Palmer, TX Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

Because you have a signficant amount of separate property, it would be a good idea to get an attorney to protect your rights. In Texas, all property is presumed to be community property during a divorce, unless that property was obtained by gift, devise or descent and unless it was obtained before the marriage. You would need to produce paperwork showing when you bought your house and cars. You would also need to show when your 401K started and how much it increased in valude during the marriage. Your spouse would be entitled to half of the growth during the marriage, but sometimes, there is no growth or it's so mimimal that the other spouse decides not to go through the trouble and expense of getting their share. Again, the best way to protect your rights is to get an attorney to represent you.

You could complete the case in the county where your spouse lived if the spouse lived there for 90 days before you filed. But your spouse may ask for a change a venue to the county where the children live (which is now the county where everyone lives now).

The good news is that the marriage is not over until the judge signs a final decree of divorce. So you will make it to ten years.  There's a minimum waiting period after filing a divorce of sixty days after the filing date. Plus you are going to be entitled to your share of the property whether or not you have been married ten years.  If you are asking about military retirement benefits you are entitled to a share after even a short marriage. The ten years gets you the advantage of being paid your portion of husband's retirement directly from DFAS. The ten year mark is also relevant in eligibility for spousal maintenance after the divorce. I recommend you check with the district clerk in your county to see if a divorce has been filed. Yes he needs to have you served or ask you to sign a waiver, but people are sneaky sometimes.