Maples | Jones, PLLC Maples | Jones, PLLC 2026-11-01T12:00:47Z https://www.maplesjones.com/feed/atom/ WordPress /wp-content/uploads/sites/1504866/2026/02/cropped-mj-icon-1-32x32.png On Behalf of Maples | Jones, PLLC <![CDATA[Making Memories while Making a Difference]]> https://www.maplesjones.com/?p=51996 2026-10-28T13:25:40Z 2026-11-01T12:00:47Z Austin, Texas, is more than just our state capital, it also has live music at every corner, an incredible food scene and an enormous giving heart. With daily busy schedules, work, school, and extracurriculars, it can be easy for families to get caught up in the normal day-to-day routine, but making time to volunteer as a family can enrich your life in so many ways. Family volunteering is a wonderful way to spend quality time together, teach kids empathy, and make a difference in your local community.

Getting Started and Finding the Right Opportunity

Finding the right opportunity should be fun but it is important to take some key factors into account:
  • Allow children to be included in choosing the cause, this builds a sense of independence and can help develop critical thinking skills.
  • Choose age-appropriate projects, it is important that everyone feels like they can contribute.
  • Choose causes that provide opportunities to learn, rather than just completing tasks.
  • Remember that volunteering is an important commitment, pick an organization that works best with your family’s schedule.

Local non-profits to check out

  • Generation Serve: Connects children and families with age-appropriate service projects within their community. https://www.generationserve.org
  • Pop-Up Birthday: Help children in the central Texas foster care system celebrate their birthday. Families may volunteer to assemble birthday boxes, prepare decorations or even become a birthday buddy which provides personalized gifts. https://popupbirthday.org/
  • Central Texas Foodbank: Help sort food, pack food boxes, sort produce. Please be aware that certain tasks do have age requirements, check before agreeing to assignments. https://www.centraltexasfoodbank.org/
  • Keep Austin Beautiful: Opportunities for litter pick up, clean Austin water ways, plant trees. https://keepaustinbeautiful.org/
  • Austin Animal Services: Volunteers can spend time enriching the animals by taking on walks, playful activities or help assist with the cleanliness of the kennels. There are also administration tasks available such as, reviewing adoption application, organizing supplies and greeting visitors. https://www.austintexas.gov/animal-services
  • Pease Park Conservatory: Volunteers can help pick up litter around the park, help plants stay healthy by providing mulch and watering trees. Other opportunities are helping keep native vegetation cleared of invasive plants and weeds and also helping plant new native species and seeds. https://peasepark.org/

Increases Family Bonding Time

  • Improves communication and creates an environment that encourages families to share ideas, solve problems and make decisions together. Allows families to have deeper dialogues about issues important to them.
  • Teaches the importance of teamwork, meeting goals and thinking outside the box.
  • Creates long lasting memories. New shared experiences often have a long-lasting impact and help families feel closer.
  • Establishes Family Traditions by creating a routine and special time dedicated to an event regularly.
  • Plan a fun family meeting to hold follow up discussions to discuss the experiences.

Builds Empathy and Compassion

  • Volunteering may help children development a sense of awareness towards other people’s feelings. This exposure may help them continue to develop the ability to notice social cues and understand how actions can also express emotions.
  • Fosters the growth of feeling responsibility towards others. Volunteering allows children to visually see their impact on the community.
  • Allows children to see different perspectives. When exposing children to others with different circumstances or backgrounds, they begin to know not everyone is the same or have access to same resources or opportunities.
  • Creates the opportunity to create lifelong habits of giving back to others.

Makes a difference in your community

  • Creates as sense of ownership for your community and allows children to have a sense of pride for where they come from.
  • Establishes new relationships with impactful members of your community and reduces feelings of isolation.
  • Inspires others around you to begin their own volunteer journey.
Children learn by example, and teaching them to be responsible, develop compassion, and recognize the needs within our community helps shape them into thoughtful, caring individuals. Instilling these values early empowers them to make a difference, give back, and understand the importance of helping others around them. There are countless ways to get involved within our community, and it always helps to be of service to others.]]> by Nikki Maples <![CDATA[Discovery Compliance and Consequences: Why “I’ll Get to It Later” Can Cost You]]> https://www.maplesjones.com/?p=51992 2026-10-26T13:21:19Z 2026-10-23T06:14:07Z Discovery is the part of your case where both sides exchange information. In a divorce or custody case, that usually means financial records, communications, photos and audio recordings, documents related to your children and answers to questions sworn by your signature. It is a time-consuming and daunting task, but how you handle the discovery process can shape the outcome of your case as much as anything that takes place in the courtroom.

