Tomball, TX Attorney – Family Law & Criminal Defense

Most divorce and custody cases begin long before anyone files. You live through the hard months first, and then a single petition puts the whole matter in front of a judge on a schedule the court sets. If you are facing a contested divorce or a custody dispute in Tomball, a Tomball family law attorney can help you sort out what the court will decide and what stays up to you.

In a Texas family case, the early filings carry more weight than most people expect. Whoever files first often sets the temporary orders, and those orders can control the money, the house, and the parenting schedule for the length of the case. Once a judge signs them, they are far harder to change than they were to get right the first time. Moving early gives you a say in terms you would otherwise have to live with.

Horak Law handles contested divorce, custody, and support in the Montgomery County district courts, where Tomball cases are filed and decided. We stay with you from the first filing through temporary orders, discovery, mediation, and trial. We prepare each case for the full path it may take, from the first hearing to a possible trial.

Why Tomball Families Choose Horak Law

What sets our Tomball work apart is how close we already are to the courts that will hear your case. Our Tomball office, a short drive south on Interstate 45, so we know the Montgomery County courts, the standing orders that take effect the day you file, and what a first hearing there usually calls for. That familiarity shapes the plan we build for you from the start.

We represent parents and spouses across Montgomery County and northern Harris County, and we bring the same preparation to families throughout Texas. Family law is the core of our practice, and a contested case gets steady attention from people who work in these courts every day.

What Courtroom Experience Brings to a Contested Family Law Case

Most family cases settle, and the ones that do not are decided by whoever is ready to try them. Matt Horak brings more than 23 years of trial experience in Texas courtrooms and more than 100 contested cases to that question.

For a Tomball client, that record carries weight well before any trial date, because a spouse weighing settlement is also measuring whether the other side is ready to see the case through. Matt Horak is a Texas Super Lawyer for 2025 and 2026, and his earlier service as a Harris County prosecutor is part of the courtroom footing he carries into a contested family matter.

Client Testimonials

“I could spend hours talking about how incredible Matt Horak and his team are. From my very first phone call with Matt, I knew I was in the best hands. He was on top of everything—and I mean everything—right down to filing notices with the court just to inform them of his brief vacation. We were up against an attorney who seemed inexperienced and unresponsive, leaving us hanging for months. Despite that, Matt never let up. He fought hard—submitting motions to compel, motions for sanctions, and doing whatever was needed to move things forward. He even checked in on me emotionally, telling me how well I handled mediation when I was overwhelmed. I will forever be grateful. My kids won today—and that’s because of Matt. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.” — Brooke

“Mr. Horak and his team are truly exceptional and I’m very grateful for their expertise! I was embarking on a very tough divorce journey, and Matt and all the others at Horak law made the experience as smooth as possible with a positive outcome. His team is very responsive to messages and they were always willing to set up a meeting to discuss in more detail if I had questions or didn’t understand something. I would absolutely recommend Matt Horak and his team for a family law matter.” — Emily

Family Law Matters We Handle in the Tomball Courts

Our Tomball practice reaches across the contested family matters that move through the Montgomery County district courts:

• Divorce and contested divorce
• High-net-worth divorce and complex asset division
• Child custody, conservatorship, and possession schedules
• Child support and enforcement of existing orders
• Custody and support modifications
• Alimony and spousal maintenance
• Paternity
• Premarital agreements

We also represent clients in criminal defense matters in Montgomery County, so a household dealing with a family case and a criminal charge in the same stretch does not have to brief two firms on one set of facts.

Some of these matters end in a mediated agreement, while others go to trial. We build for both paths from the start, because a case that already looks trial-ready changes what the other side is willing to offer.

Where Tomball Family Law Cases Are Filed and Heard

The court that hears your case shapes it from the first day. In Montgomery County, it fixes which standing orders bind you the moment you file and whose docket controls how fast you move.

Tomball is the county seat, and the Montgomery County District Clerk keeps the divorce, custody, support, and protective order records for cases across the county. The benches that decide those matters sit at 301 North Main and 207 West Phillips in Tomball.

The 284th, 359th, 410th, 418th, and 435th District Courts hear family cases, and several of them post standing orders and local rules that bind the parties from the filing date forward. A standing order can restrict how either parent handles accounts, property, and the children for as long as the case stays open, which is one reason the first filing is more significant than it seems.

A Tomball court cannot hear a divorce petition until one spouse clears a residency test. Under Tex. Fam. Code § 6.301, either the petitioner or the respondent must have lived in Texas for the preceding six months and in Montgomery County for the preceding 90 days. A suit affecting the parent-child relationship runs through these same courts, so a custody or support dispute is heard in the building where the divorce is filed.

