and the feasibility of that education or training;

  (3) the duration of the marriage;

  (4) the age, employment history, earning ability, and physical and emotional
  condition of the spouse seeking maintenance;

  (5) the ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is requested to meet that
  spouse's personal needs and to provide periodic child support payments, if
  applicable, while meeting the personal needs of the spouse seeking maintenance;

  (6) acts by either spouse resulting in excessive or abnormal expenditures or
  destruction, concealment, or fraudulent disposition of community property,
  joint tenancy, or other property held in common;

  (7) the comparative financial resources of the spouses, including medical,
  retirement, insurance, or other benefits, and the separate property of each
  spouse;

  (8) the contribution by one spouse to the education, training, or increased
  earning power of the other spouse;

  (9) the property brought to the marriage by either spouse;

  (10) the contribution of a spouse as homemaker;

  (11) marital misconduct of the spouse seeking maintenance; and

  (12) the efforts of the spouse seeking maintenance to pursue available
  employment counseling

Spousal Support Eligibility

Texas does not have "alimony", but refers to spousal support payments as "maintenance." Maintenance means an periodic payments for a maximum of three (3) years after dissolution of a marriage from the income of one spouse for the support of the other spouse. A court may order maintenance for a spouse, only if:
(1) The spouse from whom maintenance is requested was convicted of or received deferred    adjudication for a criminal offense and the offense occurred:
      (A) within two years before the date on which a suit for dissolution of the marriage is filed; or
      (B) while the suit is pending; or
(2) the duration of the marriage was 10 years or longer, the spouse seeking
  maintenance lacks sufficient property:
      (A) is unable to support himself or herself through appropriate employment
   because of an incapacitating physical or mental disability;
      (B) is the custodian of a child who requires substantial care and personal
   supervision because a physical or mental disability makes it necessary,
   taking into consideration the needs of the child, that the spouse not be
   employed outside the home; or
     (C) clearly lacks earning ability in the labor market adequate to provide
   support for the spouse's minimum reasonable needs.
An order for maintenance is not authorized between unmarried cohabitants under any circumstances. 

Illegal immigrants and Divorce

Contrary to popular belief illegal immigrants can obtain divorces in Texas and in any other state in the Union. The Privileges and Immunities Clause in Article Four of the United States Constitution provides that persons "of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the Several States."

In the 1950s and 60s, Americans went abroad to obtain no-fault divorces because these type of divorces were not an option available in many states. A no-fault divorce is a dissolution of a marriage that does not require a showing of wrong-doing, nor evidentiary proceedings. The legal equivalent of a no-fault divorce in Texas is defined as "discord or conflict of personalities that destroys the legitimate ends of marriage and prevents any reasonable expectation of reconciliation.

In America's legal jurisprudence, the legal doctrine of comity provides that one jurisdictions judgements or verdicts will extend to another jurisdiction in other states and nations as long as they are not against the public policy. Some lawyers might be weary of taking on these cases, however, as long as the client is willing to provide documentation of their income, employer information, residence information, birth certificate(s) evidencing their parentage to any children in the family, and a marriage license, obtaining divorce is possible.

If you need to obtain a uncontested or contested divorce visit www.tonyfamlaw.com for additional details.

How to calculate military retirement benefits for a divorce

The Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act (USFSPA) governs the rights of former military spouses with respect to retirement settlement benefits. State courts have jurisdiction over military retirement benefits because of the service member's residence or their consent to the jurisdiction of the court.

It is best to file for divorce in the state you are currently living in. In Texas, either spouse can satisfy the residency requirements of living in the Texas for six (6) months and ninety (90) days in the county where the petition is to be filed. There is some difficulty for military families who are constantly on the move to determine which state they are a resident of. As mentioned earlier, the quickest way to obtain a divorce is to file the petition in the state that you are currently living in provided that you meet the residency requirements of that state. However, a spouse has the option to file a divorce petition in the state where they a legally domiciled in. Domicile means the state where a spouse maintains a permanent residence. Once when a Final Divorce Decree has been issued you can file decree in the state of your domicile.

There is a bit of confusion regarding whether a spouse can obtain military benefits if they have been married less than 10 years. According to the terms of USFSPA, a spouse may claim a portion of the service member's retirement benefits if the couple was married for ten (10) years or more while the service member served ten (10) years of creditable military service. However, what this means in laymen's terms is a spouse may obtain an order from the court and be paid directly from the military if they meet the 10/10 rule. If you do not meet the above mentioned requirements, a court can still order property division of the service member's military retirement benefits but any payments would have to be made from the service member spouse, not the military.