Different Methods of Discovery

  • Interrogatories: written questions that you answer in the narrative form under oath
  • Requests for Disclosures: a list of documents and names for any potential witness or expert witness in your case
  • Requests for Production: a list of documents you will be required to hand over to the other side (bank statements, tax returns, pay stubs, texts)
  • Requests for Admission: statements that you must “admit” or “deny” without further explanation
  • Depositions: in-person questioning under oath, much like testifying in court 
Each form of discovery has a deadline, often 30 days, except for depositions. Problems start when discovery deadlines are missed.

Common Mistakes

Ignoring it. Some clients hope the requests will go away. They won't. Handing over "most" of the documents. Omitting certain documents looks like hiding something, even when you aren't. Hiding or "forgetting" assets. Undisclosed accounts, side income, or cryptocurrency are almost always revealed by the other side, and the damage is far worse when that happens. Deleting texts or social media posts. Once a case is anticipated, and especially after a lawsuit has been initiated, deleting electronic communications can be (and usually is) treated as destroying evidence. Answering emotionally. Discovery responses are sworn statements, not a place to vent.

What Happens If You Don't Comply?

Judges take discovery very seriously because the system only works when people are transparent with information. The days of hiding evidence and walking into the courtroom with the “smoking gun” are long gone. Consequences can include:
  • Court orders compelling you to respond, often with a short deadline
  • Paying the other side's attorney's fees for the motion they had to file to force you to respond
  • Monetary sanctions against you
  • Exclusion of evidence: if you withheld it in discovery, you likely won’t be allowed to use it at trial
  • Adverse inferences: the judge may (and usually does) assume the missing information would have hurt you
  • Contempt of court, which can mean fines or, in serious cases, jail
  • Damaged credibility: in custody cases especially, judges want to see a parent who follows rules and tells the truth. Discovery behavior tells them a lot.
  • Penalties: in extreme cases, a court can even rule against you on certain issues.

How to Protect Yourself

  1. Read everything the day it arrives and send it to your attorney immediately.
  2. Calendar the deadline. Your attorney will too, but you'll need time to gather documents.
  3. Start collecting records early: statements, tax returns, pay stubs, and account information.
  4. Preserve everything. Don't delete, edit, or "clean up" texts, emails, or posts.
  5. Be complete and honest. If you don't know or can't find something, tell your attorney. There are proper ways of handling information that cannot be located.
  6. Ask before objecting. Some requests are overreaching, and objections can be made. That's a legal decision, not a reason to skip the request.

The Bottom Line

Discovery is a tedious process, but one that is much easier when you respect it. The rules for discovery are in effect for a reason – both sides are permitted to request certain documents and ask certain questions to investigate the claims on both sides. Courts are less than thrilled when a litigant has to ask a judge to make the other party comply with the rules of discovery. Clients who respond promptly and honestly build trust with the court, and that trust matters when a judge is deciding property or your children's future. If you're overwhelmed by a discovery request, call your attorney before the deadline, not after. Most problems are fixable early. Late, they get expensive and can have a detrimental impact on the outcome of your case.]]> On Behalf of Maples | Jones, PLLC <![CDATA[How can professionals protect assets in a high-asset divorce?]]> https://www.maplesjones.com/?p=51965 2026-09-24T09:22:00Z 2026-09-24T09:16:21Z Document when and how you acquired assets Texas treats property you acquire during marriage as community property unless it qualifies as separate property. A court can divide community property in a divorce. Property you owned before marriage remains separate. Gifts and inheritances you receive also count as separate property. The challenge often comes from proving that an asset belongs only to you. Texas presumes that property you or your spouse possess during or at divorce belongs to the community estate. If you claim separate ownership, you have to prove it by clear and convincing evidence. That standard calls for stronger proof than the usual civil standard. Older documents help establish that history. If you owned part of a practice before marriage, business files may document when you acquired your share. Bank statements might trace funds back to an account you held before marriage. A partnership agreement often records when you became an owner and what rights came with your share.

