Best Austin Uncontested Divorce Lawyer for Agreed Divorces
If you and your spouse both want out and you agree on the big things, you do not need a courtroom war to end your marriage. An uncontested divorce — Texas also calls it an agreed divorce — is the calm, lower-cost path, and it moves fast when the paperwork is right the first time. We are a small Austin law firm that handles these on a flat fee, so you know the number before you start. Free consultation: (512) 561-5003.
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Key Takeaways
- An uncontested or agreed divorce in Texas resolves every issue by agreement, which makes it faster and far cheaper than a contested case.
- You both have to agree on everything — child custody, support, property, and debts. Partial agreement puts you on the contested track.
- A divorce attorney earns their keep on the property split and the decree wording, not on courtroom argument.
- We handle agreed divorces on a flat fee, so you know the cost before the case starts.
Uncontested and Agreed Divorce in Austin: What It Means
Written and legally reviewed by Shane M. Boasberg, founding attorney at SMB Law, PC, licensed in Texas since 2003. Last updated August 26, 2026.
An uncontested divorce is the simplest kind Texas offers. You and your spouse agree on every term, so there is nothing left for a judge to decide. Property division, custody, and support are settled between the two of you before anything reaches the court.
Be honest about whether it fits. An agreed divorce works when both spouses are on roughly equal footing and can talk in good faith. Where there is family violence, a serious imbalance of power, or a suspicion that one spouse is hiding assets, the agreed route can quietly shortchange you and a contested case protects you better. We will tell you straight which one you are in.
When it fits, the payoff is real: no drawn-out hearings, far smaller bills, and most couples finished in a few months on steadier terms. The case ends with an agreed final decree both spouses sign. That decree divides your property, sets support, and spells out custody, so its wording matters long after the case closes.
Who Can File for an Uncontested Divorce in Texas?
To qualify, both spouses have to agree on everything, not just most things. Custody, property, support, debts. That full agreement is what keeps the case off the dispute track.
Agreeing early does not lock you in. If a real disagreement surfaces after filing, the case can turn contested. If one spouse refuses to participate at all, the other can still petition for a default divorce — the case proceeds without them once the deadline to answer passes, though the terms still have to be ones a judge will sign.
When both spouses cooperate, the responding spouse usually signs a notarized Waiver of Service instead of being formally served, which saves a step and a few hundred dollars. Sign it in front of a notary and not before the petition is filed, or it does not count.
One local note: the day you file in Travis County a standing order takes effect telling both spouses not to hide money, cancel insurance, take the children out of the area, or harass each other while the case is pending. It binds you both immediately, and people get themselves in trouble in the first week because nobody told them it existed.
Why Hire an Austin Uncontested Divorce Attorney?
A good lawyer changes how an agreed divorce feels. We explain where you stand and walk you through each step. If your spouse’s attorney drafts the decree, we read it closely before you sign — whoever writes it tends to write it in their own client’s favor.
The biggest reason to have counsel is the property split. Miss an asset, a debt, or a tax consequence and it costs you quietly for years. We make sure everything is accounted for and divided cleanly.
Texas does not require a lawyer for an uncontested divorce, and you do not have to hire us. Plenty of simple agreed cases with no children and no real property genuinely can be done without counsel, and we will say so if that is your situation.
What you are buying, when you do hire someone, is knowing how the Travis County District Clerk and the local courts actually handle these filings, and having somebody read the decree who is not emotionally invested in ending the process quickly. Shane M. Boasberg has practiced Texas family law since 2003, and that experience is what keeps a small mistake from reopening a closed case.
The Legal Process for Uncontested Divorce in Austin
Filing an agreed divorce in Texas follows a clear path. First the residency rule: one spouse must have lived in Texas six months and in the filing county 90 days.
One spouse then files an Original Petition for Divorce with the district clerk — in Austin, the Travis County District Clerk downtown. Texas has streamlined agreed cases without children or real property down to a single official form, and eFileTexas lets you submit online instead of standing in line on Guadalupe Street. The other spouse is then served, or signs a waiver.
After that it is accuracy. A misspelled name, a missing signature, or a legal description of the house that does not match the deed will bounce the packet and cost you weeks. Judges in Travis County do read these, and a decree that does not track the statute gets sent back.
Two things worth knowing. Uncontested filings keep your settlement terms largely private, which matters more than people expect when a business or an inheritance is involved. And if the fees are a hardship, Texas lets you file an Affidavit of Inability to Pay to ask the court to waive them.
Before filing, gather proof of Texas and county residency, a list of every asset and debt with account numbers, recent statements for anything being divided, the deed and mortgage information if a house is in play, and if you have children, the parenting plan and the income figures the support calculation runs on. Having that ready at the first meeting is the difference between filing next week and filing next month.
Key Issues Addressed in Uncontested Divorces
A friendly divorce still has to settle the same core issues, just without the fight. Spousal support comes first for some couples: you decide together whether one spouse needs help getting back on their feet, and for how long. Put it in writing.
If you have kids, custody and child support are the heart of it. Agree on a parenting arrangement and a support amount that fits the Texas guidelines and fits your children. Spell it out clearly now and you head off the disputes that surface a year later.
Then property. Texas is a community property state, so what you built during the marriage is generally shared, and an agreed divorce still requires both spouses to disclose their finances fully. An agreement built on an incomplete picture is not really an agreement.
