Being served with divorce papers means a Texas divorce case has started. It doesn’t mean the requests in the Original Petition for Divorce have already been approved, and it doesn’t mean you’ve lost the ability to take part in decisions about your children, home, property, or finances.
The clock does start running. In most Texas cases, the respondent (the spouse who was served) must file an answer by 10:00 a.m. on the Monday after 20 days have passed from the date of service. Confirm the deadline printed on your citation, the official notice requiring a response, and get case-specific advice before that date passes. Since 2007, we’ve provided direct, personalized representation in family law matters, helping clients understand what needs immediate attention rather than reacting to every allegation in the petition.
Read Every Document & Mark the Deadlines
Set aside time to read the complete service packet, not just the petition’s first page. The paperwork may contain documents with different purposes, and some may create obligations that apply before the divorce is finalized.
Look for these documents:
- Citation: The court-issued notice that tells you a divorce has been filed and identifies the answer deadline.
- Original Petition for Divorce: The filing spouse’s statement of what they’re asking the court to decide, including property, children, support, and other issues.
- Standing Orders: Rules that may automatically apply to both spouses while the case is pending, often addressing property, insurance, children, and communication.
- Temporary Orders or Hearing Notices: Court documents that may set a hearing or establish short-term rules while the case continues.
- Temporary Restraining Order: An emergency order that can prohibit certain actions until the court holds a hearing.
Missing the answer deadline carries serious consequences. If no answer is filed, the filing spouse may be able to seek a default judgment, meaning the court can proceed without the respondent’s participation. A default judgment can affect community property, debt, parenting arrangements, and support.
Understand What Your Spouse Is Asking For
The petition is a request, not a final ruling. It may ask the court to divide particular assets and debts, establish conservatorship of children, set possession schedules, order child support, award spousal maintenance, allocate attorney’s fees, or decide who may use the family home.
Read each request with a pen and paper nearby. Note facts you believe are incorrect, property or debts that were omitted, parenting statements you dispute, and any request that could affect your day-to-day life while the case is pending. Our divorce attorneys can help you distinguish between allegations in a filing and obligations created by an enforceable court order.
Pay close attention to any signed temporary order, standing order, or temporary restraining order included with the papers. Unlike the petition, those documents can impose immediate restrictions. Don’t assume an order is unimportant because the divorce itself hasn’t been completed.
Protect Your Records & Avoid Rash Decisions
Divorce cases are often decided using records created long before either spouse filed. Preserve documents you can lawfully access and keep copies organized in a secure location. Don’t access accounts, devices, email, or files you aren’t authorized to use.
Gather records that may matter:
- Income Records: Pay stubs, tax returns, W-2 forms, 1099 forms, and documents showing bonuses or self-employment income.
- Financial Accounts: Recent statements for checking, savings, investment, retirement, and credit accounts.
- Property Records: Deeds, mortgage statements, vehicle titles, insurance information, and records of significant purchases.
- Debt Records: Credit card statements, personal loan documents, medical debt records, and business obligations.
- Parenting Records: School communications, medical information, activity schedules, transportation arrangements, and notes about the children’s regular routines.
It can be tempting to move funds, close accounts, change insurance beneficiaries, leave the home, or send an angry message after being served. Those decisions can create new disputes or conflict with existing court orders. Avoid posting about the case on social media, and keep communication with your spouse factual and focused on necessary practical matters.
Decide How You Will Respond
Filing an answer tells the court you intend to participate in the case and prevents the divorce from moving forward as though you had no position on the issues raised in the petition.
A counterpetition is a separate filing that lets the respondent make their own requests to the court. It may address property division, conservatorship, possession, child support, spousal maintenance, or other relief. Whether a counterpetition makes sense depends on the facts of your case and the relief you want the court to consider.
Some spouses are able to work toward an agreed divorce, but cooperation doesn’t eliminate the need to understand what you’re signing. Don’t sign a waiver, proposed decree, or settlement document simply because it appears routine. Cases involving children, retirement accounts, businesses, substantial assets, financial dependence, or significant disagreement often need careful review before any agreement is finalized.
Ask About Temporary Orders & Local Court Steps
Temporary orders establish rules for the period between filing and the final divorce decree. They may address where children stay, temporary child support, access to the family home, payment of household expenses, use of vehicles, and other immediate issues that can’t wait until the case concludes.
For a Tarrant County divorce involving children, the county provides a temporary orders packet that includes a motion for temporary orders, an order to appear, and a temporary standard possession order. Completed forms are taken to the Tarrant County Family Law Center at 200 E. Weatherford Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76196, and service requirements may apply to the other party. Those procedures don’t apply to every case, so review the court information for the county where the divorce was filed. A case filed elsewhere may follow different local procedures even if one or both spouses live in the Fort Worth area.
Keep the First Few Days in Order
What to do after being served divorce papers is less about making every long-term decision immediately and more about protecting your ability to participate. Preserve the papers, confirm the deadline, identify any active orders, gather records, and avoid financial or parenting decisions that can’t easily be undone.
At Law Offices of Mark M. Childress, PLLC, we provide one-to-one family law representation and prepare every case for settlement discussions or court when necessary. If you need help evaluating the papers you received and figuring out your next step, contact us at (817) 497-8148.