Williamson County, TX · Free Consultation
Round Rock, 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
A divorce is contested when you and your spouse disagree about something that matters, which is most divorces. The useful thing a Round Rock contested divorce lawyer gives you early is a map: what happens, in what order, and roughly what it costs. Shane M. Boasberg has been licensed in Texas since 2003 and sets those expectations himself in the first meeting.
Many Round Rock divorces involve two working parents, a home bought in a competitive market, and retirement or stock accounts tied to the area’s tech employers — assets that take real work to value and divide fairly.
Where a Round Rock contested divorce is filed
Round Rock sits mostly in Williamson County, so the petition goes to the Williamson County District Clerk at the Justice Center in Georgetown. A wreck of a marriage in the southern edge of the city can still belong in Travis County, so we confirm the address first.
There is a threshold before any of that. 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. People who moved here recently for a job get caught by the ninety-day piece more often than the six-month one.
The sixty-day floor, and what actually sets the timeline
Tex. Fam. Code § 6.702 bars a court from granting a divorce until sixty days after the petition is filed. That is a floor, not an estimate. The exception is narrow: the waiting period does not apply where there is a protective order or a criminal conviction for family violence against the other spouse.
What actually determines the length of a contested case is discovery, the court’s docket, and how far apart the two sides are on money. A Round Rock case with disputed property or a custody fight commonly runs six months to a year. Anyone who promises you a date in the first meeting is guessing.
Temporary orders: the first real fight
Long before the final decree, a temporary orders hearing sets the interim rules. Who stays in the house. How the mortgage gets paid. What the parenting schedule looks like for the next several months. Temporary support.
Clients underestimate this hearing routinely, and it is a mistake. Whatever arrangement runs for eight months has a way of becoming the arrangement a judge is reluctant to disturb at final trial. The status quo is an argument, and temporary orders are where it gets created.
How Texas divides the estate
Texas is a community property state. Tex. Fam. Code § 3.002 defines community property as everything either spouse acquired during marriage other than separate property, and § 3.003 presumes all property held at dissolution is community. Rebutting that presumption takes clear and convincing evidence, which is a real evidentiary burden, not a conversation.
Then comes § 7.001, which directs the court to divide the estate in a manner it deems just and right. Just and right does not mean equal. A judge can and does consider fault in the breakup, disparity in earning capacity, health, who has primary custody of the children, and the size of each spouse’s separate estate. A sixty-forty division is unremarkable when the facts support it.
Where Round Rock cases get complicated
The property fight in this city usually has a technology company in it somewhere. Restricted stock units, options, and bonus plans tied to the Dell corridor employers are community property to the extent they were earned during the marriage, and the phrase doing the work there is to the extent. A grant made during the marriage that vests two years after the divorce is divided by formula, not by instinct, and the formula depends on what the grant was compensating: past service or future retention.
Getting that characterization right is worth more than most of what happens in the courtroom. It is also the single most common place we see people leave money behind by agreeing to a number before anyone valued the grants.
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 Round Rock
Our office is about 20 miles south in downtown Austin, a 25-to-35-minute drive down I-35. We handle most Round Rock divorce consultations and check-ins 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, the Williamson County way
Contested cases from Round Rock are tried at the Williamson County Justice Center in Georgetown — and the county’s standing order freezes the status quo from day one: kids stay in Texas and in their school, records stay intact, accounts stay put, converting to a temporary injunction after 14 days. That shapes leverage from the first filing.
Most contested cases end at mediation rather than trial, and Williamson County courts generally expect the parties to have gone before a final setting. That is not a formality either. Under Tex. Fam. Code § 6.602, a mediated settlement agreement that meets the statutory requirements — a bolded, capitalized statement that it is not subject to revocation, signed by both parties and both lawyers — is binding, and a party is entitled to judgment on it. You cannot sleep on it and change your mind the next morning. Go to mediation prepared, and do not sign anything at eleven at night that you have not read.
Divorce in Round Rock touches many issues at once — we also represent clients in an uncontested filing, protecting significant assets, and parenting and custody rights, and our Austin contested divorce attorneys can walk you through your options.
Frequently asked questions
Can my spouse stop the divorce by refusing to sign?
No. Texas allows divorce on the ground of insupportability under Tex. Fam. Code § 6.001, which requires no fault and no agreement. A spouse who refuses to participate can slow a case down and make it more expensive, but cannot prevent it. If they will not respond at all, the case proceeds by default.
Does cheating change what I get?
It can, though less than people expect. Adultery is a fault ground under § 6.003, and because § 7.001 requires a division that is just and right rather than equal, a court may weigh fault in dividing the estate. Whether it moves the number in your case depends on the evidence and on how much community money was spent on the affair. It has essentially no bearing on custody unless the conduct affected the children.
Is everything split fifty-fifty?
No. Texas divides the community estate in whatever manner the court deems just and right under § 7.001, considering fault, earning capacity, health, custody of the children, and each spouse’s separate property. Equal is common. Equal is not the rule. Separate property, meaning what you owned before marriage or received by gift or inheritance, is not divided at all, but proving something is separate takes clear and convincing evidence.
What does a contested divorce cost in Round Rock?
Family cases are billed hourly against a retainer. What drives the total is how much you and your spouse disagree, and how long you keep disagreeing. A case that settles at mediation costs a fraction of one that is tried. We put the rate and the retainer in writing before you commit, and we will tell you when a position is not worth what it will cost to hold.
Do I have to travel to Austin from Round Rock?
No. Our office is about twenty miles south on I-35, and we handle Round Rock 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 outcome usually turns on preparation rather than volume. 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.