Filing for Divorce in Texas: Step-by-Step (Forms, Fees, and Timeline)

Texas divorce has a reputation for being fast and informal compared with other large states, and in one sense it is: the waiting period is 60 days, there is no mandatory statewide disclosure packet, and an agreed divorce can be finished in a ten-minute hearing. In another sense it is less forgiving. Texas has no uniform court-issued forms for most cases, the decree is drafted by the parties rather than filled in on a template, and the rules that bind you from day one — standing orders in some counties, a temporary restraining order in others — vary by where you file. A petition that would be routine in Travis County is incomplete in Harris County.

This guide walks the Texas process in the order it happens, from confirming you can file here to the day the Final Decree is signed and the 30 days after it, with the Family Code sections, the Rules of Civil Procedure, the fees, and the places where self-represented filers get stuck. It covers both the spouse who files (the petitioner) and the spouse who is served (the respondent).

For Texas's substantive rules — community property and the "just and right" division, spousal maintenance eligibility, child support percentages, conservatorship — see the Texas divorce guide. This article is about procedure.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. The Family Code sections and Rules of Civil Procedure cited are current as of the publication date, but local rules differ by county and change without much notice. Confirm current practice with your county's district clerk, the court's own procedures page, or a Texas family law attorney.

Before You File: Three Threshold Questions

1. Can you file in Texas, and in which county?

Under Texas Family Code § 6.301, at least one spouse must have been a domiciliary of Texas for the preceding six months and a resident of the county where you file for the preceding 90 days. Domicile means living here with the intent to stay; immigration status and citizenship are irrelevant.

Two rules extend this for families that move:

• A nonresident spouse can file in Texas if the other spouse has been a Texas domiciliary for six months, in the county where that spouse lives (§ 6.302). You do not have to be a Texan to divorce a Texan here.
• Military service counts. Time a Texas domiciliary spends stationed outside the state counts as Texas residence (§ 6.303), and a service member who has been stationed at a Texas installation for six months and in the county for 90 days is treated as a domiciliary even if their home of record is elsewhere (§ 6.304). The military divorce guide covers the separate — and stricter — rules for dividing the military pension.

You file in the district court (or county court at law with family jurisdiction) of a county where either spouse meets the 90-day rule. If both qualify in different counties, the first to file generally picks the forum, which matters when counties differ on standing orders, mediation requirements, and docket speed.

2. Is this a marriage Texas recognizes — including an informal one?

Texas recognizes informal (common-law) marriage under Family Code § 2.401: the couple agreed to be married, lived together in Texas as spouses afterward, and represented to others that they were married. If that describes you, you are married and need a divorce, not just a breakup; property acquired during the informal marriage is community property. If a proceeding to prove the marriage is not started within two years of the couple separating, the law presumes there was never an agreement to be married (§ 2.401(b)). Couples who disagree about whether an informal marriage existed litigate that question first, inside the divorce case.

3. Fault or no fault?

Nearly every Texas divorce is granted on insupportability — the marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities with no reasonable expectation of reconciliation (§ 6.001). It requires no proof of wrongdoing. Texas also keeps fault grounds — cruelty (§ 6.002), adultery (§ 6.003), felony conviction (§ 6.004), abandonment for one year (§ 6.005), living apart for three years (§ 6.006), and confinement in a mental hospital (§ 6.007) — and, unlike in pure no-fault states, pleading fault can matter: a court dividing community property in a manner that is "just and right" may weigh fault in the breakup of the marriage along with disparities in earning capacity, health, and the size of each spouse's separate estate (Murff v. Murff, 615 S.W.2d 696 (Tex. 1981)). Pleading adultery or cruelty costs nothing on the petition and preserves the argument; proving it costs a great deal. Most petitions plead insupportability and add a fault ground only when there is evidence and money behind it.

Step 1: Prepare the Original Petition

Texas does not have a mandatory statewide form set the way California does. For agreed cases, the Texas Supreme Court has approved standardized uncontested divorce forms — separate packets for divorces with no children and no real property, with children, and with real property — distributed through TexasLawHelp.org, and clerks must accept them. For everything else, the petition is a pleading drafted by the petitioner or their attorney.

