military deployment and custody Archives

Military Divorce Lawyer in Texas: Richard T. Sutherland

Nick Augustine May 29, 2019July 16, 2019 Child Custody, Child Support, Divorce

Military Divorces Lawyer in Texas: Richard T. Sutherland can Help Military Spouses with Divorces Where One or Both Spouses Serve in the United States Military

Service members in the military include the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. In Wichita Falls, Texas there may be military husbands or wives living here in Texas while their spouse is deployed. Additionally, local residents in Wichita County may have a spouse serving military duty at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. People consulting with a military divorce lawyer in Texas such as Richard T. Sutherland should understand that it is important to hire an attorney with experience in Texas military family law.

Serving your country does not mean you need to sacrifice anything with your child. A designated person can be appointed to have visitation, otherwise referred to as possession and access with the child while you are away on temporary or longer military deployment.

Who would you appoint as a designated person to exercise your custody and visitation rights while you are deployed? If you were deployed a significant distance from the child, would you seek a temporary modification of the court’s orders during deployment? In all situations, the court applies the law in the Texas Family Code and considers what is in the best interest of the child.

Military.com has a great article about How Deployment Stress Affects Families, a recommended read.

Sheppard Air Force Base Families May Need a Military Divorce Lawyer in Texas

If a husband or wife housed at Shephard Air Force Base at Wind Creek Village, Heritage Heights, or Freedom Estates needs a family lawyer for issues involving marriage, divorce, property issues, child custody or support issues, they should contact an experienced Texas divorce lawyer in Wichita County, who is accustomed to working with families subject to the parts of the Texas Family Code that specifically address United States military service members.

Military divorces in Texas are alleged on the same ground as divorces for civilians. Texas is a no-fault divorce state, meaning that you do not need to allege a fault ground to get divorced. The no-fault ground is called insupportability. For more information about the basics, please see our article, Divorce in Texas: What You Should Know.

Military.com also published an article discussing how Months of Deployment Cause Increased Risk of Military Divorce.

How Military Deployment Affects Child Custody in Texas

Military service members frequently have child custody and visitation questions unique to their family member’s military service. In Texas, custody and visitation are properly called conservatorship and possession and access. Some of the questions are about visitation when the parties are divorced and one of the parents’ ability to see the child is affected by military deployment, mobilization or temporary military duty.

Click the link and listen to Richard T. Sutherland explain Military Deployment and Custody in Texas in this podcast. Mr. Sutherland understands how military deployment, mobilization or temporary duty can affect families.

How Military Status May Affect Property Division in a Texas Divorce

If you are deployed in military service and are located far from your family and are getting a divorce, there are challenges in the logistics of property division. In a divorce where everyone is local and available to communicate and interact during the divorce process, property division can be challenging enough. When you or your spouse is far away and deployed a short or longer-term period of deployment it can be difficult to communicate. Something as simple as work with appraisers for home and property can be delayed and difficult when one or both spouses is unavailable.

Additional issues in property division include property, land, real estate, vehicles, boats and so on, located in different states. To learn more about complex property issues, listen to our podcast, Community and Separate Property in Texas.

Richard T. Sutherland is a Divorce Lawyer for Military Spouses

When one or both of you is located in Texas and the other is a permanent resident of another state, questions about property division can be complicated. In Whicita County and surrounding Northwest Texas, people call Richard T. Sutherland for divorces involving property division and military service members. Also experienced in commercial litigation, complex family business structures, and incidentals making property division a challenge, Richard T. Sutherland can help you.

Richard T. Sutherland is located in Wichita Falls, Texas, (licensed in Texas, not Oklahoma) and he represents people and families in Wichita County, Archer County, Baylor County, Clay County, Foard County, Hardeman County, Jack County, Montague County, Wise County, Young County and Wilbarger Counties in North Texas and has accepted cases in other areas West, North-Central and in South Texas. Contact a military divorce lawyer in Texas: Richard T. Sutherland by dialing (940) 691-2100.

Custody Modification Issues in Wichita Falls, Texas

Nick Augustine September 21, 2018February 8, 2019 Uncategorized

Despite the Best Plans, Custody Modification Can be Necessary

While following the terms of your divorce decree or custody order, there may be bumps in the road, some more significant than others. Issues with conservatorship, possession of or access to the child can arise out of parents’ new relationships, job opportunities and military deployments. There are also times that child abuse, family violence and changes in financial circumstances make it necessary to file a custody modification case to set a new order for conservatorship or possession and access that is in the best interests of the child or children.

In a custody modification case, the party bringing suit must be able to establish a material and substantial change of circumstances, something more than the inconvenience of one parent not being able to make scheduled weekend pick-ups and drop-offs.

Every modification case is unique, and you should obtain proper legal advice to learn your rights and where you stand in bringing a modification suit. In Wichita Falls, Texas, Richard T. Sutherland advises and represents parents with custody and modification issues.