Determining the amount of retirement pay under USFSPA is moderately difficult, however, USFSPA provides for an equation to help you determine your portion of the retirement benefits as a percentage or fraction of the disposable pay. It is important to remember, a spouse can only collect the service member's retirement benefits when they have matured, in other words, when the service member has reached the age of retirement.

There are three steps to determine your percentage or fraction under USFSPA: First, in the numerator, put the number of years of creditable service during marriage. Second, in the denominator put the total number of years of creditable service at the time the service member would retire. Because Texas is a community property state, any income derived during the marriage is divided equally amongst the spouses. Third, after you have calculated your percentage or fraction of the service member's military benefits multiply the percentage or fraction by your share of the community property interest, fifty (50) percent or one half (1/2). This percentage or fraction you are entitled to under USFSPA.

Further, even if a court authorizes payment of more than the service member's disposable income, USFSPA authorizes the government to only pay up to fifty (50) percent of the disposable retirement pay directly to the spouse.

If you need help obtaining a divorce or figuring out your portion of military benefits, visit www.tonyfamlaw.com more information.

What is a Marital Settlement Agreement?

A Marital Settlement Agreement is a contract between the spouses that divides assets, debts, determines spousal support and child custody issues. Also, the Marital Settlement Agreement lays out the relationship between the two spouses after the divorce.

A Marital Settlement Agreement has many advantages including:

• Laying out all the terms in writing. This is the primary advantage because it eliminates uncertainty between the spouses and their relationship after the divorce, specifically, this is important where child custody issues arise. 
• The spouses do not have to go to court. Although it is at the discretion of the court, a judge may honor the agreement between the spouses if the agreement covers all aspects of the divorce.

Spouses can begin the process of negotiating a Marital Settlement Agreement anytime after the filing of the Divorce Petition. Further, the Marital Settlement Agreement can be signed by both spouses any time before a Final Divorce Decree is entered. The Final Divorce Decree is based on the Marital Settlement Agreement. 

If you have any questions about the uncontested/contested divorce process, please  visit www.tonyfamlaw.com for more information. 

Final Divorce Decree

A Final Divorce Decree is the court's order terminating the marriage. In an uncontested divorce, an attorney would write a Final Divorce Decree based upon the Marital Settlement Agreement that both spouses have signed. In an Marital Settlement Agreement, both spouses lay out a plan to divide assets, debts and custody of child(ren). In a contested divorce, the judge issues a judgment and the judgment has legal effect when the judge signs the Final Divorce Decree.

Divorce Petition

What is a Divorce Petition?

In Texas, a Divorce Petition is the first process in obtaining an uncontested/contested divorce. The Divorce Petition is filed at your local district court house. Remember in Texas, in order to file for an uncontested/contested divorce, a spouse must meet the residency requirements of 90 days in the county where the Divorce Petition is filed and 6 months in the State of Texas. Either spouse can meet the residency requirements for the Divorce Petition to be filed. The Divorce Petition is a request for divorce from the district court and lists any relief that party filing for the divorce feels they are entitled to under Texas law.

The Divorce petition will identify the petitioner (the spouse seeking the divorce), the respondent (the other spouse) and any children the couple may have. The Divorce Petition will lay out a plan to divide assets, debts and custody issues. The petitioner has to provide a reason for wanting a divorce. In Texas, a spouse can list "irreconcilable difference" as a reason for the divorce.

Waiver of Citation

What is a Waiver of Citation?

A Waiver of Citation is used to do away with the procedure of providing service of legal papers to the other spouse and transcription of proceedings in uncontested divorces. In an uncontested divorce, the petitioner (the spouse who files for the divorce) may just mail to the other spouse the Divorce Petition along with the Waiver of Citation. The spouse who signs the waiver is acknowledging that they have received the Divorce Petition and they do not need to be formally served by a constable or a private process server. Additionally, the waiver allows the uncontested divorce hearing to be held without the other spouse being present in the court room and does not require a court reporter present to record what was said during the hearing.

File your tax returns!

If you are in the situation where you have paid more than you owe on your Federal Income taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) please be aware that you must file your tax return within the 3 years statute of limitations from when the tax was originally due to obtain a refund. Further, the IRS has a 10 year statute of limitations on collecting any unpaid taxes from the day the taxes were due. The following example may clear up any confusion, if you did not file a tax return in 2007 and you paid more Federal Income taxes than you owe, you have until April 15th 2011 to obtain a refund from the IRS. Because the IRS statute is unambiguous, the chances of obtaining a judgment from a tax court in your favor after the statutory period has passed is slim to none. The only exception to the statutory rule found in the case law is whether the excess payment could be defined as a deposit paid to the IRS to defend against any potential deficiency claim by the IRS. However, the rules and the factual situation required to define any excess payment as a deposit is complicated and may not work in every situation. 

