When contested is the right path.
A contested divorce in Texas is the right path when the facts make settlement unavailable or unsafe. The most common patterns: a spouse who refuses to disclose assets, an active protective order, abduction risk, a business owner running the books in ways the other spouse cannot verify, or a counterparty who treats every negotiation session as a stalling tactic. In those cases, settlement-first is the wrong answer because there is no settlement to be had without the leverage of formal process.
We are a settlement-first firm. That posture does not mean we recommend negotiation in every case. It means we choose the right tool for the facts in front of us. When the facts require subpoena power, court-ordered production, depositions, and a docket date, the contested track exists for that reason. The work is to use it efficiently and end up with a result the client can live with for the next twenty years.
What “contested” actually means in Texas.
A contested divorce is a divorce in which the spouses cannot reach agreement on one or more issues and a court has to decide them. The unresolved issue can be small (the disposition of one retirement account) or large (the entire community estate plus a custody dispute). Either way, the case proceeds through formal litigation: pleadings, discovery, motion practice, mediation, and if necessary, trial.
Most contested cases in Texas still file under the no-fault ground of insupportability under Texas Family Code § 6.001. Fault grounds (cruelty, adultery, abandonment, conviction of a felony) remain available and can affect property division and custody, but they raise the cost and the temperature of the case. We use them when the facts genuinely warrant and the strategic value justifies the cost. Many contested cases involve disagreement on terms rather than disagreement on whether the divorce should happen.
Pleadings, service, and the first 60 days.
A contested case opens with an Original Petition for Divorce filed in the district court of the county where one spouse has resided for the preceding 90 days. The other spouse is served with process and has roughly 20 days to file an Answer, often accompanied by a Counter-Petition. Both pleadings frame the issues the court will eventually decide and stake out the legal theories each side intends to pursue.
Texas requires a 60-day waiting period from the date of filing before the court can grant a divorce, under Texas Family Code § 6.702. In contested cases the 60-day clock is rarely the constraint. The contested track typically takes far longer because the substantive work (discovery, valuation, expert reports, motion practice) takes months to complete. The first 60 days are usually spent on temporary orders, initial disclosures, the discovery plan, and any urgent motions the case requires.
Temporary orders: what gets decided early.
Temporary orders are court rules governing the marriage while the divorce is pending, issued under Texas Family Code § 6.502. They cover the items that cannot wait until final decree: who lives in the marital residence, who pays the mortgage and utilities, temporary spousal support, a temporary parenting schedule and child support, restrictions on transferring or encumbering assets, and orders preserving status-quo arrangements like health insurance and retirement contributions.
The temporary orders hearing is often the first contested hearing in the case and frequently the most important. The decisions made there set the financial and parenting baseline for the next twelve to eighteen months, and as a practical matter, they shape the negotiating posture for everything that follows. Travis County practice favors agreed temporary orders where possible, with a contested hearing as the fallback. We push hard for agreed temporary orders when the terms are reasonable and litigate when they are not.
Discovery: what each side can demand.
Discovery in Texas family law is broad. Under Texas Rules of Civil Procedure Chapter 192 through 215, each side can serve written interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for admission, and notice depositions of parties and non-party witnesses. Banks, employers, and businesses can be subpoenaed for records. Forensic accountants, business valuators, and custody evaluators can be retained as experts and deposed.
In a contested divorce of any complexity, expect to produce or receive: tax returns for the past three to five years, all bank and brokerage statements, retirement account records, business financials, real estate documents, communications relevant to the issues, and an asset and debt inventory under oath. Discovery is the stage where hidden assets are often discovered, valuations are tested, and the case either settles because the facts become clear or proceeds to trial because they do not. Most contested cases settle after discovery is substantially complete.
Mediation as a settlement gate.
Most Texas counties, Travis County included, require mediation before a contested case can be tried. The court will sign a pretrial order setting a mediation deadline, and the parties select a mediator (often a respected family law attorney or retired judge) who runs a structured all-day session. Both sides arrive with proposed terms, and the mediator shuttles between rooms working toward an agreement.
Mediation is where most contested cases that settle do settle. The combination of discovery being substantially complete, trial costs looming, and a neutral third party with hours to apply pressure tends to move parties off positions they would not otherwise abandon. A Mediated Settlement Agreement (MSA) under Texas Family Code § 6.602 is binding and not subject to revocation, which gives the resolution real finality. When mediation does not produce an MSA, the case proceeds toward a contested trial date.
Trial reality: judge, jury, and what gets decided.
A small minority of contested divorces in Texas reach a final trial on the merits. Most settle, often at mediation. When a case does try, the judge decides the equitable division of the community estate under Texas Family Code § 7.001 and applies the best-interest standard for any conservatorship and possession issues under § 153.002. The trial itself runs anywhere from one day to two weeks depending on the issues.
Texas Family Code § 6.703 preserves a limited right to jury trial in divorce. Juries decide narrow questions: characterization of property as separate or community, valuation of community assets, and conservatorship determinations. The judge alone handles the actual equitable division of property. Jury trials are rare in family law because they add cost, delay, and unpredictability. We use them in the cases that truly warrant them. In most contested matters, a bench trial in front of an experienced family law judge is the better tool.
When the courthouse is the right tool — and when it isn’t.
Litigation in Texas family law is honest about what it produces. Cases that reach a full trial run roughly $78,000 across both sides in fees and expert costs, take twelve to eighteen months from filing to decree, and produce outcomes the judge believes are just and right but that neither spouse would choose if they had any other path. The contested track does not enhance co-parenting relationships, does not heal the conflict that brought the case to the courthouse, and does not reliably produce a “better” outcome than a well-negotiated settlement. The decree is a fallback. It is not a fix.
That honesty cuts both directions. The right path in any Texas divorce is the lowest rung on the process ladder that actually does the work in the facts. Collaborative when the facts allow. Negotiated when the parties cannot lock in to collaborative but remain oriented toward settlement. Contested only when the facts genuinely require it — hidden assets, an obstinate counterparty, a safety concern that puts a child or spouse at risk, a documented refusal to disclose that informal discovery cannot reach. For those cases, the contested track is the right tool, and pretending otherwise would be a disservice. For the broad majority of cases, the courthouse is the most expensive way to reach an answer the spouses could have reached at a much lower rung.