In The News

Steve Lopez's Perspective

This is a question I get more often than you might think. In Texas, pets are still legally classified as personal property, which means they are subject to the same "just and right" division as your furniture or your car. That said, courts are not robots — a judge who sees that one spouse has been the primary caretaker, pays the vet bills, and has the yard space is going to factor that in. If you and your spouse both love your dog, address it in your settlement agreement before it becomes a courtroom fight. I have seen couples spend more litigating over a pet than the animal cost in the first place. Get ahead of it.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

Celebrity divorces are entertaining, but they are also instructive. What you see in these cases — battles over prenuptial agreements, disputes about what qualifies as separate versus community property, custody fights that drag on for years — happens at every income level. The difference is that celebrities have the resources to fight longer. The lesson for everyday clients is this: the decisions you make at the beginning of a case set the tone for everything that follows. A well-drafted prenuptial agreement, a clear parenting plan, and a realistic assessment of your goals from day one will save you enormous time, money, and heartache.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

Surrogacy law in Texas is an area where the stakes could not be higher and the legal framework is still catching up to the science. Texas does recognize gestational agreements, but they must meet specific statutory requirements to be enforceable — including court pre-authorization. If you are considering surrogacy, whether as intended parents or as a surrogate, you need a family law attorney involved from the very beginning, not after a dispute arises. I have seen situations where a poorly drafted or unvalidated agreement left everyone — including the child — in legal limbo. Do not let that happen to your family.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

Joint managing conservatorship is the default in Texas for good reason — research consistently shows that children do better when they have meaningful relationships with both parents. But a court order is just a piece of paper. What makes co-parenting work is the commitment of both parents to put the child first, even when they cannot stand each other. In my experience, the families that thrive after divorce are the ones who treat the other parent with basic respect in front of the children, communicate about school and health matters promptly, and resist the urge to use the kids as messengers or leverage. It is hard. It is worth it.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

Social media has done real damage to how people approach divorce. When clients come in having already posted about their spouse, shared screenshots of text messages, or declared publicly that they are going to "take everything," they have already made my job harder. Judges notice when a parent is more interested in winning than in their children's wellbeing. More importantly, children notice. The goal of a divorce is not to destroy the other person — it is to reach a fair resolution and build a stable life going forward. I tell every client: get off social media, focus on your kids, and let me handle the legal strategy.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

Texas adopted no-fault divorce in 1969, the same year as California, and it fundamentally changed who could access the legal system to end a marriage. Before no-fault, a spouse trapped in a miserable or even abusive marriage had to prove fault in court — a humiliating and often impossible standard. No-fault divorce gave people, particularly women, a way out. Today, the vast majority of Texas divorces are filed on no-fault grounds. That said, fault still matters in Texas — proving adultery or cruelty can influence how the court divides property and whether spousal maintenance is awarded. It is a tool, not a requirement.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

This article captures something I try to communicate to every client from the very first meeting: the cost of divorce is not just what you pay your attorney. It is the second household you now have to fund, the retirement account that gets split, the tax implications of transferring assets, the cost of health insurance you were on your spouse's plan for. I am not saying this to discourage anyone from pursuing a divorce they need — sometimes it is absolutely the right decision. But going in with clear eyes about the full financial picture allows you to make smarter decisions throughout the process. That is why I always recommend clients work with a financial advisor alongside their attorney.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

I have enormous respect for people who navigate the legal system on their own — it is genuinely difficult, and the fact that legal representation is out of reach for so many Americans is a real problem. That said, I have seen self-represented litigants make agreements they did not fully understand, waive rights they did not know they had, and sign orders that locked them into terrible situations for years. If full representation is not financially feasible, consider at least a limited-scope arrangement where an attorney reviews your documents or coaches you on key hearings. In Texas, some attorneys offer unbundled legal services for exactly this reason. Do not sign anything in a family law case without at least having an attorney look at it.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

The academic debate over no-fault divorce is fascinating, but what I see in practice is this: the law reflects the reality that you cannot force two people to stay married, and trying to do so through legal barriers only prolongs suffering. What the debate should focus on is not whether people can divorce, but how we support families — especially children — through the transition. Texas has made real strides in this area with its emphasis on co-parenting, the Standard Possession Order, and the best-interest-of-the-child standard. There is always room to improve, but the framework is sound.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

Gray divorce is one of the most financially complex areas of family law, and it is something I am seeing more of in my practice. When a couple divorces after 30 years, the financial entanglement is deep — pension plans, 401(k)s, IRAs, Social Security benefits, real estate that has appreciated significantly, and often a business or professional practice. The division of retirement assets alone requires careful attention to Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs). Add in questions about spousal maintenance — which Texas does allow for long marriages — and the stakes are very high. If you are over 50 and considering divorce, please do not try to handle this without experienced legal and financial counsel.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

Nesting is an interesting concept and I have seen it work beautifully for some families — particularly in the short term, during the transition period right after separation. The children stay in their home, their school, their routines. The disruption is minimized. But it requires a level of cooperation and mutual respect between ex-spouses that is genuinely rare, and it can create confusion about whether the divorce is really final. Long-term nesting arrangements also tend to delay both parties from fully moving on with their lives. If you are considering this, be honest with yourself about whether you and your co-parent can truly make it work, and build in a clear exit plan.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

I am a big believer in informed clients. The more you understand about the process, the better decisions you make and the less anxiety you carry. I regularly recommend that clients read up on Texas family law basics before our first meeting — not to replace legal advice, but to make our conversations more productive. A few books I find genuinely useful: "Divorce Without Court" by Katherine Stoner for those exploring mediation, and "The Co-Parenting Handbook" by Karen Bonnell for parents focused on their children's wellbeing. That said, no book replaces a consultation with a Board Certified family law attorney who knows your specific facts and your local courts.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

Online divorce services have a place — for truly simple, short marriages with no children, no significant assets, and complete agreement on everything. In those narrow circumstances, a web-based packet can work. But I have had clients come to me after using these services with agreements that were missing critical provisions, that did not properly address retirement accounts, or that had geographic restrictions on child custody that were unenforceable. Fixing a bad divorce decree is often more expensive than doing it right the first time. If there are children, real property, retirement accounts, or any dispute at all, please talk to an attorney before you sign anything.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

The evolution of custody law reflects broader changes in how we think about parenting and gender roles. Texas moved away from the old "tender years doctrine" — which presumed mothers should have custody of young children — decades ago. Today, Texas law explicitly prohibits courts from considering the sex of the parent when making custody decisions. The focus is entirely on the best interest of the child, which in most cases means meaningful involvement from both parents. I think this is the right framework. Children need both parents. My job is to make sure that framework is applied fairly and that my client's relationship with their children is protected.

Steve Lopez's Perspective

I find this perspective genuinely compelling. The word "divorce" carries enormous emotional weight and implies an ending — but for families with children, it is not an ending. It is a reorganization. You are not dissolving your family; you are restructuring it. The parents who do best after divorce are the ones who internalize this early. They stop thinking about what they are losing and start thinking about what kind of co-parenting relationship they want to build. That shift in mindset changes everything — how they communicate, how they handle disputes, how they talk about the other parent in front of their kids. It is not easy, but it is the most important work a divorcing parent can do.