The pleading is titled an Original Petition for Divorce, captioned In the Matter of the Marriage of [Petitioner] and [Respondent] and, if there are children, and In the Interest of [children's initials], Child(ren). The second half of that caption matters: in Texas, custody and child support are handled in a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (a "SAPCR," pronounced sap-sir) that is joined with the divorce (§ 6.406), with its own vocabulary — conservatorship instead of custody, possession and access instead of visitation.

A complete petition includes:

• Discovery level (Tex. R. Civ. P. 190), stated in the first paragraph — Level 2 for most divorces
• Jurisdictional facts — the residency and domicile allegations under § 6.301
• Grounds — insupportability, plus any fault grounds
• Children — names, birthdates, and the UCCJEA information (where each child has lived for five years, any other custody cases) required by § 152.209, and the conservatorship, possession, and support orders requested
• Property — a statement that community property exists and should be divided in a just and right manner; a request to confirm separate property; any reimbursement claims (§ 3.402)
• Spousal maintenance under Chapter 8, if the petitioner may qualify
• Name change — a request to restore a prior name (§ 6.706), granted routinely unless the purpose is to evade creditors or a criminal record
• Requests for a temporary restraining order and temporary orders, discussed next
• Attorney's fees (§ 6.708) and a prayer for general relief

The petition should request everything the petitioner might ultimately want. Texas does not take an unanswered petition as confessed (§ 6.701) — the petitioner still has to prove up a default — but the court cannot grant relief that was never pleaded.

Civil case information sheet. Most counties require Form CIV-100 or a local equivalent with any new filing. Check the clerk's filing requirements.

Step 2: Standing Orders, Temporary Restraining Orders, and Protective Orders

The moment a divorce is filed, something needs to stop either spouse from draining accounts, canceling insurance, or leaving the state with the children. Texas handles that one of two ways, depending on the county.

Counties with standing orders. Many counties — including Travis, Williamson, Collin, Denton, Bexar, and a majority of the smaller ones — have adopted a standing order under their local rules that attaches automatically to every family case. It binds the petitioner at filing and the respondent at service, and it generally prohibits hiding or disposing of property, incurring unusual debt, changing insurance, harassing the other party, and removing children from the state or from school. A copy must be attached to the petition and served with it. No one has to ask for it.

Counties without standing orders. The largest exception is Harris County (Houston), which has no standing order; Dallas County also relies on requested orders in most courts. There, the petitioner who wants the same protections requests a temporary restraining order (TRO) with the petition under Family Code § 6.501 (and § 105.001 for children). The judge signs it ex parte — without a hearing — the same day or the next; it lasts 14 days (Tex. R. Civ. P. 680), can be extended once, and the court sets a temporary orders hearing within that window. The TRO is served on the respondent with the citation, and it does not bind them until it is.

A TRO under § 6.501 can cover the same ground as a standing order: property, debts, insurance, documents, harassment, children. It cannot exclude a spouse from the home or restrict their contact with children without notice and a hearing — that requires a protective order or a temporary order after hearing.

Family violence. Protective orders are a separate proceeding under Title 4 of the Family Code (§ 71.001 et seq.), filed in the same court or separately, with no filing fee, and an ex parte protective order can issue the same day on a sworn application. A protective order based on family violence has consequences inside the divorce: it eliminates the 60-day waiting period (§ 6.702(c)), it defeats the presumption that the parents should be joint managing conservators (§ 153.004), and family violence within two years of filing is one of the ways a spouse qualifies for spousal maintenance (§ 8.051(1)). The divorce and domestic violence guide covers safety planning and the process.

Step 3: File and Pay — or File a Statement of Inability

Attorneys must e-file through eFileTexas.gov; self-represented filers may e-file or file in person with the district clerk. The clerk assigns a cause number and a court.

