Texas Deadlines
Two clocks that shape every Texas divorce
The sixty-day floor (the court may not grant a divorce before the 60th day after filing) and the Monday-next answer clock (a served respondent answers by the Monday after twenty days expire). Enter a date; the math is exact, the exceptions are stated, and each day count is verified against the stored verbatim law at render time — a failed verification says so instead of pretending.
Divorce waiting period (Texas)
Runtime-verified60 days · after the date the suit was filed · keyed to § 6.702
The court may not grant the divorce before the 60th day after filing — a floor on the earliest possible decree, not a promise of one. Prove-up settings and county practice control the real date.
Exceptions & caveats
- · Respondent finally convicted of, or received deferred adjudication for, family violence against the petitioner or a member of the petitioner's household (§ 6.702(c)(1))
- · Petitioner holds an active protective order or magistrate's order for emergency protection based on family violence committed during the marriage (§ 6.702(c)(2))
Answer due after service (Texas citation clock)
Runtime-verified20 days · after the date of service · keyed to Rule 99
Texas citations run to the Monday next after the expiration of twenty days from the date of service (Rule 99) — the answer is due by 10 a.m. that Monday per the citation form. Verify against the citation you were actually served.
Exceptions & caveats
- · The citation's own text controls — always read the served citation
- · Special appearance, motions, or a different order can change the response posture — attorney territory
Authority locked — retrieved from the hash-pinned corpus
Floors and clocks are not schedules. The 60th day is the earliest legal possibility — prove-up settings and county practice control the real date. The served citation's own text controls the answer deadline; always read the one you were actually served. Legal information, not legal advice.