For more information on tax problems and solutions, visit tonyfamlaw.com. 

What are Meta Tags and why they are so important?

In today's world, the internet offers greater access to potential clients than advertisement in the yellow or white pages ever could. We live in a world of instant gratification, where potential clients need an immediate solution to their problems and don't have the patience to fumble through a directory of endless advertisements, names and toll-free numbers. The internet offers solo practitioners a chance to reach potential clients on the cheap, without the payment of enormous amounts of money to advertisers, marketers, or referral services. Starting your own law practice at times can be very discouraging and the fact that you're putting yourself out there without any immediate gains can fill anyone with despair. However, if you use the power of the internet correctly to market your services, you can be very successful and reach potential clients on the cheap.

Quite honestly, I didn't know what meta tags were or their significance. I only knew what meta tags were after I had begun the process of publishing my website and the frustration of not understanding why my website was not being indexed by the leading search engines. Meta tags are like bar codes for a specific item being sold by a store. Search engines are like stores that need bar codes to find the items (websites) to make the sale to the consumer. If you input a meta tag in the HTML coding of your homepage specific to the search engine you want your website indexed at, you'll have a greater chance of using the internet to reach more potential clients. I'm proud to say that my website is now indexed by ask.com, bing, google and yahoo plus numerous other search engines on the internets. Additionally, I know I have mentioned this in the past, but if you're having trouble indexing your website on ask.com then you should try registering your website at the open directory listing. Ask.com does not offer users specific meta tags to input in their HTML coding of their homepage because ask.com believes that internet spammers should not get the upper hand by simply registering their website with the search engine and wants to protect the true information authorities from internet scams. I hope this blog post has been informative. 

Expenses Continued

Purchases made thus far for Tony Fam, PLLC:

1. Certification to be a Notary along with stamp and 4-year bond: $85.94
2. Purchase of a template for a web domain: $63.00
3. Webhosting from godaddy.com plus extras: $129.92
4. Filing Certificate of Incorporation with Texas Secretary of State: $308.10
   
5. Business cards (500): $27.04

TOTAL: $614.00

This is before the purchase of stationary, envelopes and other business supplies. 

Miracle Worker

"You can choose your client, but you can't choose the facts of your case."

I've recently encountered a client that believes lawyers can solve legal problems with little bit of legal research and some ingenuity. However, three years of law school and a couple of months of being a solo-practitioner have proved otherwise. Lawyers aren't miracle workers, we help our clients with their problems and find them solutions according to the applicable law. There are situations where a technicality found in the law may solve a client's problem, but those are few and far between. While writing this blog post, I can still hear my professor's saying, "you can choose your client, but you can't choose the facts of your case."

Uncontested Divorce

In Texas, uncontested divorces offers couples an alternative to a long, drawn out emotionally draining legal battle over the financial assets, custody of children and shared community property. The first step in the short process of obtaining an uncontested divorce is for a spouse to contact a lawyer and set up a consultation about their legal rights, their spouses legal rights and to answer any questions about the uncontested divorce process.

After the initial consultation with a lawyer has occurred and all needed paper work is signed and provided. If the spouse who wishes to file a divorce petition meets the residency requirements, then the retained lawyer may file the Divorce Petition. In Texas, the residency requirements are: 1) the spouse petitioning the court for a divorce must have lived in the state of Texas for 6 months; and 2) the spouse petitioning the court for a divorce must have lived in the county where the petition is going to be filed for at least 90 days. Either spouse who meets the residency requirements may file. The second step of an uncontested divorce is the filing of a divorce petition. The divorce petition basically asks the court for a divorce and lays out a plan.

The third step in obtaining an uncontested divorce is for the spouse not requesting a divorce to sign a Waiver of Citation. The Waiver of Citation speeds up the process of obtaining a divorce by stating that the spouse not requesting a divorce agrees to the jurisdiction and venue of the court, the spouse does not contest the jurisdiction or venue of the proceedings and that spouse agrees that there does not have to be a trial by a judge. The Waiver of Citation must be signed and notarized by the spouse not requesting the divorce.

The fourth step in obtaining an uncontested divorce is to wait for 61 days until the Final Divorce Decree is signed by a judge. This period is called the "cooling off" period. During the cooling off period, a couple may negotiate amongst themselves or with the help of the retained lawyer to figure out a plan about how to divide the marital assets, debts and custody of the children. This plan is memorialized in a marital settlement agreement that should be signed by both spouses. After the marital settlement agreement is signed then the retained lawyer will base the final divorce decree off the marital settlement agreement and file a Final Divorce Decree with the court.

