The final option, which I do not recommend, mostly because it is incredibly expensive and not very effective, is litigation or “going to trial.” And honestly, very few family law cases actually make it to trial in Texas, likely due to the mediation requirement discussed previously. The typical trial process begins when one “party” files a “Petition” and “serves” the other “party,” meaning one person files a document with the court clerk and has a constable or private process server hand the other person a copy of the court paperwork. The person who was “served” has “until 10am on the Monday next after 20 days,” to either sign a waiver or file an “Answer.” (In plain English, to calculate the actual deadline, take a calendar, start with the day after service as 1 and count to 20, and then find the date of the next Monday.) Once an Answer is filed, the actual work begins, including discovery (the process whereby the attorneys request information from each other), depositions (an oral question and answer session where an attorney grills the other side), and hearings (a conversation with the judge to decide something), etc. As I mentioned previously, going to court is very time-consuming and expensive. And before you can get in front of a judge, you’ll likely have to go to mediation. I hope, therefore, that you will consider starting with mediation, so that we can attempt to complete this divorce in the most amicable and cost effective manner possible.