Contested vs. Uncontested Texas Divorce

In Texas, divorces can be either uncontested or contested. In an uncontested divorce, the parties agree to all terms, including how property will be divided, whether and to what extent there will be spousal support, how child custody (otherwise known as conservatorship) will be handled, how child visitation will proceed, and the terms of child support, which must also meet state law requirements. If the parties are not in agreement on one or more of these issues, which is very often the case, the divorce is considered to be contested.

Grounds For a Texas Divorce

Texas allows the parties to file for either a no-fault divorce or a fault-based divorce.

In a no-fault Texas divorce, neither party blames the other for the fact that the marriage did not work out. Rather, both seek the dissolution of the marriage based on their irreconcilable differences. The two spouses agree that they do not want to be married anymore and jointly agree to file a no-fault divorce formally stating neither party is to blame or guilty of any misconduct that caused the marriage to end. No-fault divorces are the most common type of divorce in Texas.

One spouse may, however, choose to seek a fault-based divorce. In this case, the petitioner will allege their spouse specifically did something to make the marriage no longer work.

Texas allows a spouse seeking divorce to allege one of seven grounds (reasons) for divorce:

● Insupportability. With insupportability, a spouse alleges that there is such discord or conflict of personalities that there is no reasonable expectation of reconciliation.
● Living apart. In order to file for divorce due to living apart, the spouse must assert that the couple has lived apart for at least three years.
● Confinement to a mental hospital. A spouse can file for divorce based on mental hospital confinement if their husband or wife has been confined to a mental hospital for at least three years and “the mental disorder is of such a degree and nature that adjustment is unlikely or that if adjustment occurs, relapse is probable.”
● Cruelty. In order to plead cruelty in a divorce case, one spouse must assert that the other has behaved in a verbally, physically, and/or emotionally cruel manner.
● Abandonment. In order to request a divorce based on abandonment, one spouse must have left the other and stayed away for at least a year.
● Adultery. In order to file for divorce for adultery, the petitioning spouse must be able to prove their husband or wife has been sexually involved with someone outside of the marriage
● Felony conviction. If one spouse has been convicted of a felony, their partner can file for divorce based that felony conviction.