A divorce lawyer San Antonio residents hire is working two calendars at once. One belongs to the Texas Family Code, which sets a floor on how fast a case can end. The other belongs to Bexar County, where a rotating presiding judge assigns hearings out each morning rather than a single judge owning the file.
Neither calendar is obvious from the outside. Both shape what actually happens, and the second one surprises people who have moved here from other states.
What a Divorce Lawyer San Antonio Petitioners Consult Files First
Texas grants divorce without fault. Section 6.001 of the Family Code allows it where the marriage “has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities.” Nothing further requires proof, and most petitions plead nothing else.
Fault grounds still exist. Cruelty and adultery carry no time requirement. The felony ground requires imprisonment of at least a year without a pardon. Abandonment requires a year away with intent to abandon. Living apart requires three years without cohabitation, and confinement in a mental hospital requires three years as well.
One trap sits inside the felony ground. A court may not grant a divorce on that ground against a spouse whom the other spouse’s testimony convicted. The Legislature, meanwhile, abolished the old defenses of recrimination and adultery outright.
Residency, and the Requirement People Misread
Section 6.301 sets two thresholds. Someone must hold Texas domicile for the preceding six months, and residence in the filing county for the preceding 90 days.
Read the subject of that sentence carefully. The statute says “either the petitioner or the respondent.” A spouse who just moved to Bexar County can file here if the other spouse already meets both requirements. The widespread claim that the filer personally must satisfy both is simply wrong.
The 60-Day Wait and Its Only Two Exceptions
Section 6.702 bars a court from granting a divorce before the 60th day after filing. That is a floor, not a schedule. Contested cases run far longer.
Exactly two exceptions exist, and both involve family violence. One applies where a court has finally convicted the respondent of a family violence offense, or granted deferred adjudication for one, against the petitioner or a household member. The other applies where the petitioner holds an active protective order, or an active magistrate’s order for emergency protection, based on a family violence finding.
Nothing else shortens it. Agreement does not, and an uncontested case does not.
Service, Waivers, and a Rule That Flipped in 2025
Citation issues and serves as in other civil cases. Alternatives exist. Rule 106 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure permits substituted service on motion, including service “electronically by social media, email, or other technology” where the evidence shows it will reasonably give notice.
A respondent may instead waive service under Section 6.4035. That waiver goes to the clerk, acknowledges receipt of a copy of the filed petition, and carries the signer’s mailing address. The signer must also swear it before a notary public who is not an attorney in the suit.
One requirement reversed recently. Until December 4, 2025, a digitized signature would not do. An amendment effective that day struck the word “not.” Digitized signatures now work, and guidance written before then says the opposite.
Where a Divorce Lawyer San Antonio Cases Land in Bexar County
Bexar County has no statutorily designated family district courts. That distinguishes it from Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and several others. All of those appear in the family district court subchapter of the Government Code. Bexar does not.
What Bexar has instead is Section 24.139, which lists 27 district courts with concurrent jurisdiction. Eleven give preference to criminal matters and two to juvenile cases. The remaining 14 handle civil matters, family law included. The district clerk dockets cases in rotation, so they spread equally among the courts.
Day to day, that means a central docket. A rotating presiding judge calls dockets through the morning: matters without witnesses at 8:30, protective orders at 8:45, matters needing testimony at 9:00, walk-up and uncontested business at 1:30. The court then assigns cases out to whichever judge is available. In practice, you often will not know who hears your matter until Presiding sends you out.
Temporary Orders While the Case Runs
Section 6.501 allows a temporary restraining order without notice to the other side. It lists conduct a court may prohibit. Harassing communication, threats, and bodily injury appear there. So do destroying, concealing, or transferring property, falsifying records, and refusing to disclose property.
A divorce lawyer San Antonio clients retain will usually move next under Section 6.502, which covers temporary orders after notice and a hearing. A court may require a sworn inventory and appraisement, order payments for the support of either spouse, award attorney’s fees, appoint a receiver, and award one spouse exclusive occupancy of the residence during the case.
One local point worth correcting. Section 6.411 keeps divorce pleadings confidential for a period, but only in counties of 3.4 million or more. Bexar County is well below that. San Antonio filings stay public from the day someone makes them.
Settlement Agreements That Bind, and Ones That Do Not
A mediated settlement agreement is unusually powerful in Texas. Under Section 6.602, it becomes binding if it says in boldface, capitals, or underlining that it is not subject to revocation, and if each party and any attorney present signs it. Meet those three requirements and a party becomes “entitled to judgment” on it, notwithstanding the usual rules.
An informal settlement conference agreement under Section 6.604 uses the same three-part test. Yet it carries an extra check the mediated version avoids. The agreement binds the court only if the court finds the terms just and right. Otherwise the court may request revisions or set a contested hearing.
People blur that distinction constantly, and it decides whether a signed agreement is actually final.
Why a Divorce Lawyer San Antonio Spouses Call Is Cautious About Maintenance
Texas allows court-ordered maintenance only in defined circumstances. The spouse seeking it must lack sufficient property, including separate property, to provide for minimum reasonable needs. Then one of several conditions must apply. A family violence conviction or deferred adjudication within two years before filing, or while the case is pending, counts. So does an incapacitating disability, a marriage of ten years or longer with insufficient earning ability, or custody of a child of the marriage of any age needing substantial care.
The length of the marriage caps the duration. Five years applies to marriages under ten years qualifying through family violence, and to marriages of ten to twenty years. Seven years applies to marriages of twenty to thirty years. Ten years applies at thirty years or more.
The amount has a hard ceiling. A court may not order monthly maintenance exceeding the lesser of $5,000 or 20 percent of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income. Our guide to the divorce process step by step walks a comparable sequence under Arizona law.
The Bottom Line
Sixty days is the shortest a Texas divorce can take, and almost no contested case takes it. The parts that actually decide timing sit elsewhere: whether service can be waived, whether temporary orders are needed, and whether the parties reach a mediated agreement that the court has no discretion to revisit. Bexar County adds its own wrinkle, because the judge who hears your temporary orders may not be the judge who hears anything else. Planning around a single decision-maker, the way people do in other states, does not map onto how this county runs its docket.
Frequently asked questions
At least 60 days. Section 6.702 bars a court from granting a divorce before the 60th day after filing, with narrow exceptions for family violence. Contested cases run considerably longer.
Either spouse must have been a Texas domiciliary for six months and a Bexar County resident for 90 days. The statute says “either the petitioner or the respondent,” so the filer does not personally have to meet both.
No. The Family Code provision keeping divorce pleadings confidential applies only in counties of 3.4 million or more, and Bexar County falls well below that threshold.
Yes, if it states in boldface, capitals, or underlining that it is not subject to revocation, and each party and any attorney present signs it. A party is then entitled to judgment on it.
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This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Texas amends its Family Code every legislative session, county filing fees and docket practices change, and the details here reflect published sources as of September 2026. Anyone contemplating a divorce should consult a licensed Texas family law attorney.
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