How is our property divided in a Travis County divorce — especially tech stock options, RSUs, and startup equity?

Texas divides the community estate "just and right" (§7.001) — equitably, not automatically equally — and Austin's tech economy makes equity compensation the hardest recurring problem: The baseline: Everything acquired during marriage by either spouse is presumptively community — wages, retirement contributions and their growth, the house, and equity compensation earned during the marriage. Separate property (owned before marriage, gifts, inheritances, most personal-injury recoveries) stays out only if traced by clear and convincing evidence; commingling defeats tracing constantly. Stock options and RSUs — the "time rule": Vested options and RSUs earned during the marriage are community property. Unvested grants are the fight: Texas apportions them between community and separate using a time-based formula (the fraction of the vesting period that fell within the marriage). Grants awarded for PAST services are more clearly community; grants meant to retain the employee for FUTURE work have a larger separate component. Getting the grant documents, vesting schedules, and the employer's stated purpose for each award is essential — this is document-intensive, expert-assisted work. Pre-IPO and private startup equity: The hardest asset in Central Texas divorce. Illiquid shares in a private company may be worth nothing or a fortune, and there's often no market price. Options include valuation by a forensic expert (using recent funding rounds, 409A valuations, and comparables), dividing the shares in kind (each spouse takes a portion and shares the eventual outcome), or an offsetting award of liquid assets with a contingent-payment mechanism if a liquidity event occurs. Each approach has tax and risk tradeoffs — don't let a spouse "cash out" your interest at a lowball private valuation before an IPO. Retirement plans: 401(k)s divide by QDRO after the decree (without it the plan won't pay the non-employee spouse); state pensions (ERS for state employees, TRS for teachers/university staff) divide by their own specialized orders with distinct rules; UT and other university plans (ORP) need plan-specific drafting. The homestead: Given Austin's real-estate appreciation, home equity is often the largest liquid asset — awarded to one spouse (frequently with an owelty lien equalizing the split) or sold. "Just and right" adjustments: earning-capacity gaps, fault (adultery, cruelty), health, custody, and waste can push the division to 55/45 or 60/40. Process discipline: sworn inventories, complete grant and account documentation, and credentialed valuation for equity and any business. Hiding assets backfires — Travis County judges punish concealment in the division, and undisclosed assets can be re-divided later. Get equity and retirement orders drafted with the decree, not months after.

What's the realistic timeline and cost of a Travis County divorce?

The statute sets the floor; conflict and asset complexity set the ceiling: The 60-day floor: §6.702 forbids granting any divorce before the 61st day after filing (family-violence exception only). Even a fully agreed case waits. Uncontested (agreement on everything): 90–120 days is typical — petition, waiver of service or answer, the waiting period, an agreed decree, and a short prove-up (Travis County allows remote prove-ups in agreed cases). Cost: from a few hundred dollars (forms-based via Texas Law Help) to $1,500–$3,500 with counsel drafting. Contested: 12–24 months through a predictable arc — a temporary-orders hearing in the first weeks (who stays in the house, temporary custody and support — these orders set the tone for everything after); discovery (inventories, production, depositions), which expands sharply when tech equity, startup interests, or hidden-asset suspicions are involved; a custody evaluation/social study through the Domestic Relations Office if conservatorship is genuinely disputed (add 6–9 months); mediation, which Travis County courts effectively require and where most cases settle; then trial if needed. Contested costs run several thousand to tens of thousands per side, and equity-valuation or startup cases add expert fees on top. What actually drives cost: the number of contested issues times the parties' temperature, plus asset complexity. Equity compensation and pre-IPO shares are the local cost-multiplier — valuing them properly is expensive but protects a life-changing asset. Efficient paths: mediate early when the estate is transparent, use limited-scope representation for single hearings, and settle the agreed 90% in writing so lawyers bill only the true disputes. The collaborative-divorce model has a strong presence in Austin for higher-asset couples who want to avoid litigation. Lower-cost routes: Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (512-374-2700) and Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas (512-476-5550) handle qualifying cases (family-violence survivors prioritized); the Travis County Law Library and Texas Law Help support self-representation; the Austin Bar referral service (512-472-0279) can match limited budgets to limited-scope lawyers. After the decree: QDROs and state-pension division orders (weeks to months per plan), deed and title transfers, and beneficiary changes — calendar them; the decree that's never implemented is a lawsuit waiting to happen, and with tech equity the numbers are large enough to fight over later.

