How Does Divorce Impact Children of the Marriage?
Texas Law Aims to Maintain a Parent-Child Relationship with Both Parents
Texas law emphasizes the importance of maintaining a meaningful relationship between the children and both parents post-divorce, except in circumstances where it is shown that such contact would not be in the best interest of the child. The public policy of Texas aims to ensure that children have frequent and continuing contact with parents who act in their best interests, provide a safe and stable environment, and encourage shared parental responsibilities.
Divorce’s Emotional Impact on Children
The legal and practical consequences for children when their parents’ divorce in Texas are multifaceted. Children may experience significant emotional and behavioral reactions to their parents’ divorce based upon the vast changes that come alongside divorce, especially in a heavily contentious divorce that involves a custody evaluation or request of a child to testify. Custody evaluations can be essential to determining what living environment would be in the best interest of the child, but can be stressful and difficult for children based on the required interviews and observations that come with it. To help parents better understand what their children are going through, Texas law can mandate educational courses for parents that cover the emotional effects of divorce on both parents and children, stress indicators in children, conflict management, and the development of a co-parenting relationship. These courses are designed to help parents better support their children and mitigate the impact of divorce on their children.
Divorce’s Financial Impact on Children
Both parents are legally obligated to support their children post-divorce. Courts can order child support payments and other financial obligations, such as covering medical expenses and educational costs. This will be determined under the best interest of the child standard and will further be based on a parent’s ability to provide support and/or another parent’s lack thereof. The amount of child support is typically determined based on the obligor’s (the parent providing child support) net resources and the number of children they have. Because Texas has a statutory cap on the amount of child support that can be required by law, additional support that exceeds this cap cannot be granted without a showing of the specific needs of the child. The court’s authority to make provisions for the children’s support is ongoing and can be adjusted upon divorce by initiating a modification lawsuit based on changing circumstances, including but not limited to the loss or gain of employment, a salary increase or decrease, or remarriage.
Depending on the financial circumstances of the obligee (the parent receiving child support), the amount of child support allocated for benefit of the child can have a direct impact on the activities and opportunities the child can partake in. Not to mention, in some circumstances, the amount of support can have a direct impact on the child’s ability to obtain their medical and educational needs. It is beneficial for the child if parents can enter into agreed parenting plans that include provisions for child support that assess all of their child’s specific needs, which the court will approve if it is in the child’s best interest.
Divorce’s Impact on Adult Children
A divorce decree will have mandated child-related provisions until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later, or under other specific conditions such as the child’s emancipation or death. An exception to this is when the adult child has a disability, which they had on or before turning 18, and the disability will require ongoing support and care. A support obligation to adult disabled children will be mandated to parents upon divorce when there’s a showing that the adult child will require substantial care and personal supervision due to a mental or physical disability, and as a result, the adult child will not be capable of self-support.
Absent a disability, an adult child can be financially affected by their parents’ divorce when their parents’ marital estate is divided and the parents no longer have the means to support the adult child as they once had. However, parents can agree to allocate child support to their adult children at their own discretion and can even create a support obligation in their divorce decree if they wish to be legally mandated to take on such a financial responsibility after their children reach adulthood.
Find an Attorney that Can Help!
Divorce is hard on all parties involved, especially children. The attorneys at Grinke Stewart are here to help you navigate the legal, emotional, and financial stress that can come alongside your divorce. Give us a call at (469) 598-2001.