Make financial activity easy to follow

Your regular expenses do not stop during divorce. You may still have business bills or taxes to pay. A large withdrawal or transfer could raise issues when the paperwork does not explain where the funds went or why you moved them. Texas law also addresses fraud. If a judge or jury finds actual or constructive fraud, the court must calculate how much value the conduct took from the community estate. The court then uses a reconstituted estate, meaning the value the estate would have had without that loss, when it divides property. Routine records help explain those transactions. Invoices and account statements can help document where your funds went.

Review before making major changes

In a high-value property division, organized records make it easier to explain where assets came from and what happened to them during the case. You may want to review recent account and business files before making major changes. If your divorce is already pending, it might also help to review any court orders that affect how you hold, transfer or use property.]]> On Behalf of Maples | Jones, PLLC <![CDATA[Prenups for professionals: Why doctors, lawyers and partners in Austin need financial boundaries]]> https://www.maplesjones.com/?p=51958 2026-08-25T18:36:58Z 2026-08-25T18:36:58Z who spent years building their career and professional reputation understand the importance of protecting what they have earned. For high-earning professionals in Austin, a prenuptial agreement is not about doubting the relationship — it is about establishing clear financial boundaries that protect both partners and the business interests they have worked so hard to build.

Your practice is your primary asset

Unlike traditional wealth that sits in bank accounts or investment portfolios, your most valuable asset may be your professional practice and future earning potential. Whether you are a physician with a thriving medical practice, an attorney working toward partnership or a consultant building client relationships, your career represents decades of education, training and networking. A well-drafted prenuptial agreement acknowledges this reality and provides protection for:
  • The goodwill and reputation associated with your professional name
  • Business interests in medical practices, law firms or consulting groups
  • Professional licenses and certifications that required substantial investment
  • Future income streams tied to your specialized expertise
Without a prenup, Texas community property laws could entitle your spouse to a portion of practice value accumulated during marriage, even if they never contributed to building that practice. This makes advance planning essential for professionals whose careers are their primary wealth generators.

Protecting both partners' interests

A prenup is not a one-sided document. For professionals, it creates clarity around several important issues that benefit both parties. This can include the separation of business debts from marital assets, protecting a spouse from liability related to malpractice claims or business obligations as well as clear guidelines for spousal support that reflect the unique income patterns of professional careers. It can also address retirement accounts and profit-sharing plans specific to professional partnerships. These provisions create a framework that allows both partners to enter marriage with confidence and transparency about financial expectations.

