Family Law Topics:

Client Testimonials

I was referred to Ken Raggio by a friend and neighbor who used Ken Raggio to represent her in her divorce. She was very happy with his representation of her, so I consulted with Ken and he recommended that, due to the facts of the case, I was financially better off staying married to my husband as long as possible. Basically a year or so later I found out that my husband had filed for divorce, so I hired Ken. We then had a meeting of the two lawyers with the two parties to discuss having an efficient and amicable divorce proceeding. Over the next several months we exchanged sworn inventories and each other’s financial records. The case was set for trial, but we settled it in a mediation a month before trial and after both sides knew what the whole story was. Additionally, Ken helped me walk through the emotional issues of dealing with the end of a long-term marriage. I am grateful for his support and guidance. I’m very pleased with the services that I received from Ken and his firm and highly recommend them. -SdS-
I looked up international divorce on the web. I found Ken Raggio. I was also referred to him by an attorney who knows the reputation of the Raggio’s in the Dallas legal community and specifically in divorce and family law. Specifically, my husband and I had last lived together at his home in Germany. Which meant that this was an international divorce case. My goals were very clear: I wanted to get a divorce, instead of spending months or years and a small fortune dealing with jurisdictional issues that arise all the time in international divorces. So Ken devised a straightforward and efficient plan to try and help me achieve my goal. And it worked! I went to court with Ken just three months after the divorce was filed and got my divorce granted. B.G.
I talked to Tom Raggio a couple years ago about filing for divorce and authorized him to do it, but later changed my mind. I can’t get back those two years, but I finally called the Raggio’s again. This time with my and Tom’s agreement, Ken Raggio met with me. Ken was very direct with me in indicating that everything was my choice. He asked this question: are you willing to take the risk that you be in the same place two years from now that you were two years ago? Over a couple of weeks, I realized that our attempts to deal with my spouses alcoholism that cost us many thousand dollars and really hadn’t worked out to make the marriage worthwhile. So reluctantly, So I filed for divorce. Ken suggested that we draw up a complete package to be able to settle the case. This took a lot of work, but Ken was able to attach all the paperwork necessary to resolve the case with my spouse in my case and these other settlement papers attached with the papers that would be served or delivered by the process server to my spouse. With very few changes, this became the deal that my spouse and I agreed on and that the court approved by signing the decree of divorce. I am very pleased with the guidance and comfort that Ken Raggio and the Raggio firm has given to me in finally dealing with my dead marriage, and giving me the encouragement to move on with my life. And I’m sure it will be a happier life! I highly recommend Ken and his firm. C.F.
My child’s father and I had an amicable divorce a couple years ago. Our possession schedule went okay for a while with little changes here and accommodations there working out. I didn’t even really pay attention to the fact that he wasn’t paying what he agreed he would pay. I even took or picked up our child at the father’s work in another county to help him out. It wasn’t long before my agreements and accommodations to the father led to his bullying of me. This eventually led to me saying we should follow the possession schedule that we had agreed to at the time of divorce. Well, he didn’t like that, and he responded with more bullying, filing a pleading seeking to have temporary custody of our child and filing an untruthful 33 point affidavit. So here I am with a lawsuit. I was referred to Ken Raggio by another lawyer who is also listed as a D Magazine Best Lawyer. He looked over the pleadings and affidavit, and said that this was bogus, but that I still had to defend myself. Well 5 court appearances over five months ( the father appealed the denial of his initial requests by the associate judge to the district judge, and lost again) and a final trial, Ken’s advice was borne out: the father was completely denied all relief he sought, my child support was raised almost a thousand dollars a month, and I was awarded $20,000 in my attorneys fees for the father to pay. And he has to pick up and deliver our child at my house, or to our child’s school, which both are in a different county that the father lives in. I didn’t expect to have to hire Ken this year, but I am glad that I did. Not only did he set the table to deny the father’ relief, but he also got sworn testimony submitted in trial showing that the father had lied in filing his federal tax returns by wrongly saying he had paid for day care and was the primary parent. I think the father now knows that I have a strong attorney just in case he is thinking about starting up his bullying again. I highly recommend Ken and his firm. A. W.
My husband suddenly filed for divorce last year, and even though we had not been getting along, the filing was a shock to me. My husband sat at our kitchen table and told me that he had drawn up an agreement that was “fair and equitable”. He told me that I would not need an attorney, because he had hired an attorney that would be “ours.” He insisted spending more money on attorneys would be a waste. Despite my husband’s reassurance that he was doing the best thing for me and our two young children, I decided to speak to an attorney. Somehow, I was lucky enough to have a friend suggest Raggio and Raggio and I made an appointment. Within 20 minutes of meeting with Ken Raggio, he had already pulled up the information on my house (that my husband and I shared since before the birth of our first daughter), only to learn that I in fact, (and contrary to what I had been told), I was not an owner of the house. Unfortunately, Ken had the duty of showing me the bad news; I was on the deed of trust, but not the deed. So in essence, I was financially responsible for the house, but had no ownership in our home. Additionally, my husband had emptied our bank accounts of over six figures and put it beyond my reach. Essentially, I had nothing. I was left to borrow money and bounce checks in order to take care of the children and pay for child care. He had the house. He took the money. He had more than half a million dollars in retirement; and I did not even have enough money to hire an attorney. Or so I thought... Ken Raggio also informed me that my husband had hired a very aggressive lawyer whose only position was that my husband was “right about everything and I should just agree to his terms because he was being generous” In that so-called generous offer, my husband got his house (after all, it was his separate property) and I got a little bit of savings, got child support, my car, and my retirement. To quote Ken, “this would be the deal you would get in your worst day in court.” And so our divorce started in earnest. Well, we had to set various matters down for a hearing before the court that would get him to move off of his “my way or the highway” view of the divorce and of life in general. So we got temporary orders about my use of the house, about support, use of credit cards, and payment of attorneys and legal expenses. Oh, yeah, we also managed to get my husband’s huge and upcoming bonus frozen so he could not try and hide that from me or our children. Even though it was a contentious and expensive divorce, I am smiling: I got the house with (with the mortgage paid in full) and my children have the stability of staying in the only home they have ever known. Additionally, I got my retirement, a car, and above guideline child support. I have more enthusiasm at work and more time with my children. Moving forward, life is good. I am stronger than I could have ever imagined and I fought for what I knew was right; but, I truly believe that I would not have been able to do so without Ken Raggio and his firm. Only now do I understand that practicing law seems to be a delicate balance of timing, emotional support, stern advice, and knowing the law. Ken Raggio has that delicate balance down to a science. I am extremely grateful to Ken Raggio and his firm for helping me get the courage and resolve to fight for myself and my children, and as Ken said, to get my husband’s “foot off of my neck.” I highly recommend Ken and his firm. ARB