Filing fees vary by county and run roughly $250 to $350, higher in cases with children (which carry additional statutory fees) and in the largest counties. E-filing adds a small service-provider fee. The respondent pays a smaller fee — typically well under $100 — to file an answer.

Fee waiver. If you cannot afford the fees, file a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs under Tex. R. Civ. P. 145 with the petition. The sworn form asks about income, benefits, assets, and expenses; filers who receive means-tested public benefits, or whose income is below 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, generally qualify, and others can qualify by showing that the fees would prevent them from meeting basic needs. The clerk must accept the filing immediately; the court can only require you to pay after a hearing with findings. A granted statement also covers the cost of service by a constable or sheriff and, later, the fees for a court reporter's record.

Step 4: Citation and Service — or a Waiver

After filing, the clerk issues a citation (Tex. R. Civ. P. 99), the Texas term for the summons. The respondent must receive the citation and a copy of the petition (and the TRO or standing order) by one of the following methods. The petitioner cannot serve the papers personally under any method.

1. Personal service (Tex. R. Civ. P. 103, 106(a)(1)) by a sheriff, a constable, or a private process server certified by the Judicial Branch Certification Commission. The constable typically charges around $75 to $100; private servers charge $75 to $150 and are usually faster. The server files a return of service, which must be on file for ten days before any default judgment can be taken (Tex. R. Civ. P. 107(h)).
2. Certified mail, return receipt requested (Rule 106(a)(2)), sent by the clerk or an authorized server — not by the petitioner. Service is complete only if the respondent personally signs the green card, which makes this method unreliable with an uncooperative spouse.
3. Substituted service (Rule 106(b)), by court order after a sworn statement of unsuccessful attempts: leaving the papers with someone over 16 at the respondent's usual residence, or any other method the court finds reasonably effective — which, since the 2020 amendment to Rule 106(b)(2), expressly includes social media, email, or other technology.
4. Citation by publication or posting (Tex. R. Civ. P. 109; Fam. Code § 6.409) when the respondent cannot be located after diligent inquiry, documented in a sworn affidavit. Publication now runs on the state's public information website rather than requiring a newspaper in most cases, and in a divorce without children or property the court may permit posting at the courthouse. The court appoints an attorney ad litem for a respondent served by publication, at the petitioner's expense, and a judgment on publication can be attacked for two years.

Waiver of service. In agreed cases, service is usually replaced by a Waiver of Citation under Family Code § 6.4035. The respondent signs a sworn waiver before a notary acknowledging that they received a copy of the petition, and the waiver is filed with the court. Four rules make waivers fail:

• It cannot be signed before the petition is filed. A waiver dated earlier than the file stamp is void, and the clerk will catch it.
• It must be sworn before a notary — a digitized or electronic signature is not enough (§ 6.4035(e)), though the acknowledgment may be taken by an online notary.
• It must contain the respondent's mailing address.
• It must state whether the respondent is also waiving notice of future hearings. A "global" waiver lets the petitioner prove up the divorce without telling the respondent when; a "specific" waiver waives only the citation and preserves the right to notice. A respondent who has not yet seen the final decree should sign a specific waiver, or better, sign the agreed decree itself.

A respondent who signs a waiver has made an appearance and can be bound by a decree they never saw if they waived notice. Read the waiver before signing it.

Step 5: Answer and Counterpetition

A served respondent must file an answer by 10 a.m. on the Monday following the expiration of 20 days after service (Tex. R. Civ. P. 99(b)) — in practice, three to four weeks. A general denial (Rule 92) is sufficient to prevent a default and costs one paragraph; the TexasLawHelp forms include one. Most respondents also file a counterpetition asking for their own relief — their own property characterization, their own conservatorship proposal, maintenance, fees — because, as with the petition, the court cannot grant what was not pleaded, and a counterpetition keeps the case alive if the petitioner later nonsuits.

