Where Do You File for Divorce in Bexar County, and What Does It Take?

Everything starts at the Bexar County District Clerk’s Central Filing Department. You file an Original Petition for Divorce, pay the clerk’s fee, get a case number and a court assignment, and the clock starts.

The filing part is not the hard part.

Texas divorce runs on community property rules, a mandatory 60-day wait, and a division of assets the judge considers just and right. How that actually plays out depends on where you file, what is in your marriage, and how much the two of you agree.

Here is how the process works in this courthouse specifically: who qualifies to file, where to go, what happens after, and the point where handling it yourself stops making sense.

Who Can File for Divorce in Bexar County

Before anything else, the court has to have jurisdiction. Under Texas Family Code Section 6.301, that means two residency requirements, and the same spouse has to meet both.

Lived in Texas for at least six months before filing, and
Lived in Bexar County for at least 90 days before filing

Only one of you needs to qualify. You cannot combine your six months in Texas with your spouse’s 90 days in Bexar County. You also do not file where you got married. What matters is where one of you has actually been living.

Military families: time spent in Texas under orders may count toward residency, and Texas law makes allowances for active-duty service members. The answer depends on your specific facts, so confirm it before you file rather than after a judge questions your petition.

Where to File and What to Bring

Family law cases for the county are handled by the District Clerk’s Office.

Bexar County District Clerk, Central Filing Department
Paul Elizondo Tower
101 W. Nueva, Suite 217
San Antonio, TX 78205

Filing hours run Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It sits in downtown San Antonio across from the courthouse, parking is limited enough that a garage or rideshare is worth it, and you go through security on the way in. Confirm current hours and location on the District Clerk’s site before you make the trip.

What to have with you:

Photo ID
Your Original Petition for Divorce, plus copies
The Civil District Judge’s Standing Order, which has to be attached to every new divorce petition
A signed Waiver of Service if your spouse agreed to sign one, or a plan for formal service if they did not
Payment by cash, credit, or money order

The clerk charges $350 to file a divorce or annulment with no children, or $401 with children, according to the published fee schedule. Service, certified copies, and the costs people forget are covered in the full breakdown of Bexar County divorce filing fees.

Ask for your case number and assigned court before you leave. You can also file through the Texas eFile system, though local rules still apply and court assignments come back through official notices.

The Seven Steps of a Bexar County Divorce

Once the petition is filed, the case can move fast or stall out, and that depends almost entirely on how much you disagree.

1. File the Original Petition for Divorce

This starts the case. It names both spouses and states what you are asking the court for: property division, custody, support, and anything else in dispute.

2. Serve the other party, unless they waive it

Your spouse has to be legally notified. Either they sign a Waiver of Service, or a constable or licensed process server delivers it. Service is one of the easiest places to lose weeks, because doing it through the wrong channel can mean starting over.

3. Temporary orders, if you need them

If someone needs a decision now about who stays in the house, who has the children, or how bills get paid while the case runs, that comes through temporary orders. Common in contested cases, rare in agreed ones.

4. Discovery and disclosures

Both sides exchange bank records, pay stubs, tax returns, and property inventories. Standard disclosure rules apply unless the court modifies them.

5. Mediation

Most contested divorces in Bexar County go to mediation before trial. A neutral third party helps you settle without leaving the decision to a judge. Mediators set their own rates, so ask what the session costs before you book it.

6. Final hearing or trial

If you reach agreement, it goes in as an Agreed Final Decree of Divorce and one spouse appears for a short prove-up hearing. If you do not, the court sets a trial date and the judge decides every open issue.

7. The Final Decree

The decree dissolves the marriage and contains every ruling on property, debt, custody, and support. Once a judge signs it, it is enforceable, and the property division inside it is generally not modifiable afterward. That is why the wording matters more than people expect.

How Long a Bexar County Divorce Takes

Texas will not let a judge grant a divorce before the 60th day after filing, under Texas Family Code Section 6.702. The only exception involves a family violence conviction or deferred adjudication tied to the marriage.

Sixty days is the floor, not the estimate.

Agreed cases usually run two to four months once you account for signatures, service, and waiting for a docket slot. Some Bexar County courts book prove-up hearings weeks out during busy periods.

Contested cases typically take six to twelve months, and complex ones involving custody disputes or substantial assets can run past a year.

What stretches a case out: disputes over children or business assets, hidden income, a spouse who stops responding, last-minute disagreements before trial, and courthouse scheduling backlogs. Even agreed cases slow down when paperwork comes back for correction.

Not sure which category you are in? Two checks tell you whether your divorce actually qualifies as uncontested. If it does, the timeline and full cost picture are broken down in the uncontested divorce guide for Bexar County. If cost is the main concern, there are affordable and flat fee options in San Antonio worth understanding before you hire anyone.

How Property and Debt Get Divided

Texas is a community property state. Anything earned or acquired during the marriage is presumed to belong to both spouses, regardless of whose name is on the account or the title.

Presumed does not mean split down the middle.

Community property

Income earned during the marriage
Homes, vehicles, and anything else bought while married
Retirement accounts and pensions
Credit cards, personal loans, and other joint debt

Separate property

Anything owned before the marriage
Gifts and inheritances, even received during the marriage
Personal injury settlements, excluding lost wages and medical expenses

Claiming something as separate puts the burden on you to prove it with documentation. Without that proof, the court treats it as community property.

