- DivorceAre you looking for a divorce lawyer? Are you considering collaborative divorce or mediation? Since 1985, Bray Chappell Patterson and Olsen Family Law Attorneys has been dedicated to serving families in difficult seasons with excellence and wisdom—providing collaborative divorce attorneys and family law services that value not only our clients’ financial interests but also their essential family relationships.
- Child SupportThe divorce decree is the final order signed in a case. It divides property and debts, makes provisions for taxes, determines who will have custody of children, such child support and visitation, and makes all other rulings in a case.
- Child Custody and VisitationBiological parents have a right to seek child visitation or child custody. This is true regardless of whether the child’s parents were married when the child was born. Like other child custody decisions, courts use the best interest of the child to decide disputed child visitation or custody cases involving unmarried fathers.
- AdoptionIn a stepparent adoption, a parent’s new spouse adopts a child the parent had with a previous partner. Stepparent procedures are less cumbersome than agency or independent procedures. The process is simpler, especially if the child’s other birth parent consents.
- PaternityIn disputed paternity cases, a legal process including DNA testing will conclude with a court order stating whether the man in question is the child’s biological father.
- Guardianship
- Spousal Support
- Criminal DefenseThe Supreme Court of Texas and the Court of Criminal Appeals are committed to eliminating a practice in our State by a minority of lawyers of abusive tactics which have surfaced in many parts of our country. We believe such tactics are a disservice to our citizens, harmful to clients, and demeaning to our profession.
- Restraining OrderTemporary Restraining Order – involves your attorney obtaining a temporary restraining order stopping your spouse from taking such actions as may be detrimental to you, your children, or your estate (this order must be served on your spouse in order to be effective); or
- Personal InjuryIt is important that you understand all of your family law process options. Absent a signed, written agreement to the contrary, your family law process could be filed with the district clerk’s office in the same manner as personal injury and breach of contract lawsuits. Before you commit to a process, be sure your attorney explains to you the pros and cons of each family law process option (including litigation, collaborative divorce, early intervention mediation, etc.) and helps you to evaluate the best fit for your family’s needs.
- Estate PlanningBray, Chappell, Patterson & Olsen, Inc. can help you prepare your will and other estate planning matters so that Probate is simple.
- WillsWe all know that having a last will is a way to make certain that your wishes regarding the distribution of your assets are followed. Once you have everything in place, you can breathe easy, right? Before exhaling, take a look at the following common mistakes made in wills. By doing so, you may hopefully avoid some predictable—but entirely preventable—traps.
- TrustsA living trust is a legal document that becomes valid when you execute the documents and your property is transferred into it. You, as the grantor and trustee, manage the assets while you are alive and then they are passed directly to a trustee of your choice upon your death without involving probate.
- Power of AttorneyAnother significant difference between the two is that a living trust can make provisions for your estate in case you are incapacitated. A will can’t do this, although a power of attorney can. Living trusts, though, may be more specific and make managing the estate easier on the trustee than a power of attorney.
- ProbateYou may have heard that a living trust can avoid probate. A living trust requires that none of your assets are in your name at death. If you have vigilantly transferred everything you own to the trust, the distribution of your assets at death will be handled under trust law, instead of under probate law. In some states, probate fees are so high that the cost and inconvenience of living trusts may be justified. However, in Texas, the cost of probate for a properly drawn Texas will is far less than the typical costs of preparing and administering living trusts.
- Tax LawIf a case needs tracing of assets, tax planning or for the books of a business to be analyzed and explained to the parties, it is best for either the parties’ accountant (if the parties are confident of their impartiality) or a neutral an accountant to be engaged to protect the neutrality of the neutral financial professional in the case.