About This Template
Initiating a divorce action must be done with precision to ensure all jurisdictional and statutory requirements are met. This template is a ready-to-use Petition for Divorce tailored for filing in Texas state courts. It allows family law firms to quickly and accurately plead the required jurisdictional facts, grounds for divorce (including no-fault), and necessary requests for relief regarding property, debt, and child custody matters. This standardization is key to efficient case initiation in Texas family law practice.v
AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD IN:
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Microsoft Word
Jurisdiction Notes
This petition must strictly comply with the Texas Family Code (Title 1, Chapter 6) and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Attorneys must confirm the client meets the minimum residency requirements (90 days in the county and six months in the state) prior to filing. The template is structured to address Texas's system of community property and its unique terminology for child custody (conservatorship). Always verify local court rules, which can dictate formatting or specific filing requirements for the Texas county where the petition is filed.
What is this template?
This is the initial pleading filed with a Texas District or County Court to commence an action for the dissolution of a marriage. The Petition for Divorce template includes the mandatory jurisdictional allegations (e.g., Texas residency and county requirements), grounds for divorce (often "insupportability" or no-fault), and specific requests to the court regarding the division of community property, allocation of community debt, and establishment of managing and possessory conservatorship (custody) for any minor children.
Disclaimer
This template and the information on this page are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. They are not a substitute for consulting with a qualified legal professional. The use of this template does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Customize in Clio Draft
Autofill client data
Populate the fields of any legal document template with client and matter details from your Clio account. Reduce manual entry and cut errors.
Clause library
Build a reusable clause library and insert the right language every time. Keep templates current without hunting through old files.
E-signature
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How to Customize
With Clio Draft
If this template is available in your region, you can activate it in your Clio Draft account. It will then be pre-filled with information from your contacts and matters, helping you save time.
- Click Request Template, and complete the Request Information form.
- Open the activation email to activate the template in Clio Draft.
- In Clio Draft, go to Library and select the Court forms subtab.
-
Select a category to view all the court forms associated with that
category.
- Find the form that you need. You can use the search bar to search by form number or form title.
- Optional: To preview the form, click the Actions dropdown and then select Preview.
- Click the Actions dropdown and then select Create form template.
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At this stage, you can configure any fields on the template that will
remain consistent across multiple matters and specific practice areas.
- Purple fields: These fields are highlighted in purple because they are connected to linked fields that will automatically insert information entered on the Populate page. If you fill in a purple field, the data in that field will always populate when you draft a document from this form template and will not be overwritten by text entered on the populate page.
- Blue fields: These fields are highlighted in blue because they are unique to a specific matter. You will enter this information after you generate the form template, on the Populate page.
For detailed instructions for drafting form templates and more information about Clio Draft, see Clio Draft: Form Templates and Clio Draft: Draft and Manage Documents.
Without Clio Draft
You can download this template as a Microsoft Word document. You can also learn more about how Clio Draft can automate your document workflows and request a demo.
- Click Request Template.
- Open the email from Clio and download the Microsoft Word template.
- Set up Word document templates. This allows you to edit relevant merge fields in the document.