These are 9 Must-Know Rules Before Getting a Divorce in San Antonio

Texas divorce law runs on a short list of rules that decide when you can file, how long your case will take, and what happens to your property, your income, and your time with your children. Learning them after filing can cost you a dismissed case, a delayed decree, or a share of property you never had to give up. Each rule below ends with a quick check you can apply to your own situation.

Thinking about filing for divorce in San Antonio? The family law team at Melone Hatley, P.C. helps clients understand how these rules apply to their marriage, their property, and their children. Schedule a consultation to talk through your options. You can also reach our San Antonio office at (210) 688-8550.

Rule 1: One Spouse Must Meet the Residency Requirement

Before a San Antonio court can hear your divorce, at least one spouse must have lived in Texas for the six months before filing and in Bexar County for the preceding 90 days. Service members get credit for time away on military orders, and out-of-state members stationed at Joint Base San Antonio for six months can file here as well.

Filing before you qualify can get the case dismissed, and a dismissal means starting over from day one.

Check: Can you or your spouse account for six continuous months in Texas and 90 days in the county? If you recently moved here, count the days before you file.

Rule 2: Every Divorce Waits at Least 60 Days

Texas Family Code Section 6.702 imposes a 60-day waiting period that starts the day the petition is filed. A judge cannot sign the decree before day 61, no matter how cooperative you and your spouse are. The only exception applies in cases involving family violence convictions or active protective orders.

The waiting period sets the floor, and your level of agreement sets the ceiling. Couples who settle every issue can finalize close to day 61. Contested cases in San Antonio routinely run six months to a year.

Check: Are you and your spouse in agreement on property, debts, and children? Your answer predicts your timeline better than anything else in your case.

Rule 3: Texas Has No Legal Separation

You cannot file for legal separation in San Antonio, because the status does not exist in Texas. Until a judge signs the final decree, you are married, and everything either spouse earns remains community property. A couple that split up five years ago and never filed has spent five years adding to a shared estate.

Spouses who want enforceable ground rules while a divorce is pending can ask the court for temporary orders covering bills, the home, and a parenting schedule.

Check: If you and your spouse already live apart, list what each of you has earned and acquired since the split. All of it is presumptively on the table.

Rule 4: Courts Divide Property in a “Just and Right” Manner

Texas is a community property state, and a San Antonio judge divides the community estate in a manner that is just and right. An equal split is the usual starting point, and courts can award a larger share to one spouse based on factors like fault in the breakup of the marriage, a large difference in earning capacity, or who has primary custody of the children.

Separate property, meaning what you owned before the marriage or received by gift or inheritance, stays yours if you can prove it. Tracing separate property through years of commingled accounts takes documentation, and the spouse claiming it bears the burden of proof.

Check: Make two lists, one for everything acquired during the marriage and one for anything you owned before it or inherited. Gather statements proving where the second list came from.

Rule 5: You Do Not Need a Reason to File

Most San Antonio divorces are granted on insupportability, the Texas no-fault ground. Neither spouse has to prove wrongdoing, and one spouse cannot stop the divorce by refusing to agree to it.

Fault still has a role. Adultery, cruelty, and wasting community funds can support a disproportionate property division, so evidence of misconduct may matter to your case even though it is never required to end the marriage.

Check: If misconduct affected your marriage or your finances, preserve the records now. Bank statements, messages, and dates are easier to gather early, while you still have access to shared accounts.

Rule 6: Child Support Follows Set Percentages

Texas calculates child support from the paying parent’s net resources using guideline percentages: 20 percent for one child, 25 percent for two, 30 percent for three, and upward from there. Net resources reach beyond salary to include bonuses, self-employment income, and, for military parents, allowances such as BAH.

Courts can move off the guidelines when a child’s proven needs call for it, and judges in San Antonio apply them in the large majority of cases.

Check: Pull the last two years of income records for both parents, including bonuses and side income. Guideline support is only as accurate as the net resources number behind it.

Rule 7: Spousal Maintenance Has Strict Limits

Texas treats spousal maintenance as the exception. To qualify, a spouse generally must show the marriage lasted at least ten years and that they cannot meet their minimum reasonable needs, or that the other spouse was convicted of family violence within two years of filing. Disability of the requesting spouse or a child they care for can also qualify.

Even when a court awards maintenance, the amount is capped at the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income, and the duration is capped by the length of the marriage. Spouses who want more than the statute provides negotiate it by agreement in the decree.

Check: Count the years from your wedding date to today, and write down what your monthly expenses would be on one income. Those two numbers frame any maintenance discussion.

Rule 8: Both Spouses Must Disclose Everything

Texas requires each spouse to exchange financial information during a divorce, and the duty covers accounts, debts, retirement plans, business interests, and property in either name. Hiding an asset can void a settlement, reopen a finished case, and lead the court to award the concealed asset to the other spouse.

Full disclosure protects the person making it. A decree built on complete information is far harder to attack later.

Check: Build a master list of every account, policy, debt, and title connected to either spouse, with current balances. If you cannot see an account your spouse controls, write down what you know about it.

Rule 9: You Cannot Remarry for 30 Days

Texas imposes a 30-day waiting period after the decree is signed before either ex-spouse can remarry someone else. A court can waive the restriction for good cause, and couples planning a quick remarriage should request the waiver at the final hearing instead of discovering the rule at the altar.

Check: If a new marriage is part of your plans, put the 30-day window on your calendar the day your divorce is finalized.

The Pre-Filing Checklist

Run through these before you file in San Antonio:

• Six months in Texas and 90 days in Bexar County for at least one spouse
• A realistic read on whether your case is agreed or contested
• A full inventory of community property, separate property, and debts
• Documentation tracing anything you claim as separate property
• Two years of income records for support calculations
• Records preserved if fault or hidden assets may be an issue
• A plan for bills, the home, and the kids during the 60-day wait

Talk to a San Antonio Divorce Attorney Before You File

At Melone Hatley, P.C., we help clients in San Antonio apply these rules to their own marriage before filing, when the most options are still open.

Our family law team can confirm your residency, evaluate whether your case can finalize near the 60-day minimum, value and divide the community estate, and build support and custody terms that hold up. If any rule on this list raised a question about your situation, that question is worth answering before the petition is filed.

Schedule a consultation with our team today, or reach our San Antonio office at (210) 688-8550.