Planning for your professional future

Austin's booming economy attracts ambitious professionals who understand the value of strategic planning. Just as you would not practice medicine, law or consulting without proper preparation, entering marriage without financial boundaries puts everything you have built at risk. A prenuptial agreement tailored to professionals acknowledges that your career is not just a job — it is an asset requiring protection. By establishing clear financial boundaries before marriage, you create a foundation that allows your relationship and your professional success to flourish independently and together.]]> by Maria Portella <![CDATA[Back to School, Back to the Calendar: How to Read the Holiday Schedule in your Parenting Plan]]> https://www.maplesjones.com/?p=51960 2026-09-01T03:57:25Z 2026-08-22T03:52:11Z When kids head back to school, it's time to get back on track with your possession schedule. This can be further complicated once fall holidays start interrupting the normal routine. Understanding how to read your parenting plan is key to avoiding disputes with your co-parent and making transitions easy and stress-free, not just for you, but for your child. For purposes of being specific and providing clear examples, we will outline how holiday possession generally works under the Expanded Standard Possession Order (ESPO) set out in the Texas Family Code. However, it is important to note that every case is different. Your final orders may follow this schedule exactly, modify parts of it, or replace it entirely depending on what you and your co-parent agreed to, or what the Court ultimately ordered. Always refer to your own final orders to see how your specific plan addresses these holidays.
  1. The Major Holidays
These are the holidays most parents build their whole year around, and the ones most likely to cause a dispute if the schedule isn't followed carefully. The holidays below override the regular weekend schedule that year, which can disrupt a parent’s normal weekend possession. Generally speaking, a holiday schedule will follow the holiday calendar for the school in which the children are enrolled. A common resolution is that if a child is not yet school age, the parents follow the school district calendar for the district where that child's primary residence is located.
  1. Thanksgiving
Under the ESPO, Thanksgiving is typically outlined as the Possessory Conservator (The parent who does not have primary) having possession in odd numbered years, and the Managing Conservator (The parent who has primary) having possession in even numbered years. Possession begins as soon as school is dismissed for the Thanksgiving holiday and ends when school resumes after the Thanksgiving break. 
  1. Winter Break
This period is usually split into two portions: the first portion runs from when school releases for the holiday until 12:00 p.m. on December 28th, and the second portion runs from 12:00 p.m. on December 28th until school resumes at the end of the holiday. Under the ESPO, the Possessory Conservator would have the first half of Winter break in even numbered years, and the Managing Conservator would have the first half in odd numbered years. An easy way to remember is whichever parent did not have Thanksgiving that year typically gets the first half of Winter Break. 
  1. Spring Break
Spring Break possession also typically alternates by year and follows the child's school district calendar. Under the ESPO, the Possessory Conservator would have possession in even numbered years, and the Managing Conservator would have possession in odd numbered years. Always check the actual district calendar, as schools can have different spring breaks depending on the school district.  The takeaway with all three: these holiday periods take priority over the regular weekly schedule, so it's worth checking your child’s school calendar marking your calendar early to avoid conflicts down the road. 
  1. Weekends Extended by a Holiday on Monday or Friday
One of the most common areas of confusion is when a three-day or four-day weekend interrupts the regular schedule. Holidays like Labor Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Presidents' Day often fall on a Monday and schools often have various Fridays off during the school year, giving kids a long weekend. Under the ESPO, if it is the Possessory Conservator's 1st, 3rd, or 5th weekend and there is no school that Friday, the weekend simply starts early. Instead of beginning when school is dismissed on Friday, possession begins when school is dismissed on Thursday. The same idea applies in reverse when a holiday falls on a Monday. The Possessory Conservator's possession would simply extend through the Monday holiday, ending when school resumes on Tuesday. III. Religious Holidays For many families, holidays like Easter, Passover, Eid, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur carry deep personal or cultural significance, and it may be important for a parent to spend that particular day with their child. The ESPO does not address most religious holidays. This means that, unless your final orders include specific language addressing a particular religious holiday, that day will simply follow the regular weekly or weekend schedule already in place. If observing a particular holiday together, or separately, is important to your family, this is something to raise proactively, either through reaching a written agreement with your co-parent or by requesting specific holiday provisions be added during the negotiation process prior to finalizing your order. If your current order is silent on a religious holiday or other important days that matters to your family, it doesn't necessarily mean you're out of options. It does mean you may need to communicate directly with your co-parent, or seek an agreement, rather than assuming the court's standard holiday schedule covers it.
  1. Final Thoughts
Reading a possession schedule can feel like learning a new language, especially once holidays start layering on top of the regular weekly rotation. The most important habit you can build is making sure to read your actual final orders each time a holiday approaches, rather than assuming last year's schedule will repeat itself exactly. Small details, like whether a holiday period ends at 6:00 p.m. Sunday or at school drop-off Monday morning, can make a real difference in avoiding a stressful, last-minute dispute later. What has been outlined above is meant to be a simplified overview of how to approach the upcoming holidays under the ESPO. This is not an exhaustive breakdown of every holiday covered under the ESPO or every provision that could appear in your specific order. Every order is different, and yours may include additional holidays, different terms, or unique provisions not addressed here. If you're unsure how your parenting plan addresses an upcoming holiday, or if you think your order needs to be updated to reflect your family's needs, our office is here to help you review your orders and make sure you're prepared well before the holiday season arrives.]]> by Meagan Jones <![CDATA[Why AI Can’t Give You an Unbiased Answer to Your Family Law Questions]]> https://www.maplesjones.com/?p=51946 2026-08-10T18:51:50Z 2026-07-16T16:27:52Z

Why AI Can’t Give You an Unbiased Answer to Your Family Law Questions

(And What That Actually Means for You) Written by Meagan Jones If you’ve ever typed a divorce or custody question into ChatGPT or Claude and wondered whether the answer you got was actually neutral — good instinct. It wasn’t. And the reason why matters more than most people realize. Let me explain what’s actually going on, because it’s not the scandal you might think it is.

