Victoria, TX Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

File for nullity and in the alternative for divorce. If he makes more than you and you have children see an attorney. You could have a putative marriage and get support and a property division. See a CPA about your taxes.

You can have him served with the divorce papers. That way he doesn't have to sign. You'll have to get the court clerk to issue a citation and hire the sheriff or a process server to serve him. Then if he does nothing you can get your divorce.

There is no proper legal status called a "legal separation."  It is legal, meaning not unlawful, for spouses to separate at any time, with or without the ultimate goal of obtaining a divorce.  In practice, spouses usually separate at or before the time one files for a divorce.Your marital status as of the end of your tax year will determine what marital status to claim on your federal tax returns. Your accountant would best be able to explain to you whether it will be to your advantage to complete a divorce proceeding before the end of the year to take advantage of the "single" filing status or whether it would be to your advantage to wait to complete a divorce next year in order to file either a "joint" tax return or "married, filing separately."There is a mandatory sixty day waiting period in Texas from the time you file for divorce before a divorce can actually be granted.  In practice, because of the time it usually takes to negotiate and prepare a final decree of divorce and schedule time with the court for a prove-up, I'd give it six months.