Hanshaw Kennedy Hafen - Family Law

10/16/2026

Meet Alyssa Herrington, family law attorney at HKH Family Law.

Alyssa handles divorce, custody, modifications and adoptions, and also the harder financial work underneath them: complex property division, separate property tracing, business ownership issues and contested probate.

That second list is the reason we keep civil and business counsel in house instead of sending those questions to another firm.

https://familylawhkh.com/about/alyssa-herrington/

10/15/2026

Your decree divides the assets. It doesn't touch the forms that pay them out.

Texas handles part of this on its own. A life insurance designation naming your former spouse stops being effective once the divorce is granted, and the same goes for most retirement plans.

The gaps are where the trouble is. A Texas public pension is excluded, and a 401(k) through work generally pays whoever the plan's records name.

Caitlin McGrath has the list worth working through.

https://familylawhkh.com/texas-divorce-beneficiary-designations/

Texas voids an ex-spouse beneficiary designation after divorce, but not on a 401(k) or a public pension. Here is what your decree does not fix.

10/14/2026

Clients ask: can we just use one attorney between us?

No. An attorney represents one person, even when a couple agrees on everything. What's usually possible is that one spouse's attorney drafts the paperwork and the other spouse reviews it.

If what you're after is a process that stays calm and doesn't cost a fortune, mediation is normally the better route than a shared lawyer.

https://familylawhkh.com/family-law-services/divorce/

10/13/2026

Most people asking about unpaid child support want to know whether it's too late. Usually it isn't.

Texas sets two deadlines and they sit a decade apart. Two years to seek contempt, ten to have the arrearage confirmed as a money judgment. Neither one runs from the last missed payment, which surprises almost everyone.

Alyssa Herrington walks through what each deadline reaches, and what it doesn't.

https://familylawhkh.com/texas-child-support-enforcement-deadlines/

Texas gives you two years to seek contempt on unpaid child support and ten for a money judgment. Here is what each deadline reaches, and what it does not.

10/12/2026

Families usually ask about guardianship at a hard moment, and often someone has told them it's the only option.

In Texas it's the last one. Before appointing a guardian, a court has to find by clear and convincing evidence that alternatives, and the supports and services already available to that person, were considered and determined not to be feasible.

It isn't all or nothing either. A guardianship can be limited to the decisions someone actually needs help with.

https://familylawhkh.com/family-law-services/guardianship/

10/11/2026

A divorce decree is a to do list, and most of it doesn't happen on its own.

Splitting a 401(k) or a pension takes a separate court order, a QDRO, before the plan moves anything. An IRA doesn't use one. A house awarded to one spouse often still carries both names on the loan. Beneficiary designations are easy to leave pointing at the wrong person.

October is a good time to check, because open enrollment and year end statements will surface it anyway. We're glad to read your decree with you.

https://familylawhkh.com/contact/

10/09/2026

Meet Rachel Herrera, family law paralegal at HKH Family Law.

Rachel works with new clients, current clients, and people who come back needing help after a case is finalized. Most of her work involves divorce, suits affecting the parent child relationship, and modifications.

Before she was a paralegal she saw the legal process as a client, a receptionist and a legal secretary. That's a useful set of angles when someone calls in the middle of a hard week.

https://familylawhkh.com/about/rachel-herrera/

10/08/2026

A lot of people walk into mediation treating it as a practice round, something to try before the real case starts.

In Texas, a properly signed mediated settlement agreement can be binding the moment the last signature goes on the page. Not subject to revocation means what it sounds like.

It still isn't the final decree, and the 60 day waiting period still applies. Caitlin McGrath covers the three requirements and how to get ready for the day.

https://familylawhkh.com/texas-mediated-settlement-agreement/

A Texas mediated settlement agreement can be binding the moment it's signed. Here's what makes it final, what it doesn't do, and how to prepare for it.

10/07/2026

Clients ask: can my child decide which parent to live with?

No. The age people are thinking of is 12, and 12 does matter. If a party asks for it, a Texas court has to interview a child 12 or older in chambers about where they want to live. Younger children may be interviewed too.

But the same statute says that interview doesn't limit the judge's discretion to decide what's in the child's best interest. The child is heard. The judge still decides.

https://familylawhkh.com/family-law-services/child-custody/

10/06/2026

Most people assume Texas alimony comes down to who earned more during the marriage. It doesn't.

Texas calls it spousal maintenance, and the eligibility test is narrow. Even when a spouse qualifies, the monthly payment is capped at the lesser of $5,000 or 20 percent of the paying spouse's average gross income.

Earning less than your spouse isn't enough on its own. Alyssa Herrington walks through who actually qualifies, and for how long.

https://familylawhkh.com/texas-spousal-maintenance-eligibility/

Spousal maintenance in Texas has a strict eligibility test, a $5,000 monthly cap, and time limits. Here's who qualifies and what the law doesn't cover.