AI is trained on human-generated content. Humans are not unbiased.

Every large language model learns from an enormous corpus of text — legal briefs, court opinions, forum posts, academic articles, advice columns, Reddit threads. That content reflects the people who wrote it: their assumptions, their cultural contexts, their socioeconomic backgrounds, their outcomes. If the legal system has historically disadvantaged certain parties in divorce or custody proceedings —then those patterns are baked into the training data, and by extension, into the model. This isn’t a flaw that engineers can simply patch. It’s a structural feature of how these systems work.

AI doesn’t know your jurisdiction. Family law is intensely local.

“Unbiased” also implies “accurate,” and accuracy in family law is jurisdiction-specific in ways that AI handles poorly. Texas family law is not California family law. Travis County practice is not Williamson County practice. A custody standard that applies in one state may be completely wrong in another. AI tools are trained on broad datasets and tend to give you the most statistically common answer — which may have nothing to do with the law that governs your case.

AI has no stake in your outcome. That’s not a feature.

Here’s the part that surprises people: an AI’s “neutrality” is actually a limitation, not a virtue. When I advise a client, I am supposed to be on their side. I have an ethical obligation to advocate for them, to identify every angle that benefits their position, to anticipate what the other side will argue, and to tell them hard truths when their position is weak. That is not bias — that is representation. AI cannot do that. It will give you a balanced overview because it has no client relationship, no obligation to you, and no authority to give you legal advice. What feels like objectivity is really just the absence of advocacy.

So, what is AI actually good for in this context?

Quite a bit, honestly — just not the things people most want it for. AI is useful for general orientation: understanding what terms mean, knowing roughly what questions to ask, getting a sense of the procedural landscape before you walk into a lawyer’s office. It can help you organize your thoughts and your timeline. It can explain concepts like community property, conservatorship, or the best-interest-of-the-child standard in plain language. What it cannot do is apply those concepts to your facts, advise you on strategy, tell you when to settle, or predict how a particular judge in a particular county is likely to rule. For that, you need a lawyer who practices where you live and knows the courthouse you’re walking into.

AI only knows what you tell it — and you are not a neutral source.

There’s another layer to this that almost nobody talks about. AI doesn’t have access to your spouse’s text messages, your financial records, your custody history, or the context that a lawyer builds over months of working your case. It only knows the facts you choose to share — which means it is working entirely from your version of events. And when you are in the middle of a divorce or a custody dispute, your version of events is, by definition, not unbiased. You are hurt, or scared, or angry, or all three at once. You remember what you remember. You emphasize what feels important to you. When you ask AI a question framed around your perspective, it will validate the premise of that question far more readily than a good lawyer should. A lawyer’s job includes pushing back on your narrative when the facts don’t support it. AI has no mechanism — and no incentive — to do that. The result is that AI doesn’t give you an unbiased answer; it gives you your own bias reflected back at you, dressed up in authoritative language. What you tell AI is not protected — and that matters more than you think. This may be the most important practical warning in this entire post. When you share facts with your attorney, that conversation is protected by attorney-client privilege. It cannot be subpoenaed, it cannot be used against you in court, and your attorney cannot be compelled to disclose it. When you type those same facts into an AI chatbot, none of those protections exist. Your conversation with an AI is not privileged. Depending on the platform's terms of service, those conversations may be stored, reviewed for training purposes, or potentially subject to discovery in litigation. In a contested divorce or custody case, what you typed into a chatbot at 11 PM when you were venting about your spouse could end up in front of a judge. You are, in effect, creating a written record of your thoughts, fears, and legal strategy with a third-party platform that has no obligation to protect you. 