If no answer is filed, the petitioner may take a default after the return of service has been on file ten days — but, uniquely among civil cases, a divorce petition "may not be taken as confessed" (§ 6.701). The petitioner must still appear and prove the residency facts, the grounds, and that the property division is just and right. Before a default hearing the petitioner files a Certificate of Last Known Mailing Address for the respondent and an affidavit of military status under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and after judgment the clerk mails notice to that address. A respondent who did not answer can move for a new trial within 30 days (Tex. R. Civ. P. 329b) and will usually get one if they have any reasonable excuse and a meritorious position.

Step 6: Temporary Orders

If the spouses can run two households and share the children without court intervention for the few months an agreed case takes, no temporary orders are needed. In contested cases they are the first real fight, and in the large counties the court will usually require mediation before the temporary orders hearing under local rules.

What they cover. Under Family Code § 6.502 (spouses) and § 105.001 (children), temporary orders can award exclusive use of the residence and vehicles, require payment of specific debts, order temporary spousal support (which is not limited by the Chapter 8 maintenance rules that apply after divorce), appoint temporary conservators and set a possession schedule, set temporary child support under the guidelines, order a sworn inventory and appraisement of all property, require production of documents, and award interim attorney's fees so a non-earning spouse can litigate. The temporary orders guide explains why these orders tend to harden into the final ones.

How they are heard. Many metropolitan family courts send temporary orders to an associate judge; either party can request a de novo hearing before the district judge within three working days of the associate judge's ruling (§ 201.015). Hearings are short, often time-limited to 20 or 30 minutes per side, and largely decided on financial information statements and testimony about the children's routines. Prepare a one-page proposed order and bring the pay stubs.

Children. Texas presumes parents should be joint managing conservators (§ 153.131), which is about decision-making, not time. One parent is usually given the exclusive right to designate the child's primary residence, often within a geographic restriction. Possession defaults to the Standard Possession Order (§ 153.312) — first, third, and fifth weekends, Thursday evenings, alternating holidays, 30 days in summer — or, for parents who live within 50 miles of each other, the expanded standard possession order (§ 153.317), which since 2021 is the default unless the court finds it is not in the child's best interest. Most counties require both parents to complete a short co-parenting course before final orders (§ 105.009). The divorce with children guide covers the best-interest factors, and the parenting plan checklist covers what a complete possession schedule contains.

Step 7: Disclosures, Inventories, and Discovery

Texas has no equivalent of California's mandatory disclosure declarations, but it is not a disclosure-free state. Three mechanisms apply:

• Required initial disclosures. Since the 2021 amendments, Tex. R. Civ. P. 194 requires each party to serve initial disclosures within 30 days after the first answer is filed, without waiting for a request. In a divorce with property, Rule 194.2(c)(1) requires production of deeds and liens, retirement account statements, bank and brokerage statements, credit card and loan statements, and tax returns for a defined look-back period; in a case with child support or maintenance, Rule 194.2(c)(2) adds income documentation. The parties may agree in writing to waive or modify these (common in agreed cases), and the court may order otherwise.
• The sworn inventory and appraisement. Most courts order each spouse to file a sworn inventory listing every community and separate asset and liability with values and the basis for any separate-property claim — by temporary order, by local rule (Harris County's family courts, for example, require inventories well before trial), or by the other side's request. The inventory is sworn, it is admissible, and an asset omitted from it is an asset you did not characterize. Build it from a complete asset inventory, and treat the valuation date carefully: Texas values community property as of the date of divorce, not separation, so the inventory often has to be updated.
• Discovery. Interrogatories, requests for production, requests for admission, depositions, and subpoenas to banks, employers, and brokers are available at Level 2 with the usual Texas limits. The discovery guide covers how they are used.

The separate-property side of the ledger deserves special attention in Texas. Everything owned at divorce is presumed community (§ 3.003), and the spouse claiming an asset is separate must trace it by clear and convincing evidence — a standard that defeats most unassisted claims to premarital accounts that were commingled. A court cannot award one spouse's separate property to the other (Eggemeyer v. Eggemeyer, 554 S.W.2d 137 (Tex. 1977)), so a successful tracing claim removes the asset from the table entirely. Tracing starts with statements from the date of marriage forward; the marital vs. separate property guide explains the method.

