Fort Worth Lawyers
Family Law & Criminal Defense
Savvy and insightful representation from experienced trial attorneys Serving Fort Worth For Over 20 years
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If you are facing a family law matter or criminal charges in the Fort Worth area, you want to seek help from a trusted legal professional. Attorney Kyle Whitaker has been representing clients in Tarrant County family and criminal courts for over 20 years and aggressively stands up for the rights of every client.
Contact our firm for more information about our services and to discuss your case.If you have a case and need to make sure you receive the best outcome possible, seek our assistance today.
Let Us Help You TodayFort Worth Criminal Defense Lawyer
As soon as you are arrested, you want a legal team on your side. Texas takes its criminal law very seriously, and defendants facing criminal charges also face harsh penalties if they are convicted. It is critical for your future to seek representation from an aggressive defense attorney. With experience as a former prosecutor, Kyle Whitaker has particular insight into the criminal justice system in Tarrant County, and our office can help with:
Divorce Attorney in Tarrant County
Divorce is one of the most complex types of family law cases, as it impacts your marriage relationship, finances, parental rights and responsibilities, and more. If you are facing divorce, you are likely concerned about what the future will look like, and our Fort Worth divorce attorney is here to guide you through this process.
We handle every aspect of the divorce process, including meeting all requirements under Texas law, Community Property Division, Spousal Maintenance, and Child Conservatorship and Support.
Whether your divorce is relatively civil or involves complex issues like child custody, domestic violence or adultery, we can handle the process. We seek to resolve matters for you out of court whenever possible, but we will not hesitate to represent you at trial if necessary to protect your interests.
If you are considering divorce, contact attorney Kyle Whitaker today.
Let Us Help You TodayFamily Law Representation
For many people, family is everything, and any situation that threatens the family situation can be emotionally stressful. When you have a case in family court, you need to protect your parental and financial rights under Texas law, and you need the right advocate representing you.
Fort Worth family lawyer Kyle Whitaker handles a wide range of family law matters, including:
Fort Worth Juvenile Defense Attorney
The criminal justice system can be even more stressful when a juvenile is charged, and parents should never hesitate to seek the right defense help for their child. Even if a case seems minor, you want to protect your child’s future and legal rights. Our office handles all types of juvenile crime cases in the Fort Worth area, and we can help whether your child is charged as a juvenile or an adult.
Juvenile DefenseWho Is On Your Side?
One of the most stressful aspects of dealing with a legal challenge is the sudden feeling that you’re all alone. It can seem as if the whole world has turned against you. Whether you are facing the prospect of divorce or dealing with another family law issue, or are fighting to prove your innocence in a criminal matter, it is essential to enlist skilled legal representation. When the stakes are high, you want an experienced attorney and aggressive advocate — someone who will focus on protecting you, your family and your future.
That is where we come in. Our legal team at the Law Office of Kyle Whitaker is here to help.
Schedule Appointment Call Us At 817-332-7703How much does a Fort Worth lawyer cost?
The rates and payment structure for legal representation vary depending on the type of case. In criminal defense cases, the lawyer may charge a flat fee if it is a routine case such as DWI or a nonviolent misdemeanor. For more complex cases, the law firm charges by the hour, according to the number of hours of work the lawyers, paralegals, and other employees of the law firm spend on your case. If you go to trial, you will have to pay more since preparing for a trial requires more work from your lawyer than negotiating a plea deal.
In divorce cases, the court often orders the higher-income spouse to pay the attorneys’ fees for both spouses. If the spouses have approximately equal incomes, they may each pay their own attorneys’ fees. Family law attorneys may ask you to pay a certain amount upfront before they begin working on your case, and if the case goes beyond a certain number of hours of work, they may charge additional hourly fees.
What can a Fort Worth lawyer do for your case?
All defendants in criminal cases have the right to representation by a lawyer. If you are charged with a crime, the state will appoint a public defender to represent you if you cannot afford to hire an attorney. Despite this, it is in your interest to hire a criminal defense attorney. When you choose your own attorney, you can find a lawyer who understands you and with whom you feel comfortable communicating about a very stressful matter. You can choose a lawyer who has previously worked on cases similar to yours. By contrast, public defenders must accept every case assigned to them. Despite their best intentions, they can only do so much for each defendant because of their unmanageable workloads. Your drug possession case is the least of a public defender’s concerns if, in half an hour, he has to meet with a client who is fighting murder charges.
In family law cases, hiring a lawyer is optional, but it leads to a better outcome for your case. A family law attorney can help you and your ex agree to a property division scheme or parenting plan during mediation so that you do not have to go to trial.
What can I expect from the initial consultation?
At an initial consultation with a criminal defense lawyer, your lawyer will help you come up with a strategy quickly. The arraignment, where you plead guilty or not guilty, is only a few weeks after your arrest, and sometimes it is even sooner than that. When you describe your case to the lawyer, he or she may find reasons that the state should dismiss the case. If this happens, your lawyer will quickly file a motion to dismiss. Even if you must enter a plea, your lawyer will be attuned to which pieces of evidence may be inadmissible, which could lead to an acquittal or a reduction of your charges.
At an initial consultation for a divorce case, your lawyer will explain the legal processes of divorce, and you will brainstorm with your lawyer about what to request in your divorce petition or your response to your spouse’s divorce petition.
Is 50/50 timesharing realistic?
Each family can decide on a timesharing schedule that works for them. If you and your ex-spouse live near each other, it may be possible for each parent to spend approximately half of the days of the year with each parent. Most families accomplish this by rotating parenting time by partial weeks, such as with the 2-2-3-2-2-3 cycle (two days with Mom, two with Dad, three with Mom, two with Dad, two with Mon, three with Dad, and then the cycle repeats). This arrangement works best for young children or during summer vacation. Moving from one parent’s house to another in the middle of a week is disruptive for school children. Therefore, most families have children spend all school nights with the same parent.
What does the parenting plan address besides parenting time?
Parenting plans are not about money, but they do address several other aspects of parenting besides where the children will be on which days of the year. For example, parenting plans indicate which parent has the final say about children’s education, extracurricular activities, and non-emergency medical treatment. You might indicate that you and your ex must make these decisions jointly; if you choose this option, then in the event of a disagreement, you might have to go back to court. The parenting plan also addresses transportation responsibilities, such as, "Dad must pick up the children from school on Friday afternoon. Mom must pick them up from Dad’s house at 7:00 on Sunday evening."
Can the court punish you by taking away parenting time?
In almost every circumstance, your children’s right to have a relationship with both parents outweighs any parenting mistakes you might make. Most of the things you do that make your ex think you are an unfit parent are perfectly harmless in the eyes of the court. The court does, however, have the right to punish you by reducing your parenting time if you do not pay child support, do not let your ex-spouse exercise his parenting time, or try to harm your children’s relationship with your ex-spouse. The court can order you to have supervised parenting time only if your ex can prove that the children are unsafe when they are alone with you. These allegations are only credible if you leave your children unsupervised for an extended period of time, expose them to violence or illegal drugs, or fail to prevent accidental injuries that are easily and obviously preventable. The occasional curse word or junk food meal does not make you an unfit parent.
Can children choose which parent to live with?
In most cases, the parents decide on a parenting plan during divorce mediation. The judge only sets the parenting plan when the parents cannot reach an agreement between themselves. Judges may consider more than a dozen factors in deciding which parent should be with the children for the majority of days. If the children are old enough to be in high school, the judge may meet with teens and ask them about their preferences for the parenting plan, but the teens’ preferences are only one of many factors for the judge to consider.