The bottom line

AI isn’t biased in the conspiratorial sense — it’s not secretly rooting for one side of your divorce. But it’s also not neutral in any meaningful way. It reflects the patterns of its training data, it lacks jurisdictional precision, it has no obligation to you whatsoever, and it can only work with the one-sided picture you hand it. In family law, where the stakes involve your children, your finances, and your future, “pretty good general information based on your own retelling” is a dangerously low bar.  ]]> On Behalf of Maples | Jones, PLLC <![CDATA[Could you be overlooking executive compensation?]]> https://www.maplesjones.com/?p=51949 2026-09-03T10:46:50Z 2026-07-16T14:55:22Z high-asset divorce. Looking at the full compensation package can provide a more complete picture of the finances connected to your marriage.

Compensation that may be easy to overlook

Executive compensation can include more than a salary and annual bonus. It may also include employer-paid benefits and compensation that will not be paid until a later date. The following forms of compensation may require closer review:
  • Deferred bonuses: Payments for work completed now may not become due until a future date.
  • Nonqualified deferred compensation: Earnings can remain unpaid until retirement or another event set by the employer's plan.
  • Company cars or vehicle allowances: Employer benefits may cover transportation costs that would otherwise come from household funds.
  • Country club or professional memberships: Paid fees and dues can reduce personal expenses during the marriage.
  • Travel or housing benefits: Employer payments may cover costs that the family would otherwise pay.
Courts do not treat every executive benefit the same way during a divorce. When a spouse earns a benefit, who owns it and how the plan pays it can all affect whether it forms part of the marital estate.

How courts may treat executive compensation

Texas generally presumes that property acquired during marriage is community property. Deferred compensation can raise questions because the payment date does not always determine whether the benefit forms part of the marital estate. The type of compensation and the terms of the plan can also affect that determination. Employer-paid perks can raises different issues. A company car or country club membership may belong to the employer rather than your spouse, which can affect whether the benefit itself is part of the marital estate. Even so, those perks may still help explain the financial value they provided during the marriage.