Divorce and Property Division for Tomball Families

For many Tomball families, the hardest part of a divorce is untangling a life two people built together. Texas starts from a presumption about who owns what, and that shapes the rest of the case.

Under Tex. Fam. Code § 3.003, almost anything a couple holds during the marriage or owns when it ends counts as community property unless proven otherwise. Overcoming that presumption for a particular asset calls for clear and convincing evidence, which is a high bar.

A spouse’s separate property under Tex. Fam. Code § 3.001 is what that spouse owned before the wedding or received during the marriage by gift, devise, or descent. Showing an asset is separate usually means tracing it back through years of statements, and the further back it reaches, the harder that tracing becomes.

Texas does not automatically divide the community estate in half. Tex. Fam. Code § 7.001 directs the court to divide the estate in a way it finds just and right, weighing each spouse and any children, which can yield a lopsided split when the circumstances call for it.

Two accounts that show the same balance can be worth very different amounts after taxes, so a certified public accountant is worth consulting before any final division. Divorce and contested divorce make up much of our Tomball work, together with the asset division that follows and high-net-worth divorce matters that involve a business, a rental property, or deferred compensation.

Child Custody and Child Support in Montgomery County

Few parts of a family case weigh on a parent the way custody does. It decides how much ordinary time you spend with your child, and Texas gives the court one standard to guide that decision.

Under Tex. Fam. Code § 153.002, the best interest of the child is the primary consideration in any ruling on conservatorship, possession, and access. Where the record shows a history of family violence, Tex. Fam. Code § 153.004 directs the court to weigh that history in deciding conservatorship.

Support follows its own track. A guideline percentage applies to the paying parent’s monthly net resources, and Tex. Fam. Code § 154.125 caps how much of them the guidelines reach.

The Texas Attorney General fixed that ceiling at $11,700 in monthly net resources through a Texas Register notice published August 15, 2025, effective September 1, 2025. That figure appears in the notice, not the statute, which leaves the amount to the state agency. For income above the ceiling, Tex. Fam. Code § 154.126 lets a court order more support based on the proven needs of the child.

When a parent is paid partly in bonuses, commissions, or profit shares from a company they own, the real fight often becomes what actually counts as net resources. We take child custody and child support cases into the Tomball courts, and each one starts with putting an accurate financial picture in front of the judge.

When a Tomball Order Needs to Change

A custody or support order reflects the family that existed on the day a judge signed it, not the one you live in now. Texas reopens an order only on specific grounds, not because life feels different, and which grounds apply depends on what you want changed.

• A material and substantial change in the circumstances of the child or a person affected by the order, under Tex. Fam. Code § 156.101, for conservatorship and possession.
• A material and substantial change in circumstances or a three-year gap in which the order differs from the current guideline figure by 20% or $100, for child support, under Tex. Fam. Code § 156.401.

Both routes begin with a filing in the same Tomball court that entered the original order. We handle child custody modifications and child support modifications, gathering the pay documentation, the school and medical records, and the timeline a judge needs to see before granting a change. Parents unsure how to begin can review the steps for requesting a support change.

Frequently Asked Questions About Family Law Cases in Tomball

How Long Does a Divorce Take in Tomball?

The earliest a Texas court can finalize a divorce is the 60th day after the case is filed, under Tex. Fam. Code § 6.702. That is a floor rather than a normal timeline. A contested case in the Montgomery County district courts runs well past it once temporary orders, discovery, and mediation are in play, and the timeline for a Texas divorce tracks how much the two sides settle without a hearing.

Do I Have to Live in Montgomery County to File in Tomball?

Not necessarily. As long as either you or your spouse meets the state and county residency requirement, a Tomball court can hear the case, even when the other spouse has since moved to a different Texas county.

Can a Tomball Support Order Change After the 2025 Cap Increase?

Not on its own. The higher $11,700 cap applies to orders a court sets or modifies on or after September 1, 2025, and an order already in place does not shift automatically. Changing it takes a modification filed in the Tomball court that entered the order, where the current numbers, not the new cap alone, drive the result.

Request a Confidential Case Review Before You File in Tomball

Whether you are heading into a contested divorce, a custody fight, or a change to a support order that no longer fits, the first filing sets the terms both sides live under while the case plays out. We handle those filings in the Montgomery County district courts from our office in The Woodlands, a short drive from the courthouse in Tomball.

Reviewing where you stand before anyone files gives you room to shape what comes next instead of reacting to someone else’s filing.

Call 713-225-8000 or contact us online to request a confidential case review.