Factors Bexar County judges weigh when dividing: differences in earning capacity, who has primary custody, whether a spouse wasted or hid assets, any history of family violence or financial abuse, and whether spousal maintenance is on the table.

Debt works the same way. A credit card in your name alone still gets divided if the balance came from joint household expenses.

If you are trying to protect separate property, gather the paperwork early. Bank records, deeds, and account statements showing when and how you acquired it are what the court wants to see. Retirement accounts deserve particular attention, because dividing retirement assets usually takes a separate order and is one of the most common things a decree gets wrong.

Custody and Child Support in Bexar County Cases

When children are involved, Texas courts apply one standard above all others: the best interest of the child. That does not automatically mean an even split of time, and it does not favor a parent based on gender.

Conservatorship is what Texas calls custody

Joint Managing Conservatorship. The most common outcome. Both parents share decisions about education, healthcare, and religion.
Sole Managing Conservatorship. One parent makes the major decisions. Usually reserved for cases involving abuse, neglect, or an absent parent.

Possession and access is what Texas calls visitation

Absent a reason to do otherwise, courts apply the Standard Possession Order: first, third, and fifth weekends each month, Thursday evenings during the school year, and extended time over summer, spring break, and holidays.

You can agree to something different. If the schedule works for the child, courts generally approve it.

Child support

Child support follows statewide guidelines applied to the paying parent’s net resources: 20 percent for one child, 25 percent for two, and 30 percent for three, with adjustments for other support obligations and unusual circumstances. Payments are typically withheld from wages and routed through the Texas State Disbursement Unit.

What judges watch for in custody cases: who has been the primary caregiver, each parent’s ability to meet the child’s needs, any history of violence, neglect, or alienation, and whether each parent will actually co-parent and follow orders.

Nobody expects a perfect parent. Courts respond to consistency and follow-through.

When You Actually Need an Attorney

Plenty of people file in Bexar County without one, and for genuinely simple cases that works.

What changes the math is not the filing. It is what shows up afterward.

Get a lawyer involved if:

You have children and need custody, support, or a possession schedule sorted out
You own real estate, a business, or retirement accounts
You think your spouse is hiding money or debt
Your spouse already hired one
You are unsure what you are legally entitled to

Handling it yourself can work if:

You agree on every issue and the agreement is specific, not general
No children, no jointly owned property, no debt to divide
You are comfortable with court filings and appearing at a hearing

Even then, having someone read the decree before a judge signs it is worth the cost. Property division is generally final once entered, and one badly worded clause can surface years later when someone tries to refinance a house or collect a retirement account they thought they were awarded.

FAQs About Divorce in Bexar County

How much does it cost to file for divorce in Bexar County?

The District Clerk charges $350 for a divorce or annulment with no children and $401 when the couple has children. Service, certified copies, and other costs come on top of that.

Do I have to live in Bexar County to file for divorce here?

One spouse must have lived in Texas for six months and in Bexar County for at least 90 days before filing, and it has to be the same spouse meeting both requirements.

Can I file for divorce in Bexar County without an attorney?

Yes. Many people start that way and bring in a lawyer once something complicates the case. Getting advice early tends to cost less than fixing a decree later.

What if my spouse does not agree to the divorce?

Texas is a no-fault state, so a divorce can be granted whether or not both spouses want it. The case proceeds as contested and the court resolves the disputed issues.

Can my spouse and I use the same attorney?

No. Texas rules of professional conduct do not allow one lawyer to represent both spouses, because their interests are legally adverse even when they agree on every term. One spouse can hire an attorney while the other proceeds unrepresented or has the decree reviewed independently.

If we already have an agreement, do we still have to go to court?

Yes, but briefly. One spouse appears for a short prove-up hearing where the judge confirms the terms were agreed to voluntarily. Some Bexar County courts allow that appearance to happen virtually. If your case is fully agreed, the uncontested divorce process in Bexar County covers what to have ready before that hearing.

Do we have to go to mediation?

In contested cases, especially those involving children, mediation is usually required before trial. Judges expect a good faith attempt to settle before they set a trial date.

Can I change the terms of my divorce after it is finalized?

Terms involving children, including possession schedules and support, can be modified if there has been a material and substantial change in circumstances. Property division is generally final and much harder to revisit.

What happens if my spouse ignores the court orders?

You can file a motion to enforce. Violating a court order can lead to fines, wage garnishment, and in serious cases jail time.

What is the Bexar County standing order?

It is an order that takes effect the moment your case is filed and restricts what both spouses can do with money, property, and the children while the divorce is pending. It attaches to every new petition. Here is what the Bexar County standing order actually prohibits.

Talk to a Bexar County Divorce Attorney Before You File

Most problems in a divorce case do not start in the courtroom. They start at the beginning, with paperwork filed without a plan or terms agreed to before anyone understood what they meant.

In Bexar County, once something is filed or signed, undoing it is difficult.

Brandi Wolfe Law helps people in San Antonio and Bexar County get this right from the first filing, whether that means handling the case start to finish or reviewing an agreement you already worked out.

Call (210) 571-0400 or schedule a free consultation to find out where you stand before you take the first step.