Blog

With the advent of the internet, more and more people are trying to the “do it yourself” approach to law.  In some simple areas, that approach may get the job done.  However, in other areas, especially in drafting decrees of divorce, this can mean that you will live with totally unintended consequences.

Increasingly, we meet with people who drafted their own decrees of divorce, only to find that their decrees don’t say what they think that they said.  Language in a decree regarding visits with your children, child support to be

Each year, people hope for joy and peace at Christmas. “Ok, but what does a lawyer have to do with peace?” you may be asking yourselves. That is a fair question.

Our firm provides mediation services to people who are in lawsuits or other disputes of most kinds, including all types of civil litigation and all types of family law cases, including divorce and child custody. Mediation is an informal process during which all sides meet in the mediator’s office (with their attorneys, if they have attorneys) and, with the assistance

If you’d like to use your time off over Thanksgiving getting starting on your estate planning, here is a link to a worksheet we provide our clients.  You can simply fill it out and set up a time to meet with us to discuss your particular situation.  We hope that you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.

estateplanninginfosheet

This week of Thanksgiving, we here at The White Law Firm are giving thanks for all of you who voted for us as “Best Law Firm” in the 2015 Rockwall County Herald Banner poll. Once again, you selected us as the best law firm in Rockwall County, this time for the fourth year in a row. We cannot express how grateful we are to all of you. We pledge to work hard to keep your confidence in the coming year. In the meantime, we wish all of you a Happy

As each year comes to an end, we have clients who promise that “next year” will be the year that they sign a will. And, of course, as we get older, it becomes more likely that our families will benefit from knowing that their loved ones have a signed will, a statutory durable power of attorney, a medical power of attorney, and a directive to physicians (which some folks call a living will). There is still time to take care of your estate planning this year and make 2015 the

It is common for clients to bring us powers of attorney, wills, divorce decrees, and other documents that they have prepared themselves, with help from sources they have found on the internet. It is very rare that these forms are done well and even more rare that they actually meet all of the client’s needs. Here are some things to consider:

1. The laws of every state are different. What state’s laws were considered when that internet form was drafted? If it wasn’t Texas, then the odds that your form is

You should know that, if your case arises under the Texas Family Code, the odds are high that you will be ordered to go to mediation before you can proceed to trial. When this happens, you should have a basic idea of what mediation is, and what it is not.  Mediation has the potential to be a great benefit to you and really has little, to no, downside.

Mediation is an informal process, facilitated by a mediator, designed to bring about a settlement of your case. Mediators are typically, but not

You have heard it said many times that, in a divorce, the Judge is just going to split things down the middle, so we might as well do that and move on. Well, hold on a second. You should know that the Texas Family Code allows the Court to award you what is called a “disproportionate share” of your community estate, under certain circumstances. That means you could get more than half of your marital property if you can show the Judge things like:

a. your spouse is at fault in

Our office always recommends that our clients review their estate plan whenever a major life event occurs. People often think of their estates when they marry or have a child.  However, a divorce is also a major life event, and one that requires a close check of your estate plan, starting with your will.

Remember, though, that your will is not the only part of your estate plan that should be reviewed. Insurance beneficiaries, for example, need to be adjusted. Also, any retirement, investment, or other accounts that will be paid

You have every right to ask your attorney why they are doing things in your case.  I have had cases in which the other side consistently took positions that were unreasonable and, frankly, that they could not (and did not) win. I had the impression that the client on the other side did not know that their attorney was taking these positions.

For example, recently I had an attorney oppose a routine motion I filed on behalf of my client in a post-divorce modification. It was such a routine motion that