Step 8: Reach Agreement — Including the Mediated Settlement Agreement

Most Texas divorces end in an agreement, and Texas gives one kind of agreement unusual force.

The Mediated Settlement Agreement (MSA). Under Family Code § 6.602 (property) and § 153.0071 (children), an agreement reached in mediation is binding and irrevocable — a party is entitled to judgment on it, and the court must render a decree that matches it — if the agreement (1) states in boldfaced, capitalized, or underlined type that it is not subject to revocation, (2) is signed by each party, and (3) is signed by each party's attorney, if any, who is present. The only escape hatches are narrow: family violence that impaired a party's decision, or an agreement that would endanger a child. There is no cooling-off period and no changing your mind the next morning. Spouses who mediate should arrive with their financial scenarios modeled and their questions answered before they sign, not after. The mediation preparation checklist covers what to bring.

Other agreements. A settlement reached outside mediation is enforceable as a Rule 11 agreement if it is in writing, signed, and filed — but either party can revoke consent before the court renders judgment on it. An informal settlement under § 6.604 can be made binding with the same language as an MSA. Spouses who reach a kitchen-table deal typically have it drafted directly into an Agreed Final Decree that both sign.

The Agreed Decree. Texas has no fill-in judgment form outside the Supreme Court's uncontested packets. The decree is drafted by the parties (usually one attorney drafts and the other reviews) and must contain every order the court is making — conservatorship, possession, child and medical and dental support, the division of each asset and each debt by name, any maintenance, confirmation of separate property, name change, and the mutual releases. Both spouses sign it "approved and consented to as to both form and substance," which is what makes it agreed. Property not disposed of in the decree remains jointly owned, and dividing it later requires a separate suit for post-divorce partition (§ 9.201) — the single most common reason people return to court years later. The settlement calculator guide covers testing whether a proposed division is actually equal after taxes.

Step 9: The 60-Day Waiting Period

Under Family Code § 6.702, the court may not grant a divorce before the 60th day after the petition was filed. Three points:

• It runs from filing, not service. Unlike California, where the clock starts at service, Texas starts counting the day the petition is file-stamped. Day 61 is the earliest possible decree date, and filing late on a Friday starts the clock that Friday.
• It is waived in family violence cases. If the respondent has been convicted of or received deferred adjudication for family violence against the petitioner or a member of the household, or an active protective order based on family violence is in place, the court may grant the divorce without waiting (§ 6.702(c)).
• It is a minimum, not a deadline. Nothing happens on day 61 unless someone sets a prove-up hearing. A case that sits goes to the court's dismissal docket for want of prosecution, usually after a year, and the petitioner receives a notice to appear and show cause before it is dismissed.

After the decree, there is a second clock: neither spouse may marry a third person until the 31st day after the decree is signed (§ 6.801), unless the court waives the period for good cause (§ 6.802). The former spouses may remarry each other at any time.

Step 10: The Prove-Up Hearing and the Final Decree

Every Texas divorce, including an agreed one, is finalized at a short hearing called a prove-up, at which the petitioner (or either party, in an agreed case) testifies to the jurisdictional facts and asks the court to approve the decree. The testimony is formulaic and takes five to ten minutes:

• Name, residency and domicile for six months and 90 days
• Date of marriage, date of separation, and that the marriage has become insupportable
• Whether there are children of the marriage, whether the wife is pregnant, and that the conservatorship and support provisions are in the children's best interest
• That the property division in the decree is just and right, and that any separate property is correctly confirmed
• Any name change requested
• That the respondent was served or signed a waiver, and (if agreed) signed the decree

Most courts now conduct prove-ups by videoconference, and a number of courts accept a sworn prove-up affidavit in lieu of live testimony in agreed cases. Check the specific court's procedures; it varies court by court within the same county. In a default, the hearing is the same but the petitioner must also show the return of service on file for ten days, the certificate of last known address, and the military status affidavit, and the court will look harder at the property division and any support.

