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How is our family law firm different??

How is our family law firm different??

Jan 23, 2025 | Blog, Child Custody, Child Support, Divorce, Family Law

Clients who come to us, after using larger law firms, often complain that those bigger law firms seem to be more focused on generating fees, than providing effective and efficient representation. They tell us stories of enduring too many long, in-person interviews and meetings with various staff members (which they are charged for); being provided, and billed for, detailed written information about Texas Property Law, most of which does not even apply to the facts of their own case; vast amounts of discovery requests (such as oral depositions and subpoenas of non-parties) being generated and billed for) at the beginning of the case—instead of first narrowing the case to determine if formal discovery is needed or desirable; and if so, which forms of discovery would work best for your case. We have even experienced firms that will continue litigating a case after it has become obvious that their claims stand little-to-no chance of prevailing. They continue to litigate simply to generate attorney’s fees. Each and all of those activities leave clients believing that the practice of law is about earning money for legal professionals

While our firm does, indeed, seek to generate fees, we come at it entirely differently. Having practiced in DFW since 1989, the overwhelming majority of our clients come to us by referral—either from our prior (or current) clients; or, from other attorneys who do not practice Family Law; at least not highly adversarial Family Law cases. Why is that? Well, we know that providing quality representation is important; but so is doing it an efficient and effective manner.

So, rather than starting-off with an in-person consultation, that our clients would be billed for, we, instead, offer free 30-minute initial consultations over the phone. Next, when our clients hire us, instead of having oral conversations with our clients (in order to obtain basic case information), we, instead,  send secure links to a portal, where our clients are prompted to enter information about themselves, their families, and their property (if applicable) directly into our system  We can retrieve that information as needed; and, in significantly less time than it would take to gather that information through a conversation.

After retrieving that information, we discuss case options (such as, e.g., whether we need to prepare, and send, discovery requests to another party, or a non-party; whether we want to request temporary relief (such as Temporary Custody and Support Orders) from the court; and so on. Sometimes those items are desirable, and at other times, they are not. The point is that case activities are planned, so that costs and benefits can be analyzed, considered, and decided upon.

Finally, we bill in 1/10 hour increments, rather than the traditional quarter-hour increments. Also, we will aggregate brief emails together (which are sent back-and forth in a brief conversation), and make just one charge for the bunch, rather than charging for each email sent or received. I don’t like being nickel–and-dimed as a consumer; and so, we work to avoid doing that as legal professionals.

As of yesterday, our law firm appeared in spot #28 of a search for local attorneys. That ranking not likely to generate new clients. And, yet we stay busy. Referrals are the key to our practice thriving. We know that, respect it, and work to earn those referrals

Thank you for taking the time to read this piece!

My best,

David

https://heimanlawfirm.com

 

What to do if Child Support is Still Being Withheld After Kids are Adults

Jul 15, 2024 | Child Support, Blog, Family Law

We helped a former client today who learned that his employer was continuing to withhold child support payments from his check, even though his children were “emancipated” (that is, they are at least 18 years of age, out of high school, and not disabled). It occurs to me that other folks in Texas might find themselves in this position, also; so, I am writing about that situation today.[1]

The first step in addressing this issue is taking a look at the Withholding Order. Does it explain (as it should) that child support is to be withheld for only so long as no child is
“unemancipated?” (“emancipation” is explained, above). If it does, then you should contact your Human Resources Dept. to discuss the withholding with them. For smaller companies, especially those which operate in just Texas, this may be effective. Larger, more geographically diverse organizations, often require that withholding for child support continue until such time as they receive a new court order that expressly terminates that withholding (this is silly, in my opinion, because the withholding order, itself, mandates the termination of the withholding when the kids age-out; nevertheless, bureaucracies might not care, and insist upon their “policies” being followed, which might require a new order). Since suing your employer to enforce the terms of the withholding order seems unlikely to be a good strategy (for obvious reasons), we will need to try to satisfy their policies.