Email Us

Bold labels are required.

Texas Marital Property Issues

PROPERTY

There are two major categories of property in the State of Texas: community property and separateproperty.

Separate property is:

property owned prior to marriage;
property acquired at any time by gift or inheritance;
recoveries for personal injuries sustained by a spouse during marriage (except for loss of earnings); and
property exchanged for above items 1 – 3.

Community property consists of the property, other than separate property, acquired by either spouse during marriage. This is true even if only one spouse has possession of the property. Just because one spouse is named on the title, deed, or account; one person receives the asset as payment for personal services (ie: salary); or the asset will not be paid until a future date (ie: retirement) do not make it separate property. There is a presumption that all property possessed by either spouse is community property. Separate property ownership must be proven by clear and convincing evidence. The most common way of proof is by tracing the asset from the date of acquisition to present date. If the asset is money, and has been deposited into a joint account, or into an account with monies which would be considered community property (ie: salary) has been deposited, the separate property may become commingled to the point that it is not possible or cost-effective to prove its continued existence.

In Texas, the appreciation or increase in value of separate property is generally considered separate property. However, reimbursement may be due to one spouse or the community for contributions made during the marriage to enhance the value of one spouse’s separate estate. (Reimbursement can work the other way also–separate property used to enhance the community property) However, income or interest earned on separate property is generally community property. It is necessary to advise the court if you own separate property or if you believe you have a claim for reimbursement. Be sure to talk to your attorney about these issues early in your case.

The reimbursement area has been greatly expanded by the elimination of the well intended but difficult-to-properly-and-fairly-apply concept of Economic Contribution, which was ZAPPED OUT OF THE LAW EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1, 2009. Economic contribution will not be missed. It was a refined specie of reimbursement, and the Legislature in 2009, after eliminating Economic Contribution, clarified and expanded reimbursement by statute, adding to the long authority of Texas case law in the area.

One spouse’s separate property cannot be awarded to the other spouse. But again,separate property must be proven to be separate property.

Community property is divided in a just and right manner. This does not necessarily mean equally; there are factors such as differences in earnings of the spouses, the nature of the property involved, and fault in the breakup that the Court can consider in the determination of “just and right.” However, an equal division is a good rule of thumb. The value of all the property is to be determined as near as possible to the date your divorce. “Value” usually means the price at which the item could be sold currently on the open market. Insurance appraisals are at replacement value, which is usually higher. It is also necessary to determine current debts. Your lawyer may provide you with forms to assist you in providing this information. In most cases, your attorney will need to process this information onto a formal Inventory and Appraisement which may be filed with the Court and will likely be exchanged with your spouse’s attorney for the spouse’s sworn inventory. It may be advisable to hire appraisers to value your home, business, or retirement plan.

You may also own property in a type of joint tenancy, which may or may not involve the right of survivorship. Be sure to tell your attorney if you believe you may own a bank account or other property as a joint tenant so that steps can be taken to revoke the survivorship provisions if possible.

MARITAL PROPERTY LIABILITIES

If you have liability to a creditor, that liability will continue until the obligation is paid regardless of the terms of your divorce decree. Not all debts incurred during marriage are the responsibility of both spouses, but this is a highly technical and confusing area of the law. The decree may order your spouse to assume full responsibility for payment of certain debts. However, the decree is not binding against the creditor. They can sue you if your spouse does not pay a debt assigned by the Decree of Divorce to that spouse if you are responsible for the debt to the creditor. If you are found liable, your remedy is to sue your former spouse for failing to comply with the decree and obtain a money judgment against your former spouse. For more detailed information, see the article about Marital Liabilities.

Since a great deal of property is exempt from execution under state law, and cannot be taken to satisfy the payment of a debt, you may not be able to actually collect the money judgment for many years, and will have to renew it every 10 years to keep it valid. Additionally, your former spouse may file for bankruptcy and attempt to extinguish the judgment. If there are funds available for payment of debts, you should consider utilizing these funds instead of continuing to be liable. If your spouse is going to keep the family home, you should encourage and cooperate with attempts to refinance so that you can be taken off the mortgage. This may not be applicable or practical in many cases, but you need to be aware that you remain liable to the mortgage lender in the event of default even if your spouse is assigned total responsibility.

There is a way to transform separate property into community property, and to transformcommunity property into separate property, and such transformation does not have to be part of a divorce action. Ask your lawyer if either of these procedures are appropriate for you.

There are many special rules for many particular properties that may affect the just and right division. Check with your lawyer on how you should handle these to your advantage.