The judge signs the Final Decree of Divorce at or shortly after the hearing. Along with the decree, the court will expect:

• The Report of Divorce or Annulment (Vital Statistics Form VS-165), required by Health and Safety Code § 194.002 for every decree
• A Qualified Domestic Relations Order for each retirement plan being divided, signed at the same time as the decree — the QDRO guide covers why waiting is a mistake
• An Income Withholding Order for child support (mandatory under Family Code Chapter 158 unless the parties agree otherwise and the court approves) and the information needed to open a case with the State Disbursement Unit
• Real estate documents — in Texas, a house awarded to one spouse is typically transferred by a Special Warranty Deed from the other spouse, paired with a Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption that gives the transferring spouse a lien and a foreclosure remedy if the receiving spouse stops paying the mortgage they are still named on. A buyout of one spouse's equity is often secured by an owelty of partition lien that the receiving spouse can refinance. The quitclaim deed guide explains why Texas practitioners avoid quitclaims, and the real estate guide covers the mortgage problem the deed does not solve.

The 30 days after. The decree becomes final — and the court loses the power to change it — 30 days after it is signed unless a motion for new trial or to modify the judgment is filed (Tex. R. Civ. P. 329b). A respondent who defaulted, or a spouse who discovers an undisclosed asset or a drafting error, should act inside that window; after it, the remedies narrow to a bill of review, an enforcement action, or a post-divorce partition.

If the Case Goes to Trial

A minority of Texas divorces are tried, and those that are usually go through a court-ordered mediation first. Texas is one of the few states that allows a jury in a divorce: either party may demand one (§ 6.703), and the jury decides fault grounds, the characterization and value of property, which parent is managing conservator and whether there is a geographic restriction, and whether an informal marriage existed — but not the actual division of property, child support, or the details of possession, which are for the judge (§ 105.002). Jury demands are rare and expensive, and they are usually made for leverage or for a genuinely disputed conservatorship. Bench trials in the large counties are set six to eighteen months after filing. The mediation vs. litigation guide covers the off-ramps.

What It Costs and How Long It Takes

	Agreed (Supreme Court forms or agreed decree)	Contested
Filing fee	$250–$350 (petitioner); answer fee for respondent if filed	Same, plus motion and jury fees
Service	$0 (waiver) to $75–$150 (constable or process server)	Same; publication adds the ad litem's fee
Required courses	Co-parenting class, about $30–$60 per parent, where required	Same
Professional help	Self-help forms and law library clinics, free; limited-scope attorney review of the decree, a few hundred dollars to about $1,500; private mediator for a half day, $500–$2,500 per side	Retainers of $3,000–$10,000 per side; contested totals commonly $15,000–$40,000 per side, more with experts, a custody evaluation, or a jury
Earliest decree	Day 61	Typically 6–18 months

Every county law library in a metropolitan area runs a self-help center, TexasLawHelp.org publishes the Supreme Court forms with instructions, and legal aid organizations handle qualifying cases. The Attorney General's Child Support Division will establish and enforce child support at no charge in any case, including one that is not yet a divorce. None of these can give strategic advice about property or maintenance; the first consultation checklist covers how to get that advice efficiently.

The Pitfall List

The errors that send Texas filers back to the clerk or back to court:

• Filing in Harris or Dallas County without requesting a TRO and assuming a standing order protects you. There isn't one.
• A waiver of citation signed before the petition was filed, or signed electronically, or missing the respondent's address — all void.
• Signing a global waiver without seeing the decree, then learning what it said from the clerk's postcard.
• Counting the 60 days from service. It runs from filing; you may be able to finish sooner than you think.
• An MSA signed in haste. It is irrevocable the moment the last signature goes on it.
• A decree that lists assets without awarding them, or omits an account, a vehicle, or a retirement plan entirely. Undivided property stays jointly owned and requires a new suit.
• No QDRO at signing. Plans do not honor decrees; they honor QDROs, and drafting one after the other spouse has lost interest is hard.
• A deed without a Deed of Trust to Secure Assumption, leaving the departing spouse on the mortgage with no remedy.
• Missing VS-165, which some clerks will not process the decree without.
• Child support that departs from the guideline percentages without the findings § 154.130 requires.
• Remarrying before day 31.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Texas have legal separation? No. Texas does not recognize legal separation as a status. Spouses who want to live apart with enforceable terms use a partition or exchange agreement for property (§ 4.102), a suit for temporary orders in a filed divorce, or a SAPCR for child-related orders without a divorce. The legal separation guide explains the options in states without the status.

