Williamson County, TX · Free Consultation
Cedar Park, TX Contested Divorce Lawyer
What Our Clients Say
Written and reviewed by Shane M. Boasberg, founder of SMB Law, PC · Licensed in Texas since 2003 · Updated September 2026
The hardest stretch of a divorce is usually the middle, when the case is filed and nothing is decided but the mortgage is still due on the first. What a Cedar Park contested divorce lawyer does in those first weeks — getting temporary orders that actually work — sets the tone for everything after. Shane M. Boasberg has been licensed in Texas since 2003 and handles that hearing himself.
Cedar Park divorces frequently involve families with school-age kids in the Leander ISD area and a home that is both the biggest asset and the center of the parenting question.
Where a Cedar Park contested divorce is filed
Cedar Park straddles the Williamson-Travis line. Most of the city files with the Williamson County District Clerk in Georgetown; an address in the southern reach can belong in Travis County instead, so we confirm it before anything goes on file.
There is a threshold first. Tex. Fam. Code § 6.301 requires that one spouse has been a Texas resident for the preceding six months and a resident of the filing county for the preceding ninety days. In a city this transient, the ninety-day county requirement trips people up more often than the state one, and moving across the county line mid-separation can reset it.
Temporary orders: the hearing people underestimate
Tex. Fam. Code § 6.502 lets a court enter temporary orders while a divorce is pending. In practice that hearing decides who lives in the house, who pays the mortgage and the other bills, whether temporary spousal support is ordered, and what the parenting schedule looks like for the next several months.
Clients treat it as a preliminary. It is not. Whatever arrangement runs for eight or ten months becomes the status quo, and a judge at final trial is reluctant to disturb an arrangement that has been working. The schedule you accept in month one has a way of becoming the schedule in the decree.
The sixty-day floor
Under § 6.702 a court cannot grant a divorce until sixty days after the petition is filed. That is a minimum, not a forecast. The exception is narrow, applying where there is a protective order or a family-violence conviction involving the other spouse. A contested Cedar Park case with property or custody disputes commonly runs six months to a year.
How Texas divides the estate
Texas is a community property state. Section 3.002 defines community property as everything either spouse acquired during marriage other than separate property, and § 3.003 presumes all property on hand at dissolution is community. Rebutting that presumption requires clear and convincing evidence.
Then § 7.001 directs the court to divide the estate in a manner that is just and right. Just and right is not the same as equal. Fault, earning capacity, health, custody of the children, and the size of each separate estate all bear on it.
The house, and the claim most people never make
In Cedar Park the house is usually both the largest asset and the center of the custody question, and it is where the most money gets left on the table.
Here is the situation we see constantly. One spouse owned the home before the marriage, so the house is separate property. For twelve years, community income — both paychecks — paid down that mortgage and funded a kitchen renovation. The house does not become community property, but the community has a claim.
Tex. Fam. Code § 3.402 recognizes a claim for reimbursement, including for the reduction of principal on separate-property debt and for capital improvements paid with community funds. It is not automatic. It has to be pleaded and proven, with records, and § 3.402(b) allows offsets for the benefit the community received from living there. Spouses who do not know the claim exists routinely sign it away.
What will this actually cost?
Our divorce cost calculator walks through the factors that drive a Texas divorce bill and gives you a realistic range before you commit to anything.
Try the Texas Divorce Cost CalculatorWorking with us from Cedar Park
We are about 18 miles southeast in downtown Austin, a 25-to-30-minute drive on US-183. We handle most Cedar Park divorce work by phone and video.
At SMB Law, PC you work with Shane M. Boasberg directly. He has been licensed in Texas since 2003 and has spent those years in Central Texas family courts. You get his read on your case in plain English, including the parts you may not want to hear.
Why clients choose SMB Law, PC
- Direct attorney access — you talk to Shane, not a call center or a rotating case manager.
- Straight answers about cost — if a position will cost more to litigate than it is worth, we say so before you spend the money.
- Settlement where it serves you, trial where it does not — most of these resolve at mediation, and the cases that should be tried get tried.
- Fees in writing — the rate and the retainer, explained before you sign.
What working with us looks like
- Confidential consultation to understand your goals and the law that applies.
- Strategy and records tailored to your situation.
- Negotiation or court — we settle when we can and litigate when we must.
- Resolution implemented correctly so you can move on.
Contested divorce for Cedar Park families
These cases are tried at the Williamson County Justice Center in Georgetown, and the county’s standing order governs both spouses from filing day: children stay in Texas and in their school, records stay intact, and accounts stay put. It converts to a temporary injunction after fourteen days unless contested.
One local detail matters more than people expect in the custody piece. Most of Cedar Park is in Leander ISD, not a district named for the city, and attendance zones here cross municipal lines in ways that surprise people. A school-stability argument built on the wrong assumption falls apart quickly, so bring the actual campus and the actual drive time from both households. Whitestone corridor commutes become schedule evidence in exactly the same way.
Most of these resolve at mediation rather than trial. That matters procedurally: under Tex. Fam. Code § 6.602, a mediated settlement agreement meeting the statutory requirements is binding and a party is entitled to judgment on it. There is no next-morning change of heart. Go prepared, and do not sign anything at eleven at night that you have not read.
Because a Cedar Park divorce overlaps with related matters, we also help with an uncontested filing, protecting significant assets, and parenting and custody rights — see the SMB Law contested divorce team.
Frequently asked questions
Who pays the mortgage while the divorce is pending?
Whoever the temporary orders say. Under Tex. Fam. Code § 6.502 a court can decide who stays in the home and how the mortgage and other bills are handled until the case is final, and it can order temporary support to make that work. Until orders are entered, both names are still on the note and the lender does not care that you are divorcing. Missed payments in that gap damage both of you.
Should I move out of the house?
Talk to a lawyer before you do. Moving out does not forfeit your interest in the property, and the internet advice saying otherwise is wrong. What it can affect is the parenting question: a parent who leaves and sees the children on weekends for eight months has created a status quo that is hard to undo at final trial. Sometimes leaving is still the right call. It should be a decision, not a reaction.
The house was mine before we married. Is it safe?
The house stays separate property, but the community may have a reimbursement claim under § 3.402 for community income that paid down the mortgage principal or funded improvements. That claim has to be pleaded and proven with records, and it can be offset by the benefit the community got from living there. Either way, do not assume the pre-marriage purchase ends the conversation.
What does a contested divorce cost in Cedar Park?
Family cases are billed hourly against a retainer. What drives the total is how much you and your spouse disagree, and for how long. A case that settles at mediation costs a fraction of one that is tried. The rate and retainer go in writing before you commit.
Do I have to travel to Austin from Cedar Park?
No. Our office is about eighteen miles southeast on US-183, and we handle Cedar Park consultations and case updates by phone and video whenever that is easier for you.
A contested divorce is a negotiation with a courtroom behind it, and the months in the middle are the ones that shape the result. If you are considering filing, or you have just been served, the most useful thing you can do this week is get an honest read on where you stand. Call SMB Law, PC at (512) 561-5003 for a free and confidential consultation.