The compensation package can tell a bigger story

Base salary alone may not reflect the full value of an executive's compensation. Deferred payments and employer-paid benefits can contribute to the marital financial picture in different ways, depending on the type of benefit and the terms attached to it. Employment agreements, bonus plans and benefit statements often provide the details that distinguish one benefit from another. Together, they can paint a more complete picture of the compensation connected to the marriage.]]> by Cameron Thomas <![CDATA[WHOSE IS WHOSE – Establishing Separate Property in Your Divorce]]> https://www.maplesjones.com/?p=51921 2026-09-03T10:37:56Z 2026-05-31T18:01:35Z In a divorce, your biggest financial fight is always going to be over whose property is whose. Identifying separate property seems simple, but proving it to a court of law in a contentious divorce is a much heavier lift than most people realize. Establishing your separate property is critically important to prevent it from being divided or given to your spouse in a divorce and to ensure the rest of your marital estate is divided fairly. What is Separate Property Separate property is property owned entirely by one spouse and not subject to division in a divorce. Under Texas Family Code Section 3.001, separate property generally includes: ● Property owned or claimed by a spouse before marriage; ● Property acquired during marriage by gift, devise, or inheritance; and ● Recovery for personal injuries sustained during marriage, except for any portion representing lost earning capacity during the marriage. Community property, by contrast, includes most assets, income, and debts acquired by either spouse during the marriage and is presumed to belong to both spouses jointly. Texas is a community property state, meaning all property possessed by either spouse during or upon dissolution of the marriage is presumed to be community property unless proven otherwise. The spouse asserting a separate property claim bears the burden of rebutting that presumption. How to Prove Separate Property This is a substantial burden because the evidentiary standard for a separate property claim is “clear and convincing evidence,” one of the highest evidentiary standards in Texas civil law. Clear and convincing evidence means that there is a high likelihood that the assertions for which the evidence has been provided are true. Obtaining sufficient evidence is critical because failure to adequately trace separate property can result in the asset being characterized as community property and therefore subject to division by the court. Most often, this requires the assistance of an expert in separate property tracing, typically a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA), forensic accountant, or Certified Public Accountant (CPA) experienced in marital property characterization under Texas law. Separate property tracing requires, as the name implies, tracing separate property funds from their origin, whether prior to marriage, by inheritance, gift, or personal injury recovery, through bank accounts, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, real estate transactions, and other financial activity. The goal is to establish a continuous chain demonstrating that the property retained its separate character throughout the marriage. Courts generally require detailed financial documentation, including: ● Bank and brokerage statements; ● Wire transfer records; ● Closing documents; ● Retirement account statements; ● Transaction histories; ● Gift letters; ● Estate documents; and ● Accounting summaries or tracing schedules prepared by an expert. Any gaps in documentation, unexplained transfers, or commingling of separate and community funds can jeopardize a separate property claim. The more complete and organized the records, the more likely the court is to recognize the property as separate. Nuances of Separate Property Tracing Commingling and Mixed Character Property One of the most common issues in separate property tracing is commingling, which occurs when separate and community funds are mixed together. Because money is fungible, once funds are substantially commingled, it may become impossible to determine which dollars are separate and which are community. When tracing cannot be accomplished with reasonable certainty, Texas courts may characterize the entire account or asset as community property. However, commingling does not automatically destroy a separate property claim if the separate funds can still be adequately traced through accepted accounting methodologies such as: ● The clearinghouse method; ● Community-out-first presumption; ● Minimum balance method; or ● Identical sum inference. An experienced tracing expert may apply one or more of these methods to reconstruct account activity and preserve the separate character of funds despite extensive transactions. A common example of mixed-character property involves real estate. For instance, if one spouse receives a gift from a parent for the down payment on a home, that gifted contribution may remain separate property, while mortgage payments made during the marriage from earned income are generally community property. In these situations, the property may contain both separate and community interests. Texas courts often recognize reimbursement or economic contribution claims in these circumstances. The separate estate may be entitled to reimbursement for contributions that enhanced the value of community property, and vice versa. Valuation of the separate property interest is often based on the proportional contribution to the original purchase price, applied against the property’s current equity or value. Growth of Separate Property vs. Income from Separate Property Texas law distinguishes between appreciation of separate property and income generated by separate property. Generally: ● Appreciation or passive growth of separate property remains separate property; but ● Income generated from separate property during the marriage is community property. For example, if a spouse owns a separate property home before marriage, any increase in the home’s market value during the marriage remains separate property. However, rental income collected from tenants during the marriage is community property because it constitutes income generated during the marriage. This distinction becomes particularly complicated with investment and brokerage accounts. Capital appreciation of separate property investments retains its separate character, but dividends, interest payments, and distributions received during marriage are generally community property as income. Problems frequently arise when those community-property dividends are automatically reinvested into an otherwise separate- property investment account, creating commingling concerns. In those cases, a tracing expert may be required to distinguish: ● Original separate principal; ● Separate appreciation and market gains; ● Community income and reinvested dividends; and ● Subsequent purchases or transfers involving mixed funds. Retirement accounts also frequently require tracing analysis, particularly where contributions were made both before and during the marriage. Contributions made before marriage are generally separate property, while contributions and employer matches accrued during the marriage are usually community property. Investment growth attributable to each component must also be analyzed separately. Conclusion Separate property tracing is often one of the most complex financial issues in a Texas divorce. Because Texas law presumes that all property possessed during marriage is community property, the spouse asserting a separate property claim must present detailed, credible, and well-documented evidence to overcome that presumption. Even assets that began as clearly separate property can lose their separate character through commingling, inadequate records, or improper transfers. Successful tracing typically requires meticulous financial documentation and, in many cases, testimony or analysis from a qualified tracing expert. Properly identifying and protecting separate property interests can have a significant impact on the ultimate division of assets in a divorce proceeding, particularly in cases involving substantial investment accounts, real estate holdings, inheritances, or closely held businesses. Written By: Cameron Thomas ]]> by Molly Portwood-Kerrigan <![CDATA[Who, What, When, Where, and Why: The Basics of Discovery]]> https://www.maplesjones.com/?p=51914 2026-05-13T15:19:33Z 2026-04-24T15:17:09Z We’ve all seen it in legal dramas. The actors throw around the word “discovery” to scare opposing counsel like it’s a terrifying process. While dealing with discovery is time consuming and can involve a lot of work, it becomes significantly less intimidating with some understanding of the discovery process. It is also very common in family law disputes, even cases not destined for Court. In any litigation, including a divorce or custody dispute, both parties have the right to serve and conduct discovery on the other party. “Discovery” is an umbrella term and can be understood as the process of obtaining fact and evidence. Discovery is most useful in cases where one party does not have access to a lot of the financial assets or in high conflict cases regarding possession and conservatorship of the children. There are different kinds of discovery, including the following:
  • Requests for Production
  • Written Interrogatories
  • Requests for Admission
  • Request for Disclosure
  • Depositions
Different kinds of discovery achieve different results with regard to fact finding. Want to know how much money your ex makes so you can calculate child support? Serve them with a Request for Production asking them for documents related to their income. Want to know if your spouse has had an affair or even multiple affairs? Serve them with a Written Interrogatory asking them. Want your spouse to admit that they have a drug habit? Serve them with Requests for Admission asking them to admit to drug use. In most instances, once a discovery request is formally served on a party, that party must respond in thirty (30) days. If they fail to respond or their response is deficient, you can request the Court to issue a court order requiring a complete response and may be able to pursue a request for attorney’s fees. As mentioned, serving and responding to discovery is time and labor intensive, meaning it will make your case more costly. However, it is often necessary if the other party is unwilling to provide documents or information necessary for your case. If you’re considering pursuing a divorce or custody arrangement but feel as though you don’t have all the information about your spouse or co-parent, schedule a consultation with an attorney at Maples | Jones, PLLC to discuss your options so you can make informed decisions. Written By: Molly Portwood-Kerrigan]]> by Krissy Cooley <![CDATA[Think Before You Post]]> https://www.maplesjones.com/?p=51913 2026-05-12T21:56:03Z 2026-03-25T21:46:37Z Divorce is a life experience that can reshape everything—your routines, your relationships, your sense of identity. Even when it’s the right decision, it is still deeply hard.  This emotional life event can often spill into a habit many of us already have- using social media. Logging on to your social media and viewing, liking, sharing or commenting on posts can have consequences especially during a divorce.  Your digital footprint can impact possession schedule, child support and even property division. How can my own social media be used against me? While navigating a divorce or other litigation, your social media becomes more than just a place to vent your feelings, it becomes a key location to create evidence. The court views your social media behavior as real life evidence, not just “venting”.  Often your photos, instant messages, likes, status updates and comments can find their way into evidence in a court room.
  • Your posts can create a timeline including time stamps for the creation of new relationships, spending habits, and other behaviors.
 
