While a recent Harvard Medical School study suggests weight loss doctors in mcallen texas are among the types of professionals with high-stress level occupations that are least likely to get divorced, when a doctor and significant other do decide to go their separate ways, it can get messy. However, there are a number of common misconceptions about what actually goes down when a doctor gets a divorce in Texas.
What to Know About Doctors and Divorce
There are several things doctors and their spouses assume, usually incorrectly, when it comes to divorces in Texas. They assume because Texas is a community property state, the community property will be divided equally. They assume once a doctor starts practicing medicine in Texas and gets divorced that the doctor’s practice (particularly if it is very successful) is going to have a high value and result in big award for the doctor’s spouse. They also assume the doctor (particularly if very successful) is going to pay a lot of court ordered maintenance or alimony.
All Three Assumptions are Very Wrong in Texas
While Texas is a community property state, community property is not automatically divided 50/50. Texas is a so-called discretionary community property state, meaning that the community estate of the parties is divided in a manner the court “deems just and right, having due regard for the rights of each party and any children of the marriage.” In other words, the property may be divided disproportionately between the spouses. Texas is among a handful of states with community property division laws. Doctors in other states with equitable distribution property division laws may run into similar troubles.
My Former Spouse is a Doctor and I Do Not Work, the Court Will Use That in Its Decision to Award Property – Right?
There are about 15 different factors the court can take into account when dividing the property – the disparity of earnings, education and health of the parties; fault in the breakup of the marriage; any separate property owned by either party; and the nature of the property. No mathematical formula exists for a judge to use when dividing property – it is all within the judge’s discretion.
If all factors are equal, the court will almost always divide the property 50/50. As more factors favor one party, most judges will move toward awarding 60 percent to 1 party and 40 percent to the other.