Do we both need to appear at the prove-up? In an agreed case, only the petitioner usually testifies, provided the respondent signed the decree or a waiver. In a default, only the petitioner appears. In a contested case, both.

Can I get divorced in Texas if I don't know where my spouse is? Yes, by citation by publication after a documented diligent search. Expect the court to appoint an attorney ad litem to look for your spouse at your expense, and expect the resulting decree to be limited: the court can end the marriage and divide property in Texas, but personal obligations like child support or maintenance against a spouse who was never personally served are harder to enforce.

What if my spouse won't sign anything? You do not need a signature. Serve the citation; if there is no answer, prove up a default after the return has been on file ten days. If there is an answer, the case proceeds through mediation and, if necessary, trial. A spouse can delay a Texas divorce but cannot prevent it.

How soon can I remarry? The 31st day after the decree is signed, unless the court waives the waiting period for good cause.

Is the 60-day period ever shortened? Only for family violence as described in § 6.702(c). Courts cannot waive it for convenience, a pending deployment, or a planned wedding.

We agree on everything and have no children or property. What is the fastest route? File using the Supreme Court's uncontested forms with a Statement of Inability if you qualify; have your spouse sign a notarized waiver of citation after filing; both sign the agreed decree; set a prove-up for day 61 or the court's first available date after it. Many Texans finish in 65 to 90 days.

How Divorce Navigator Helps

Texas puts the drafting burden on you: the sworn inventory, the just-and-right division you will have to defend at prove-up, and a decree that must assign every asset and debt by name or leave it in limbo. The weak point in most self-prepared Texas divorces is not the forms; it is a division that looks equal on paper and is not, once taxes, the house's real equity, and a retirement account's after-tax value are counted.

Divorce Navigator builds the inventory that becomes your sworn inventory and appraisement, keeps statements, deeds, and tax returns in a secure data room for the Rule 194 disclosures, and models the division with after-tax values and support scenarios so you walk into mediation — where the agreement becomes irrevocable — already knowing what each proposal is worth.

Start by organizing your finances and modeling your scenarios before the mediation date, not after the MSA is signed.

Related Resources

• Divorce in Texas: Laws, Process, and What You Need to Know — community property, spousal maintenance, child support percentages, and conservatorship rules
• Filing for Divorce in California: Step-by-Step — how the other large community property state's procedure differs
• Uncontested vs. Contested Divorce — which path fits your case and what each costs
• Temporary Orders in Divorce — the interim orders that shape the final ones
• Divorce Asset Inventory Template — the inventory that becomes your sworn inventory and appraisement
• Marital vs. Separate Property — tracing separate property under the community presumption
• Mediation Preparation Checklist — what to bring to a session that ends in an irrevocable agreement
• Divorce with Children — conservatorship and the best-interest factors
• Parenting Plan Checklist — building a possession schedule beyond the standard order
• Divorce and Domestic Violence — protective orders and their effect on the case
• Military Divorce — residency for service members and dividing the military pension
• QDRO Guide — dividing retirement accounts with the decree
• Quitclaim Deed in Divorce — why Texas uses special warranty deeds and deeds of trust to secure assumption
• Post-Divorce Checklist — everything after the decree is signed
• State-Specific Divorce Guides — rules in other states

Browse all of our divorce guides and checklists for more resources.

Take the Next Step

A Texas divorce rewards the spouse who understands the county's rules, serves or waives correctly, and arrives at mediation with the numbers already worked out. Divorce Navigator gives you the organized inventory and the modeled scenarios to do exactly that, so the decree you prove up is one you understand.

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