What custody schedule will a Travis County court actually order?

Predictably, unless family violence or the parents' agreement changes the default: The legal structure: Joint managing conservatorship is presumed — both parents share decision-making rights (allocated as joint, independent, or exclusive across education, medical, and psychological domains). One parent typically receives the exclusive right to designate the child's primary residence, restricted to Travis and contiguous counties (Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Caldwell, Blanco, Burnet) in most orders. Family violence within two years rebuts the JMC presumption. The default schedule — Standard Possession Order (§153.312): For the non-primary parent within 100 miles: 1st, 3rd, and 5th weekends (Friday 6 p.m.–Sunday 6 p.m.), Thursday evenings during school, alternating spring break, split Christmas, alternating Thanksgiving, 30 days each summer, and the applicable parent's day. The expanded SPO — presumptively granted on election within 50 miles — upgrades to Thursday overnights and weekends running school-dismissal Friday to school-return Monday, approaching 45% of overnights. Beyond 100 miles: one weekend monthly, all of spring break, 42 summer days. Agreed alternatives: Travis County courts readily adopt agreed 50/50 schedules — week-on/week-off or 2-2-5-5 — when parents live near each other and can cooperate, which the county's co-parenting culture often supports. The SPO is the default when they can't agree, not a ceiling on agreement. Child preference: At 12+, either parent can require the judge to interview the child in chambers about primary residence (§153.009) — input, not a vote. What moves a judge off the defaults: family violence or protective orders (supervised possession, available through the Domestic Relations Office's supervised-visitation program), substance abuse (testing conditions, sobriety monitoring), a parent's limited caregiving history, and — for infants — stair-stepped schedules building to the SPO by age 3. Relocation: A recurring Travis County issue given tech-sector mobility and remote work. Lifting the geographic restriction (to move for a job, a new partner, or family support) requires proving the move serves the CHILD's best interest — not merely the parent's career — through evidence about schools, support networks, the other parent's involvement, and the feasibility of a workable long-distance schedule. What wins conservatorship disputes: school and medical involvement records, a clean communication trail (use the co-parenting apps courts here order — OurFamilyWizard and similar), and demonstrated support of the child's relationship with the other parent — the "friendly parent" factor carries real weight in these courtrooms.

I need protection from an abusive partner in Travis County — what do I do today?

Travis County has a strong, coordinated family-violence response anchored by one organization: Right now if unsafe: 911. After a family-violence arrest, the jail's magistration routinely issues an emergency protective order (31–91 days) automatically — no application needed from you. SAFE (the SAFE Alliance) — 24-hour SAFEline 512-267-7233 (call or text; safeaustin.org): Austin/Travis County's central domestic-violence and sexual-assault agency (formed from SafePlace and the Center for Child Protection). Services include emergency shelter (confidential location), safety planning, counseling, children's services, and a legal team — free, regardless of gender, income, or immigration status. The SAFEline is the single number to start with. Protective orders (Family Code Title 4): Free help filing through the Travis County Attorney's or District Attorney's protective-order units, SAFE's legal advocates, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (512-374-2700), or Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas (512-476-5550). A temporary ex parte order can issue the same day without the abuser present (clear-and-present-danger standard) — excluding them from the home, barring contact, and protecting children and pets. The final hearing follows within about two weeks; final orders last up to two years, longer for serious injury or repeat findings. Violations are crimes (§25.07) — call police on every violation and document it; enforcement is what gives the paper teeth. The family-case overlay: Protective orders can be issued alongside or within a divorce or custody case; a family-violence finding defeats the joint-conservatorship presumption, supports supervised possession (through the Domestic Relations Office), and can qualify a survivor for spousal maintenance regardless of marriage length. Tell your family lawyer everything so the protective and custody cases are coordinated. Protections that stack: early lease termination with a protective order (Prop. Code §92.016); address confidentiality through the Texas Attorney General's Address Confidentiality Program; firearm surrender (federal and state law bar possession under a final protective order, and the courts here order it); and workplace safety measures. Immigrant survivors: VAWA self-petitions (confidential, no abuser involvement), U visas (Austin PD and the prosecutors certify), and T visas proceed regardless of status; SAFE and TRLA connect survivors to immigration counsel. Shelters and courts do not report survivors to ICE — do not let status fear keep you in danger.

