Category Archives: Family Law
Announcing Our New Office in Houston
The law firm of Robert Reid McInvale is pleased to announce our move to a new office to better serve our Houston-area clients. We are now located at 16360 Park Ten Place, Suite 327 in Houston’s Energy Corridor. This move puts us in a more central location, making us even more accessible to our clients… Read More »
Actions That Can Turn Your Personal Property into Marital Property Under Texas Divorce Law
One of the most confusing issues my clients experience during a Texas divorce pertains to how the law governs division of marital property. Unfortunately, in numerous situations, my clients lose assets they owned prior to marriage simply because they failed to protect their rights properly before or during the marriage. In a community property state… Read More »
DIY Paternity Tests
Early in the 20th century, scientists developed a blood-typing method to help establish biological paternity, but the results were limited. The development of genetic testing made paternity testing more accurate, but before 1980, DNA analysis was still only 80 percent accurate. Current DNA tests have an almost perfect ability to determine a familial link, and… Read More »
Do You Need a Parenting Coordinator?
There are cases when divorced parents cannot reach a mutual agreement on child custody arrangements or adhere to their parenting plan. Sharing child care responsibilities and keeping on top of schedules is difficult even in the best of circumstances, but for former spouses with unresolved emotional issues or dysfunctional interpersonal styles, it can be impossible…. Read More »
Texas Vulnerable to International Parental Kidnapping
For many parents, their worst nightmare is discovering that someone has kidnapped their child. We generally assume that a kidnapper is a stranger, but in fact, most of these cases involve a parent disappearing with a child during a custody dispute or after a divorce. Tracking down a missing child in the United States is… Read More »
How Parental Drug or Alcohol Abuse Can Affect a Child
Consuming alcohol or using drugs — even illegal drugs — is regular behavior for many Americans. When an addiction causes serious health problems or leads to domestic violence or criminal activity, there is little disagreement that a person has an abuse issue. However, most people who abuse alcohol or drugs appear to lead normal, functional… Read More »
Family Violence and Gun Rights
The prevalence of domestic violence in this country is alarming. Three in ten women and one in four men have been a victim of intimate partner violence — including physical assaults, stalking and sexual violence — in their lifetime. In the majority of these cases, the abuser did not use a weapon. However, an abusive… Read More »
Co-Parenting: If She Can Do It…
Some parents can support their children relatively easily after a divorce; some cannot. For those who cannot, a surprising role model comes to us in the form of Madonna Louise Ciccone, better known to the world as Madonna. According to The New York Times, Madonna and her ex-husband Guy Ritchie teamed up on a weekend… Read More »
Could Your Spouse Be Stepping Out?
Usually I meet clients when they have decided on divorce. Sometimes, though, I speak with spouses still fully engaged in their marriage who are concerned that a spouse could be cheating. How do you know? Potential signs your spouse could be having an affair include: Previously shared passwords being changed Increased need for privacy during… Read More »
What About Reconciliation?
The purpose of divorce is to dissolve the legal relationship between a married couple. The dissolution of a legal relationship transforms, but does not end, the personal relationship between two people. Sometimes during the process of divorce, couples make an attempt to reconcile. At our initial consultation, I often ask a client if there is… Read More »