The judge in a divorce case in Texas is likely to begin by assuming that the parties to a marriage contributed equally. Even if a spouse did not maintain employment, the court assumes that the spouse contributed in other ways like caring for children and taking care of the family home. Therefore, the court will not leave the non-working spouse without anything once the marriage dissolves. The job of the court becomes simpler when a divorce includes spouses whose pay is the same or similar. In these cases, the court generally divides the assets as evenly as possible between the divorcees.
The fact that the divorcees earn similar salaries will not have much effect on child support payments. In Texas, the non-custodial parent must pay a set percentage of his or her pay to the parent who accepts custodial responsibility.
Spousal support is a non-issue in divorces where the parties earn similar salaries. Orders for spousal assistance depend on one party being unable to support themselves and the other party possessing sufficient means to provide financial help. Attorney fees are another expense that one spouse usually pays for the other only when it is a necessity. The exception to this is if one of the divorcees deliberately complicates the process in a way that adds unnecessary expenses to the other.
Texas is a community property state, so generally speaking, property acquired during a marriage is jointly owned by spouses. The court will often not stray far away from a 50-50 split of the accumulated assets in a marriage between spouses who earned equal pay.
No divorce is finalized without some level of complications. However, a dissolved marriage in which pay earned by the spouses is equal will hopefully not include much bickering over money and assets. Individuals who are involved with the divorce process may benefit from having an experienced family law attorney at their side.