How is child support calculated and enforced in Travis County, and can it be changed?

Texas guideline math, with tech-compensation wrinkles and serious enforcement: The calculation (§154.125): Percentages of the obligor's monthly net resources — 20% (1 child), 25% (2), 30% (3), 35% (4), 40% (5+) — reduced modestly for children supported in other households. Net resources = essentially all income (wages, overtime, bonuses, commissions, self-employment, rental income, and — important in Austin — RSU vesting and stock-sale proceeds counted as income) minus federal taxes for a single person, Social Security/Medicare, union dues, and the child's health-insurance premium, capped at $9,200/month of net resources (adjusted every six years); above-cap support requires proving the child's actual needs. Courts annualize variable tech pay and can impute income to intentionally underemployed obligors — a real issue with equity-heavy or between-startups earners. Mandatory extras: health insurance (usually via the parent with employer coverage, with premium credits in the math) and dental coverage in every order; uninsured medical costs are typically split 50/50 with a reimbursement procedure — keep receipts and follow the decree's notice steps. Establishment routes: through the divorce/SAPCR in the district courts, or the Office of the Attorney General Child Support Division (Austin field offices; 1-800-252-8014) — free establishment, paternity testing, and enforcement, though the OAG represents the state's interest, not yours; private counsel moves faster when stakes justify it. The Travis County Domestic Relations Office also runs court-connected enforcement. Enforcement: automatic wage withholding; license suspension (driver's, professional, hunting); tax-refund and lottery interception; child-support liens (they attach to bank accounts, RSU proceeds, and personal-injury settlements); passport denial over $2,500 arrears; credit reporting; and contempt — Travis County courts jail willful nonpayers on proven arrears, which become judgments bearing interest. Modification: material and substantial change in circumstances, OR three years since the last order plus a 20% or $100/month divergence from current guidelines. Two rules save people: (1) nothing changes automatically — a job loss, a startup failure, or a new baby modifies nothing until filed, and arrears accrue meanwhile at 6% interest, so file the week the change happens; (2) informal side deals are unenforceable against recorded arrears — get every change ordered. Interstate/international: UIFSA reaches obligors who leave Texas — common in a mobile tech workforce — and registration and enforcement of out-of-state orders run through the same courts.

Family Law & Divorce in Travis County, Texas

Family cases in Travis County are heard by the county's district courts sitting in family matters at the Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse (1000 Guadalupe St., Austin TX 78701), with filings through the District Clerk (512-854-9457), associate judges handling much of the temporary-orders and IV-D (child support) docket, and the well-regarded Travis County Domestic Relations Office providing social studies, supervised visitation, and support services. Texas community property law (Tex. Fam. Code §3.002) presumes that everything acquired by either spouse during the marriage belongs to the community, while separate property — pre-marriage assets, gifts, and inheritances — must be traced by clear and convincing evidence to stay out of the division. On divorce, the court divides the community estate on a "just and right" basis (§7.001) rather than a mechanical 50/50, weighing earning-capacity disparity, fault, health, and separate-estate size. Travis County's tech-and-equity economy gives its property divisions a distinctive shape: stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), and pre-IPO startup equity are common marital assets requiring careful characterization and valuation; state-employee pensions (ERS, TRS) and university retirement plans appear constantly given the government and UT workforces; and the region's soaring real estate values make home equity a major contested asset.