Do not forget the debts. Credit cards, car loans, and the mortgage get divided too, and the decree should name who pays what — because your lender does not care what the decree says and will chase you both. If a house is staying with one spouse, the decree needs a deadline to refinance, not just an intention to.
Splitting a retirement account usually needs a separate qualified domestic relations order to actually move the money; a decree alone does not do it, and finding that out years later is a common and painful surprise. A name change can go in the decree at no extra cost, and it is far easier now than as a separate case later.
How Long Does an Uncontested Divorce Take in Austin?
Most uncontested divorces in Austin take two to four months. Texas requires a mandatory 60-day waiting period from the day you file, and nothing can be finalized before it ends.
After that you finish with a short prove-up hearing where a judge confirms the terms and signs the decree. In some agreed cases without children, a Travis County court may let you complete the prove-up by written affidavit instead of appearing. What actually stretches a timeline is court scheduling and paperwork errors, not the agreement.
How Much Does an Uncontested Divorce Cost in Texas?
Court filing fees in Texas run a few hundred dollars and vary by county. Add attorney help and an agreed divorce still lands far below a contested one, where bills climb into the tens of thousands and cases with children run higher because of custody evaluations and extra hearings. Keeping your divorce agreed is the single biggest thing you control about what it costs.
Because the work is predictable, we handle most uncontested cases on a flat fee rather than an open-ended hourly bill — you know the price before we start, with no surprise invoices. That fee typically covers drafting the petition and final decree, preparing the waiver and supporting forms, and walking you through the prove-up. Call for an exact quote. If you are comparing prices, ask every firm you call whether it quotes a flat fee and exactly what that fee covers.
So what does an uncontested divorce cost in Texas in practice? Filing runs roughly $300 in Travis County, a bit more if children are involved. A flat-fee agreed divorce handled by Austin uncontested divorce attorneys generally lands in the low four figures, and a contested case with custody in dispute can run twenty times that. The variable is not the lawyer. It is whether the two of you stay agreed.
You keep it down further by staying organized: settle the terms up front, gather the financial documents before the first meeting, and do not reopen questions you have already answered. Every reopened question is another round of drafting.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Uncontested Divorces
An agreed divorce spares you the courtroom grind, but it is not automatic, and sloppy paperwork is the usual reason one stalls. The avoidable mistakes: naming an asset without saying who keeps it, leaving a debt unassigned, forgetting to update beneficiaries, or vague custody language that invites a fight later. One wrong figure means redoing forms and waiting on the court again.
This is where an experienced hand helps most. We catch the small mistakes before they cost you and confirm the final agreement is fair and actually binding.
What Our Clients Get From Having Counsel
An amicable divorce is still a legal one, and having counsel means both spouses walk away on solid ground. What you get is a clear read on Texas family law and a decree built to hold up over time.
We see the alternative often: a couple agrees on everything, files on their own, and months later finds the decree never addressed a retirement account, left a joint debt unassigned, or used a possession schedule that falls apart at the first holiday. Cleaning that up afterward means a new filing, new fees, and the cooperation of an ex-spouse who no longer has any reason to cooperate.
A careful review before signing prevents exactly that. It is also the cheapest hour you will spend on the case. If you are comparing Austin uncontested divorce attorneys, ask each of them what they check in a decree before a client signs it — the answers will tell you a lot.
Talk to an Austin Uncontested Divorce Lawyer Near You
The first step is a free consultation where we talk through your situation and lay out the options, no pressure. Our office is at 1204 San Antonio Street in downtown Austin, a few blocks from the Travis County Civil and Family Courthouse.
We help clients across Travis, Williamson, and Hays counties finish an agreed divorce the right way. Call SMB Law, PC at (512) 561-5003 or request a free consultation.
Summary
An uncontested divorce is the calmer, more affordable way to end a marriage when you and your spouse agree. Understand the steps, settle the issues honestly, and let a lawyer handle the paperwork. Texas is a no-fault state, so nobody has to prove wrongdoing — one spouse simply has to believe the marriage cannot be fixed.
If you are weighing an uncontested divorce in Austin, we are glad to help you do it right. You handled the hard part by agreeing. Let us handle the paperwork so it holds.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is an uncontested or agreed divorce?
An uncontested divorce is one where both spouses agree on every term, so no judge has to settle a dispute. That agreement makes the process faster, cheaper, and far less stressful than a contested case, and it usually lets both people move on with less conflict.
Who can file for an uncontested divorce in Texas?
Any couple that agrees on all the terms can file, as long as one spouse meets the Texas residency rule of six months in the state and 90 days in the county. You will need to agree on child custody, property division, and support to keep the case uncontested.
How long does an uncontested divorce take in Austin?
In Austin, an uncontested divorce usually takes two to four months. That includes the mandatory 60-day waiting period Texas requires before any divorce can be finalized. The case ends with a final decree that locks in your agreement on custody, property, and support.
How much does an uncontested divorce cost in Texas?
Filing fees run a few hundred dollars in Travis County, and an agreed divorce costs a fraction of a contested one. We handle most on a flat fee, so you know the number before we start rather than watching an hourly bill grow. Call for an exact quote on your situation.
Do I need an attorney for an uncontested divorce?
You are not required to. It helps because an attorney makes sure the paperwork meets Texas requirements, protects your share of the property, and keeps the case from stalling on a fixable error. Knowing Travis County’s specific filing procedures is most of that value.
Uncontested Divorce Lawyers Serving Nearby Communities
SMB Law, PC represents clients across Central Texas. Choose your city for local court, filing, and case details: