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Divorce and Family Law Matters

We are now accepting clients statewide in Texas.

What are Texas Residency Requirements for Divorce?

You’ve maybe seen the bumper sticker, “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could.” When it comes to getting divorced in Texas, you have to make sure that “as fast as you could” is six months prior.

There’s actually a two-step residency requirement in Texas—either the person filing for divorce (the petitioner) or the person receiving the divorce papers (the respondent) has to be a Texas resident for at least six months, and the resident of the county where the divorce is being filed for at least 90 days.

That can also extend to military bases for personnel who are not prior residents of Texas. — If an airman is stationed at Randolph AFB, for example, that person can be a petitioner or respondent in a Bexar County divorce within six months of arriving on base. (But if the person lives off base in Comal or Guadalupe County, this doesn’t apply.)

Once the divorce petition is filed, the couple must wait 60 days to finalize the divorce. If it’s a fairly easy divorce and they’re able to reconcile all issues before the 60 days, they still must wait, but can have everything signed and ready to file while waiting to get onto a court docket, which can be backed up weeks or even months. Of course, many divorces last beyond or even well beyond the 60-day period.