Abilene, TX Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

You need a qualified domestic relations order for each plan covered by the federal statutes. The plan administrator may have a form order that can be tracked. This is very detailed work - it would be a good idea to hire a lawyer.

Because you are both deployed and active duty, its virtually complicated to get a divorce easily because you share benefits. You will need to be able to be off duty and back in your state or any county you chose to live in and qualify under the jursidiction residency requirement. Since there is a child involved, custody arrangement is also needed to be discussed. If you can discuss with your spouse matters such as millitary benefits and child custody issues, you can than proceed to an uncontested divorce. An uncontested divorce will cost you anywhere from $750 to $1,500 compared to a contested divorce with military background will run you anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000. Feel free to contact my office and speak with a case manager at 877-866-8665 or email help@smsattorneys.com.

The short answer is yes. If kids are involved, then I highly recommend you have an attorney draft your final divorce decree. If you do not, then you are likely to have costly issues come up in your future. Often, those costs can exceed the price of hiring an attorney to draft paperwork correctly in the first place.  For instance: Your final decree may be rejected by the judge and you will be forced to try to figure out why plus miss additional days of work to come back for another prove-up.  An experienced family law attorney can help draft language that you might not think of on your own or find in any standardized forms. Most standardized forms do not contain everything you should have in a final decree.  If your agreement has ambiguities, then future disagreements can lead to costly modifications.  Finally, there is no such thing as legalized separation in Texas. During all the time you have been living separately, you are still accumulating community property assets/debts.  If these assets/debts are not divided in the divorce decree, then they are subject to future just and right division.   While it is possible you could do this correctly on your own, it is extremely unlikely.  I would expect to spend some quality time researching Texas Family Code and in your local law library if you decide to do it on your own. If you and your spouse are truly in agreement, then an attorney should be able to discuss your case in a consultation and give you a price to draft agreed paperwork.