Services

Going to court can be intimidating, and in most cases, it has become commonplace, if not mandatory, for courts to order parties to mediation before their cases will be set for trial. The majority of the time, this is a positive step.

At Zahn Family Law, we take time to thoroughly prepare for each mediation as thoroughly as if the case were going to trial in order to achieve the best possible result for our clients. Mediation allows parties to determine what their agreement will be without a judge who doesn’t know their circumstances making final decisions about the parties’ lives and children. It is confidential, non-confrontational, far less expensive and much less emotionally trying, than the stress of going to trial to resolve a case.

We take cases involving family violence very seriously.

In cases of abuse or the threat of imminent harm to an adult, child or member of a household, protective orders are often obtained in order to keep the offending party a minimum distance from the harmed party and/or child.

Once granted, a protective order that is violated may result in jail time and a fine for the offending party.

Despite what people might think from the outside, leaving an abusive situation is not easy. Victims of abuse often leave their abusive partners an average of 7 times before making the separation final. When a person has been abused, it is important to take advantage of every resource available to keep a victim safe. We offer victims of family violence numerous resources to help them make the transition from victim to life in which they may thrive.

At times parties will make false allegations of family violence – usually a woman alleging that her male partner has abused her. When this situation arises, it is imperative that the accused party’s rights and character are protected so as not to limit the time and relationship he has with his children, or ruin his reputation.

Despite what wedding magazines want us to think, sometimes marriages don’t work out. Premarital agreements help assure you that the property you owned before marriage, as well as any income derived from that property, will remain if your “happily ever after” isn’t forever.

When contemplating marriage, couples often agree to enter into a premarital or prenuptial agreement in order to accomplish certain boundaries pertaining to a party’s assets or liabilities. Premarital agreements often serve to protect one spouse from federal income tax debt or other liabilities of the other spouse.

A party who begins a marriage with income producing separate property may wish to keep the other spouse from being able to acquire the income earned from his or her separate property. Premarital agreements accomplish those ends and more.

Despite the common misconception that premarital agreements mean the spouses don’t trust one another, that is hardly the case. Premarital agreements are akin to an insurance policy; it has your back when things go wrong.

Legal proceedings that concern the safety and welfare of your child are among the most emotional and difficult times a parent will ever experience. Every action, agreement, or court order made in a child custody matter impacts a child’s future, and that is a responsibility we do not take for granted. In Texas, it is public policy for a child to have frequent and continuing contact with both parents. The court has wide discretion in determining what is in a child’s best interest. Since this is a subjective decision to be made by a court, it is important for your attorney to know what a judge wants to hear in order to determine its ruling concerning your child. The court may rule that each parent have almost equal parenting time with their children, or that one parent have a great deal more time with the child than the other parent. That could mean determining with whom a child will live and in what geographic location. Courts will also decide whether your child’s educational and medical needs will be joint decisions between you and the other parent or made independently by both parents.

At Zahn Family Law, it is important to us to be thoroughly prepared for each case involving child custody. We take our time to research and learn the background of each case as well as the needs of a client’s children so we can be confident that we are proceeding with a child’s best interest in mind.

CHILD SUPPORT

In the majority of cases, the court will order one parent to pay child support to the parent with whom the child is living for the majority of the time, as well as maintaining health insurance coverage for the child. The amount of child support ordered depends exclusively on the paying parent’s net resources. Many factors are considered to determine a parent’s net resources. However, the receiving parent’s resources are not taken into consideration in assessing the amount of child support to be paid. After a divorce or order concerning a child has been made, circumstances often change so much that the original child support amount may need to be increased or decreased by seeking an order of modification from the court.

Our goal is to present the information necessary to the court so that your judge is well equipped to make child support orders which benefit your child in the future, and which also accurately calculate the child support a parent should be paying or receiving. We believe it is important for us to fully inform each client of the possible, realistic outcomes.

PATERNITY

Paternity cases usually involve the paternity of children born outside of marriage. In most instances, these cases arise when one parent or another seeks a court order to establish their rights, powers and duties as parents, child support to be paid and parenting time for both parents. Without such an order, one parent, usually the father, is left without having any set times he may spend time with his child. In most cases where there is not family violence or substance abuse, this is a situation that is ultimately harmful to both parents and the child. When there is not a predetermined parenting time schedule in place and one parent experiences great difficulty in providing for her child, it is the child who suffers. He or she feels her parents’ tension and animosity towards each other and is deprived of the best that each parent truly has to offer. Whatever the reasoning behind a paternity case, Zahn Family Law strives to work hard and fight to ensure the best outcome for their clients and their clients’ children.

STEPPARENT ADOPTION

When certain circumstances exist in which a biological parent has abandoned a child, exposed a child to sexual abuse, substance abuse, violence, or not paid child support for a period of time, it may be an appropriate case for that biological parent’s rights to be terminated and a stepparent to adopt a child. Many factors are considered by the court in granting a termination and stepparent adoption, including how long a stepparent has lived with a child and the nature of their relationship.

These cases can be tricky for both sides and it is our goal to help find a solution that gives a child the best future possible. At Zahn Family Law, our number one priority is to look out for the best interest of a child.

GRANDPARENTS

For many children, their grandparents have been acting as parents for one reason or another. Due to a parent’s substance abuse, mental illness, neglect, child abuse or abandonment, to name a few, grandparents are stepping up more and more often to take the place of a parent to support and raise their grandchildren. In such cases, the court may order that grandparents have rights superior to a parent’s when doing so is in the best interest of a child.

It does not matter who you are or what your financial situation is. Divorce is tough on everyone. It is hard to cope with the end of a marriage and the changing status of a family. It is important to find people that can support and help you through this difficult time. Aside from the compassion of friends and family, it is vital to find good professional support to help you through the process. When it comes to the legal aspects of a divorce, you need a lawyer you can depend on to make it as easy a process as possible.

In larger and more complex cases, it is essential to employ experts on your team who know how to competently evaluate your assets and potential tax consequences when your estate is divided. Lisa Zahn is experienced in developing complex property divisions in divorce cases and in resolving “messy” and complicated child custody cases. In smaller cases, it is just as important to know when to stop the process and resolve the case as expediently as possible in order to keep a client’s legal fees and costs to a minimum. At Zahn Family Law, we know how to handle any size divorce case and have experience representing women just as frequently as men. No matter what a client’s income level, race or gender, anyone going through a divorce wants one thing – to end the agony and expense of the legal process as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Regardless of the size of a case, when the custody of a child is at stake, a child’s best interests are always of paramount importance. We are extremely passionate about doing everything reasonably possible to protect the interests of a party’s child.

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SAME SEX DIVORCE

On June 27, 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling that same sex marriage shall be recognized in the United States, making it legal in Texas as well. Therefore, same sex couples are subject to the same laws as spouses of traditional marriages in Texas. This means that same sex couples whose marriage is no longer viable must go through the same legal divorce process as heterosexual couples. We believe that a party who is part of a same sex marriage deserves the same level of representation, discretion and professionalism as any other client.