Job Change and Relocation Issues Affecting Custody Arrangements

When a parent has a new opportunity for career advancement, the new job can be beneficial for everyone in the family, including children whose needs become more expensive as they grow older and get closer to high school and their future beyond. At a crossroads, the new job opportunity may affect the parent’s current rights and duties regarding possession and access, regardless whether they are the primary parent with a right to determine the child’s residence.

The parent with possession and access on first, third and fifth weekends, for example, might need to travel further for pick-ups and drop-offs. But what happens when their new job is in South Carolina as opposed to Oklahoma, and transportation and distance are issues?

Listen to Richard T. Sutherland speak on relocation issues in a recent podcast, “Geographic Restrictions and Relocation.”

Grounds for Modification of Custody Orders in Texas

When the terms and conditions of conservatorship, possession of or access to a child are sought to be modified, and it would be in the best interests of the child, the court may modify that custody order. The circumstances of the child, a conservator or other party affected by the original order of the court have materially and substantially changed.

The facts that give rise to what the court may consider a material or substantial change are unique to every family and custody case. An experienced child custody lawyer can advise you as to whether your situation warrants a modification. Some factors that can affect your chances at obtaining a modification may be the age of the child, increased expenses because of change of residence, conviction for child abuse or family violence, military duty obligations and more.

In Wichita Falls, Texas, parents who need a custody modification may seek the advice and representation of child custody attorney Richard T. Sutherland, an experienced and frequent speaker on children’s issues and protecting their best interests. Call Richard T. Sutherland in Wichita Falls at (940) 691-2100 with your questions and custody modification issues.

Richard T. Sutherland represents people and families in Wichita County, Archer County, Baylor County, Clay County, Foard County, Hardeman County, Jack County, Montague County, Wise County, Young County and Wilbarger Counties in North Texas and has accepted cases in other areas West, North-Central and in South Texas.

Divorce and Family Law Explained by Richard Sutherland in Wichita Falls, Texas: Podcast Summaries

Nick Augustine August 24, 2018February 8, 2019 Podcasts

Podcast Summaries: Divorce and Family Law Explained by Richard Sutherland in Wichita Falls, Texas. For more, call (940) 691-2100.

Wichita Falls Family Law Attorney, Richard T. Sutherland offers a variety of short podcasts explaining common issues in divorce and family law in Wichita Falls, Texas. Click on the titles to access the podcasts on our Wichita Falls Family Law website.

Call Richard T. Sutherland in Wichita Falls, Texas at (940) 691-2100 if you need help or send an e-mail through the website on the Contact Us page.

Make sure to LIKE our Facebook page so you find our new monthly podcasts in your newsfeed and SHARE with your neighbors, friends and family.

Child Support Calculations in Texas

Every child support matter is unique and the rules that apply to child support calculation depends on your child support obligor’s employment and financial standing. For example, there are unique rules that apply to members of the armed services.

Community and Separate Property in Texas

About Community Property generally: Texas law defines community property as being the property, other than separate property, acquired by either spouse during the marriage. Separate property is defined as being property owned or claimed by a spouse before marriage. Property acquired by a spouse during marriage by gift, devise or descent and the monetary proceeds for an injury sustained by a spouse during the marriage, except for lost earnings and medical expenses.

Conservatorship and Parenting

Listening to this Texas child custody and conservatorship podcast can help people better understand how conservatorship works, and it can be confusing. People often call Attorney Sutherland reporting they have joint custody, and many times those parents are joint managing conservators with rights to child support, to determine the residence of a child and primary possession and access to the child, for example. If you only take one thing away from this podcast, custody and conservatorship are not the same in Texas divorce and family law.

Geographic Restrictions and Relocation

Texas courts imposes geographic restrictions until the child reaches the age of 18 and the court no longer has jurisdiction over the child, or when the non-custodial parent or conservator no longer resides within the geographical area imposed by the court. The geographic restriction may also be lifted when the custodial parent files a petition to modify the order which granted the restriction.

Marital Debt and Liability

Who is liable for a debt and what property is subject to execution to satisfy the debt liability? We use the examples of the purchase of a truck and the transfer of title to a house.

What happens to the parties if the husband defaults on the note he used to buy the truck? Is the wife liable? If the bank sues the husband, it can seek to collect its judgement from three sources.

Military Deployment and Custody in Texas

Military deployment, military mobilization or temporary military duty can impact the lives of parents with children in and around Wichita Falls, Texas. In this monthly Wichita Falls Family Law podcast discussion with Attorney Richard Sutherland, we discuss a few of the key issues and answer common questions about the impact of military deployment and child custody.

Premarital Agreements in Texas

So long as the terms do not violate Texas law, there are seemingly endless opportunities to determine who gets what at the end of a marriage when making a valid and enforceable premarital agreement in Texas.

Welcome to The Wichita Falls Family Law Podcast

On the inaugural Wichita Falls Family Law podcast, Attorney Richard Sutherland offers and overview of common questions in Texas divorce and family law.