When another order is required by your employer, we consider contacting the parent (who is receiving the wrongly withheld child support), to see whether s/he will agree to  an order terminating the child support withholding.[2] If so, then a motion can be filed, requesting termination of the withholding; and then, an Agreed Order Terminating Withholding for Child Support prepared, signed, and submitted to the court. Next, we contact the Court Coordinator, for your particular court, to see whether the court will require a hearing (usually, no hearing is required, unless another party is involved in the case, such as Child Protective Services). If no hearing is required, then the Judge should sign your order upon our submission of it.

If a hearing is required, then we will set it, working with the Court Coordinator, for available court settings (dates and times for hearings). Once it is set, then all parties (usually, just the other parent) must be formally notified of the setting. Then, at the time of the hearing, we appear with you, present your testimony, and our argument, regarding why termination should end, and then, request the Judge sign the order.

Once we have a signed order, we will contacthe District Clerk’s Office to request that the order be sent to your employer. They will need to have a completed form with various information about your case, your employer, and the order. And, there may be a fee payment required.

Finally, the order should be sent by the District Clerk’s Office to your employer. And, the withholding should terminate.

We hope that this information has been helpful.

Until next time, keep on loving those kiddos!

 

Best regards,

 

David

[1] We are licensed to practice law in Texas, and are familiar with the child support withholding process in Texas. Accordingly, our comments apply only to those who have a child support withholding order issued by a Texas state court

[2]  Some parental relationships are toxic ones. When we are dealing with one of those, in which the parents can’t/won’t cooperate about anything, then we skip this step.

Having a Child Custody Case With Pending Criminal Charges Against You

Dec 18, 2022 | Child Custody, Family Law, Family Violence, Protective Orders

In our practice, we see cases in which there is a pending criminal charge, such as for DWI, and a civil case, involving child custody issues. Sometimes, the criminal charge involves an alleged assault. Whenever we have one of these cases, we build our case on demonstrating the best interest of the child. It is too easy for the parents to focus on one another, as opposed to what the court truly cares about: what is best for the child or children of those parents. Our job is to make sure that the case is properly focused where it should be.

We have written several articles about representing the parent against whom criminal charges are not pending. Today, we write about representing the accused parent. There are complications involved in this representation. For example the accused parent’s criminal defense counsel will, almost certainly, advise against having that parent testify at any hearing or deposition, in order to preserve his or her 5th Amendment Right Against Self-Incrimination. The idea is to not provide any evidence which the prosecution might use in building their case.

Once they know what a criminal defendant is going to say, they can guide or highlight their presentation to account for that testimony. That makes it easier for the prosecution. The criminal defense attorney, of course, does not want us to assist the prosecution in that way. So, what we can do is present non-testimonial evidence, such as the lack of evidence on certain aspects of a case.

Examples of this are the lack of photographs, audio recordings, contemporary notes, or medical records supporting the allegations being made against the parent. If the other parent is the one making the allegations against our client, then his or her testimony can be obtained, thereby “freezing” their account of events. That parent can be asked about why s/he did or did not take certain actions, such a generating the evidence mentioned above. Also, our questioning can obtain the identity of any other witnesses known by that parent. Corroborating evidence can be asked about. Essentially, the hearing (such as for temporary orders) can be useful as a de facto criminal case deposition, that can assist the criminal defense attorney prepare their case.

Another purpose of the Family Law case hearing is to state scenarios to the witnesses for the prosecution, and ask them “if that wasn’t really what happened.” If and when they deny it, they can be questioned about that scenario, such as relating it to other evidence put forward in the case, to ascertain evidence that is consistent with the scenario that we put forth. Their responses can reveal weaknesses in the cases being made against our client by the prosecution and their opposing spouse.

And, our questions allow us to put forward a version of events for the court to consider, without our client having to testify. All witnesses can be asked about the loving relationship between our client and the children. Activities that they engage in together can be asked about. They can be asked to admit that the children would likely miss seeing our client, if possession and access were to be denied. The focus of the questioning that we want to leave with the court is how, the best interest of the child(ren) will be served only by allowing them to have a robust relationship with our client, through plenty of frequent possession and access, despite whatever, the accusations being made against our client by the prosecution.