To file for divorce in Texas, you must have lived in Texas for the past 6 months, and lived in the county where you plan to file for the past 90 days. These rules don't apply to military personal from Texas out of state on duty.

1. Marriage has become "Insupportable" - this is a no-fault divorce where the only reason needed is that the couple can no longer sustain their relationship.

2. Cruel Treatment - either spouse must be guilty of cruel treatment toward the other spouse that renders living together insupportable.

3. Adultery.

4. Conviction of a felony and imprisonment for at least 1 year.

5. Abandonment for more than 1 year.

6. Separation for more than 3 years.

7. Confinement in a mental hospital for at least 3 years.

In Texas, a divorce cannot be granted until 60 days after the divorce suit is filed. However, that's the earliest a divorce can be granted. If the spouses aren't in agreement on how to end the marriage, then the divorce can take a lot longer. For example, if a trial is necessary, it ideally should take 7 to 12 months to get to trial, but sometimes it may take even longer.

Usually, if the parties reach a settlement agreement and don't go to trial, marital property is divided in whatever way the parties agreed. If the divorce does go through trial, Texas courts have the power to make a "just and right" division of all community property. What's "just and right" is determined by the court on a case by case basis. There are many factors the court can consider, including: fault in breakup, disparity of incomes, disparity of age, spouses' financial positions, spouses' health, children's needs, length of marriage and spouses' earning potential. Note, "just and right" division only extends to community property, and a court does not have the power to divide a spouse's separate property during divorce.

Basically, separate property is any property owned or claimed before marriage. Separate property also includes property inherited or received as a gift during marriage. Finally, separate property also includes any recovery for personal injuries sustained during marriage, excluding recovery for loss of earning capacity.

Community property is any property acquired during marriage that is not separate property. All property is presumed to be community property unless proven otherwise.

For an explanation of how alimony works in Texas, read our article No Alimony, Just Spousal Maintenance.

In Texas, you cannot remarry until 30 days after the court grants your divorce unless the court waives the prohibition against remarriage.

An uncontested divorce is the fastest and cheapest way to get a divorce. For an uncontested divorce to work, both spouses must agree on the divorce settlement. Usually, only one spouse hires an attorney. The attorney files a petition for divorce with the court, and the non-filing spouse signs a Waiver of Citation, thereby relieving the filing spouse from serving the non-filing spouse with process. The attorney then drafts the agreed upon divorce decree and submits the decree to the court. The decree divorces the parties and states, among other matters, how marital property will be divided, custody of any children and spousal maintenance, if any. The attorney and the filing spouse eventually go before the judge. After the attorney asks his client some routine questions, the judge grants the divorce by signing the divorce decree.

There is no such thing as legal separation in Texas. That is, there is no unique legal status in Texas for a couple that is still married but no longer living together. In Texas, either you're married or you're not. However, there are options for those who want to remain married but live separately.

In regards to any children, either parent can file a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR) while still married to the other parent. A SAPCR determines how custody, visitation and child support will work. While SACPRs are typically part of a divorce suit or used when the parents are not married, nothing in the Texas Family Code prevents a SAPCR from being filed by two parents who are still married. In fact, two 2014 cases out of the Second District and Third District of the Court of Appeals of Texas held that child support can be ordered even while the parties are still married to each other.

In regards to assets and debts, a married couple can enter into a marital property agreement to legally divide their assets and debts without the necessity of a divorce.

By using a SAPCR and a marital property agreement, spouses can have many of the legal benefits of a divorce without actually being divorced.

For an explanation of how child support is calculated in Texas, read our article Calculating Child Support.

The court can order child support to be paid until the child is 18 years old or until the child graduates from high school, whichever occurs later. For child support to continue when the child is 18 years old, the child needs to be in an accredited secondary school in a program leading toward a high school diploma. Child support can end early if the child is emancipated by order of a court or through marriage. However, child support can be required indefinitely if the child is disabled.

For an explanation of the basics of conservatorship in Texas, read our article The Basics of Child Custody in Texas.

Texas has a standard possession and visitation order that is presumed by law to be in the best interests of children. For the purpose of answering this frequently asked question, we're assuming both parents have been appointed as the conservators of the child. Also, when we use the term "non-custodial parent," we mean the parent with whom the child does not live.

Under the standard possession order, if the non-custodial parent lives within 50 miles of the primary residence of the child, the non-custodial parent has possession during: (1) the first, third and fifth weekends each month, starting Friday when school lets out and ending Monday when school resumes, (2) every Thursday during the school year, starting when school lets out and ending on Friday when school resumes, (3) the child's spring vacation during even-numbered years, starting when school lets out on the day school is dismissed for vacation and ending when school resumes on the first day after the vacation, and (4) 30 days in the summer.

If the non-custodial parent lives between 50 miles and 100 miles from the primary residence of the child, the non-custodial parent has possession during: (1) the first, third and fifth weekends each month, starting Friday at 6pm and ending Sunday at 6pm, (2) from 6pm to 8pm every Thursday during the school year, (3) the child's spring vacation during even-numbered years, starting at 6pm on the day school is dismissed for vacation and ending at 6pm on the day before school resumes, and (4) 30 days in the summer.

If the non-custodial parent lives more than 100 miles from the primary residence of the child, the non-custodial parent has two options for possession under the standard possession order. Under the first option, the non-custodial parent has possession the first, third and fifth weekends each month, starting Friday at 6pm and ending Sunday at 6pm. Under the second alternative option, the non-custodial parent has possession one weekend per month, a weekend of the non-custodial parent's choice, provided the non-custodial parent notifies the custodial parent at least 14 days before the selected weekend. If the non-custodial parent prefers the second alternative option, then the non-custodial parent must select the alternative option by notifying the custodial parent within 90 days after the parents start living more than 100 miles from each other. The non-custodial parent also has possession during: (1) the child's spring vacation every year, starting at 6pm on the day school is dismissed for vacation and ending at 6pm on the day before school resumes, and (2) 42 days in the summer.

Under the standard possession order, there are certain holiday periods of possession. The non-custodial parent has possession of the child: (1) in even-numbered years beginning at 6 p.m. or when school lets out on the day the child is dismissed from school for the Christmas school vacation and ending at noon on December 28; (2) in odd-numbered years beginning at noon on December 28 and ending at 6 p.m. on the day before school resumes after Christmas vacation or when school resumes after Christmas vacation; and (3) in odd-numbered years, beginning at 6 p.m. or at the time school lets out on the day the child is dismissed from school before Thanksgiving and ending at 6 p.m. on the following Sunday or when school resumes after the Thanksgiving. Also, the parent not otherwise entitled under the standard possession order to possession of the child on the child's birthday gets possession of the child beginning at 6 p.m. and ending at 8 p.m. on that day, provided that the parent picks up the child from the residence of the parent entitled to possession and returns the child to that same place. The father has possession of the child beginning at 6 p.m. on the Friday preceding Father's Day and ending on Father's Day at 6 p.m., provided that, if he is not otherwise entitled under the standard possession order to possession of the child, he picks up the child from the residence of the mother and returns the child to that same place. The mother has possession of the child beginning at 6 p.m. or when school lets out on the Friday preceding Mother's Day and ending on Mother's Day at 6 p.m. or when school resumes after Mother's Day, provided that, if she is not otherwise entitled under the standard possession order to possession of the child, she picks up the child from the residence of the father and returns the child to that same place.

A common law marriage is when a couple is considered married despite neither having a marriage license nor going through a marriage ceremony. A common law marriage requires that the parties agreed to be married, lived together as husband and wife and represented to others that they were married.