Every Texas divorce waits at least 60 days: Tex. Fam. Code §6.702 bars granting a divorce before the 61st day after filing (excepted only for documented family violence). Agreed divorces in Travis County realistically finish in 90–120 days; contested cases run 12–24 months through temporary orders, discovery, mediation (effectively required before trial), and trial settings. Texas offers no-fault divorce (insupportability) alongside fault grounds — adultery, cruelty, abandonment, felony conviction — and proven fault supports a disproportionate share of the community estate. Equity and retirement division is where paperwork discipline pays: 401(k)s and pensions require a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) processed after the decree — without it the plan administrator cannot pay the non-employee spouse — while stock options and RSUs require characterizing vested and unvested tranches between community and separate using time-based apportionment (the Texas "time rule"), and pre-IPO or privately held startup equity demands valuation of illiquid, sometimes worthless-or-someday-fortune shares, one of the hardest problems in Central Texas divorce practice. State pensions (Employees Retirement System, Teacher Retirement System) divide by specialized QDRO-equivalent orders with their own rules. Spousal maintenance (Tex. Fam. Code Ch. 8) remains narrow: generally a 10-year marriage plus inability to meet minimum reasonable needs, family violence, or disability, capped at the lesser of $5,000/month or 20% of the payor's gross income.

Conservatorship follows the child's best interest (§153.002) with a presumption of joint managing conservatorship — shared decision-making, not equal time. One parent typically holds the exclusive right to designate the child's primary residence, restricted in most Travis County orders to Travis County and contiguous counties (Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Caldwell, Blanco, Burnet); the other parent receives possession under the Standard Possession Order (§153.312) — first, third, and fifth weekends, Thursday evenings, alternating holidays, and 30 summer days — with the expanded SPO (Thursday overnights, school-pickup-to-Monday weekends) presumptively available on election within 50 miles, and true 50/50 schedules routinely entered by agreement in a county where co-parenting norms lean cooperative. Children 12 and older may be interviewed in chambers on residence preference (§153.009). Relocation disputes are frequent as tech careers move (a remote-work and startup hub sees constant in- and out-migration), and lifting a geographic restriction requires proving the move serves the child, not just the career. Interference with possession is criminally chargeable (Tex. Penal Code §25.03), and the UCCJEA governs interstate and international disputes — common in a county with a large immigrant and internationally mobile professional population.

Family violence response in Travis County runs through SAFE (the SAFE Alliance — a merger of Austin's SafePlace and the Center for Child Protection; 24-hour SAFEline 512-267-7233, call or text; safeaustin.org), which operates emergency shelter, counseling, legal services, and a family violence and sexual-assault response for the county, alongside the Travis County Attorney and District Attorney protective-order units. Protective orders under Family Code Title 4 are obtained through the courts with free assistance available from SAFE's legal team, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (512-374-2700), and Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas (512-476-5550): temporary ex parte orders issue the same day on a showing of clear and present danger, and final orders (up to two years, longer in aggravated cases) follow a hearing, with violations prosecuted under Tex. Penal Code §25.07. Magistrate's emergency protective orders issue automatically after many family-violence arrests through the Travis County jail's magistration. Survivors with immigration concerns retain VAWA self-petition, U visa (Austin PD and the Travis County prosecutors certify), and T visa options regardless of the abuser's status, and a protective order supports penalty-free early lease termination (Tex. Prop. Code §92.016).

Child support follows the guideline percentages of Tex. Fam. Code §154.125 — 20% of the obligor's monthly net resources for one child, 25% for two, up to 40% for five or more, applied against net resources capped at $9,200/month (periodically adjusted), with health and dental support mandatory in every order. Tech-sector compensation complicates the math: RSUs, bonuses, and stock-sale proceeds are income for support purposes, and courts annualize variable pay and can impute income to underemployed obligors. The Office of the Attorney General Child Support Division maintains Austin field offices (statewide line 1-800-252-8014; texasattorneygeneral.gov) for establishment and enforcement — wage withholding, license suspension, tax-refund interception, contempt — and the Travis County Domestic Relations Office provides court-connected enforcement and access services. Modification requires a material and substantial change or, for orders three years old, a 20%/$100 monthly divergence from current guidelines. Self-represented litigants — a large share of the family docket — can use the Texas Law Help forms, the Travis County Law Library, and TRLA and VLS clinic resources; the Austin Bar Association (512-472-0279) refers to family specialists, with limited-scope representation increasingly common. In every category, the parent who keeps records — payments, exchanges, and communications through the co-parenting apps Travis County courts routinely order — is the parent the court believes.

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