Family Law Attorney in Dallas, Texas
When does it make sense to take a family law case to trial?
When does it make sense to take a family law case to trial?
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00:04
that’s a great question taking a case to
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trial
00:09
can be dependent on a number of
00:10
different factors but ultimately it’s
00:12
going to be because you and the other
00:14
side could not agree
00:16
you know on what color the sky is so
00:19
hopefully you can agree on certain
00:22
aspects
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and limit what you’re actually taking to
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trial
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but a lot of the time if you’re going to
00:28
trial you’re trying everything so in a
00:30
typical
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divorce case you can’t agree on child
00:35
custody let’s say
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that one person wants a 50 50 division
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or i should say a 50 50 possession
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schedule
00:43
of the kids and the other is dead set
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that that is not a good idea okay so
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when you have
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a philosophical impasse on something
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like that
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that’s where you’re going to go to trial
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or let’s say you’ve got
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both spouses have been involved in this
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business
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that they that they created and it’s
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worth a lot of money
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well neither side is agreeing
01:10
to buy out the other side so
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that might be something that you want to
01:15
take to trial although
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you run a risk with that because a court
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can do what is called division in kind
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which means
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i’m going to let both of y’all own it 50
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50
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and y’all can just figure out what
01:29
you’re doing the court can order it sold
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and maybe neither party wants that maybe
01:34
it’s a bad time to sell that business
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and it kicks off a lot of cash
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so there are a lot of different things
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that a court can do there
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and you really want to look long and
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hard
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at am i better off settling for
01:48
something that i can live with
01:50
rather than trying to get the home run
01:52
in court
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Dallas, TX family law attorney Mark Scroggins explains when it makes sense to take a family law case to trial. He explains that taking a case to trial depends on several factors, but at its core, it happens because the parties simply cannot agree. In most cases, there are some points of agreement, which can help narrow the issues that actually go to trial.
In a typical divorce, disagreements over child custody are common. For example, one spouse might want a 50/50 possession schedule while the other firmly opposes it. When there’s a philosophical impasse like that, trial becomes necessary.
Similarly, if both spouses are involved in a jointly owned business and neither agrees to buy out the other, that issue may also go to trial. However, he warns that courts have multiple options: they can order a division in kind, allowing both parties to retain 50/50 ownership, or order the business sold, which might not be ideal if it’s a bad time to sell or could trigger significant tax or cash-flow issues.
His advice: carefully consider whether it’s better to settle for something you can live with rather than risk pursuing a “home run” in court. The stakes and potential outcomes of trial are often unpredictable.