The fifth step in an uncontested divorce is having a judge sign off on the Final Divorce Decree and for the lawyer to send the decree to both spouses.

If you need help obtaining an uncontested divorce please contact the law offices of Tony Fam, PLLC at (214) 872-6406, or via e-mail at tony@tonyfamlaw.com.

#7 Expenses 2011

Purchases made thus far for Tony Fam, PLLC: 

1. Certification to be a Notary along with stamp and 4-year bond: $85.94
2. Purchase of a template for a web domain: $63.00
3. Webhosting from godaddy.com plus extras: $129.92
4. Filing Certificate of Incorporation with Texas Secretary of State: $308.10

TOTAL: $586.96

This is before the purchase of business cards, stationary and other business supplies. 

Day #6: Finding a Niche

Before I begin discussing the importance of finding a niche in your law practice, I'd like to go over the troubles and tribulations of having your website indexed by different search engines. My website has already been indexed by google.com, but not yahoo.com, bing.com, or ask.com. I've already requested for yahoo.com and bing.com to index my website but I believe it is going to take some time. For those that are wondering, ask.com does not have a submit url option on its search engine. The makers of ask.com want the "internets" to automatically crawl a website to find its sitemap. It took me a while to understand what crawl and sitemap meant. First, I have never built a website before and understanding the complexity of coding a website and knowing how it all comes together has been a humbling experience. Second, I graduated law school knowing nothing about how to start your own solo practice. You would think that with 20% of law graduates going solo, law schools would equip their students with the tools required to go on your own and be successful. Unfortunately, this is not the case, most of the experience and knowledge you gain in law school occurs outside of its doors. I've gone on another tangent in this blog posting. The whole "law school is worthless posting" will have to continue on another posting. 

Most solo practitioners make the mistake of opening up shop and telling the whole world that they're general practitioners. Last month, when I had a law partnership I made this same mistake of telling the whole world I was a general practitioner. However, I've been browsing how-to-guides and watching informational videos by other solo-practitioners and decided that I need to find my own niche. It is important to find your own niche because clients who have a problem want a lawyer who knows the law applicable to their situation and is knowledgeable enough to provide the client with immediate results (or at least a game plan). Further, other lawyers will refer cases to your firm because they will view your niche law firm as a potential business partner and not as a threat. The whole referral system depends on lawyers referring cases to other lawyers who are specialists in a field of law in exchange for cases in the future. Lawyers are less likely to refer cases to a general practitioner because they will view the general practitioner as a threat. 

First, I choose estate planning because I've always been interested in what happens to your personal and real property after you die. I took every estate planning class in law school and I've drafted several wills for terminally ill patients for a local charity organization. Second, I chose uncontested divorce because it's easy and the dueling spouses will have to reach an some sort of an agreement amongst themselves if they want a divorce. Third, I chose immigration law because I know how the system works because I'm the second generation Egyptian-American. I have lived through the process of my parents coming to America with a green card waiting a period of time before they were naturalized citizens. Fourth, I chose tax law because I spent a year working at the Tax Clinic during law school. If in a couple of weeks, I don't have enough traffic generated to the tax portion of my website then I'll take it done and concentrate on my other niches. 

Today, I'm going to work a little bit on my website and preparing forms for future immigration law clients. 

Day #5

I've decided to ramp up my blogging. I've read on startingalawfirm.blogspot.com that blogging about your professional experiences may increase traffic to your website. I intend to spend 2 hours everyday blogging about my experiences and I'll try to provide insights into the struggles/tribulations of being a solo-practitioner. I know it's going to be hard work at first: there will be days where I wish I had spent the same amount of time applying for jobs, even temporary jobs to provide some sort of income. I believe the benefits of being a solo-practitioner will at least in the long run outweigh the short-term burdens.

Right now, I'm glad that my website has been indexed by google.com and yahoo.com/directory. These are small victories and the fact that my website has been indexed provides a glimmer of hope that my telephone will ring any second now. You should know that I have both my cordless telephone and cellphone next to me this very moment. 

I've read on several websites that lawyers are using the cluster method of web marketing to target a specific audience and their problems. Instead of having a domain with a generic name, insertlastname.com, some lawyers have created websites specific to one particular field of law, such as websites devoted to uncontested divorce or drunk driving offenses. This gives the lawyer more visibility on the internets and higher chance to grab clients. I'm quite interested in this marketing tool because if I play my cards right, I can have a chance to create another website specific to say, uncontested divorce and get indexed higher than my general website. I'm still debating whether I want to spend more money, especially when I only have two clients. 

There is much to work on today. I'm going to brush up on immigration law and prepare forms for incoming clients. 

Day #4

My website finally got indexed. I was wondering why I've been receiving telephone calls out of the blue!