  • Posting negative comments about your ex online can amplify an already hostile relationship. It might feel good in the moment to vent about an ex online, but it could come back to haunt you, especially in a custody matter. Expressing negative comments about your ex can also encourage others like friends or family members to pile on, creating drama that can make matters worse.
 
  • Sharing details of new partners online can lead to questions about finances, judgment and priorities and even impact possession orders.
 
  • Posts showing photos and videos or partying can be used to challenge your character and priorities. Sharing posts about your behaviors can produce evidence that can be used to impact custody decisions.
 
  • Emotional posts can create evidence that can be used to frame mental health concerns, substance abuse and other safety concerns. Even if your feelings are valid, sharing online can show hostility, suggest poor judgment and underline your credibility.
 
  • Private does not mean posts are protected. Friends or family can screenshot posts and share with others.
 
  • Posting content about your litigation online can also lead to increased legal fees. Online behavior can attract attention that your legal team may need to monitor, and this could cause longer legal battles.
 
  • Children are tech savvy, posting online could lead to your children reading your negative comments about their own parent.
 
  • Emoji’s count too… increasingly courts have accepted the commonly accepted meanings of emoji and hashtags as evidence.
These are only a short list of some of the issues that can arise from sharing details about your life online during a divorce. Because online content is difficult to erase completely, before you share something online during litigation, pause and consider “Would I be ok with a judge reading this”. Although this is one of the most difficult times in life to navigate, try to lean on trusted friends or professionals for help rather than posting your feelings publicly.  And remember when in doubt, post less.   Written By: Krissy Cooley ]]>