There is no legal separation in the state of Texas. Texas is a “no fault” state when it comes to divorce. “No fault” means that you may request the Texas Court to grant you a divorce for the simple reason that you want a divorce. You do not need to prove fault by you or your spouse to request a Court to end your marriage in Texas.
However, if a person commits adultery during the marriage, the other spouse may request that the Court grant a disproportionate division of the community estate due to the other spouse’s infidelity. Even if a person commits infidelity after either that person or their spouse has filed for divorce in Texas, the Court still considers these actions to be infidelity. If the Court finds that there has been infidelity during the marriage, even after the divorce has been filed, the Court can award a disproportionate division of the community estate in favor of the person whose spouse committed adultery.
Additionally, if you begin dating while going through a divorce in Texas, your spouse can request that the community estate be reimbursed for any funds you spent on the person or persons you dated during the divorce process.
The advice I give all my clients going through a divorce in Texas is simple: “Don’t have a Next until you have an Ex.”