What Is Discovery Like in Texas Family Law Matters?
Discovery is the formal process parties use to obtain information and evidence relevant to a Texas family law case. It can involve financial records, written questions, documents, electronic communications, witness information, sworn testimony, and other evidence connected to the issues before the court.
In a divorce, discovery can help identify property to be divided, including bank accounts, retirement benefits, real estate, debts, and business interests, as well as any property one spouse claims is separate. In a child custody case, discovery might address parenting schedules, school or medical information, communications between the parents, or other facts relevant to conservatorship and possession. In a child support or spousal maintenance dispute, discovery is often the only reliable way to confirm income that is not reflected on a single pay stub, such as bonuses, commissions, or self-employment earnings.
Texas law does not automatically divide community property equally between spouses. At divorce, the court must divide the estate of the parties in a manner it considers just and right. Discovery can help the parties and the court identify, characterize, and value property before that division is made.
Discovery therefore reaches beyond financial information. Depending on the issues in the case, the parties may use requests for disclosure, requests for production, interrogatories, requests for admission, depositions, and expert discovery, each governed by its own rule under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and, where applicable, the Texas Family Code.
What Information Can Be Requested During Discovery?
Discovery generally allows a party to seek nonprivileged information relevant to the subject matter of the case. What may properly be requested depends on the claims, defenses, and disputed issues, and courts can limit discovery that is outside the permissible scope or if it imposes an unjustified burden or expense.
For example, a divorce involving disputed property may require bank statements, deeds, retirement records, loan documents, tax records, or evidence showing when an asset was acquired. If one spouse claims that a home is separate property because it was purchased before the marriage, documents showing the purchase date, payment history, refinancing, and later transactions may be relevant.
In a custody dispute, discovery may focus on the child’s care, school schedule, medical needs, parental communications, or other facts tied to the issues the court must decide. Discovery does not make every aspect of a parent’s private life automatically relevant. Requests remain subject to the rules governing the scope of the case, as well as applicable privileges, objections, and discovery limits.
How Can Discovery Affect Child Support?
Discovery can affect a child support case by providing the income and financial resources information needed to evaluate support. Depending on the issues, relevant records may include pay statements, tax returns, employment records, bonus or commission information, investments, and records concerning self-employment or business income.
For example, if a parent receives a base salary plus commissions, a single paycheck may not provide a complete picture of that parent’s income. Discovery can be used to obtain records covering a longer period, so the relevant financial information can be evaluated under Texas child support rules.
Financial discovery can also matter in spousal maintenance disputes when income, employment, property, or other financial circumstances are at issue.
What Are the Different Forms of Discovery?
Texas family law cases can involve several discovery tools, including requests for disclosure, requests for production, interrogatories, requests for admission, an inventory and appraisement, and depositions. These discovery tools can be used in most Texas family law cases, depending on the issues involved and the discovery control plan that applies. In a typical suit governed by the Texas Family Code, the discovery period begins when the suit is filed and continues until 30 days before the date set for trial. A court can establish a different discovery schedule through a separate discovery control order.
What Are Requests for Disclosure?
Requests for disclosure are used to obtain specified categories of basic case information from another party. In a suit governed by the Texas Family Code, Rule 194a allows a party to request information such as the correct names of the parties, potential parties, legal theories and general factual bases for claims or defenses, people with knowledge of relevant facts, and information about testifying experts.
For example, in a custody case, a request for disclosure may identify people with relevant knowledge about the child’s circumstances. In a property dispute involving valuation, it may identify an expert expected to testify about real estate, a business interest, or another asset.
A Rule 194a request generally must be served no later than 30 days before the end of the discovery period, and the response generally is due within 30 days after service. Separate timing rules may apply to expert disclosures.
What Can a Request for Production Require?
A request for production asks another party to produce specified documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things within that party’s possession, custody, or control. The request should identify the material sought with reasonable particularity.
In a divorce, requests for production may seek bank statements, retirement records, tax documents, deeds, credit card statements, business records, or loan documents. In a custody case, they may seek relevant school records, calendars, communications, or other records connected to disputed parenting issues. In a support case, employment and income records may be important.
A written response generally is due within 30 days after service. A defendant in a Family Code suit who receives the request before the defendant’s answer is due generally has 50 days after service to respond. Because the response ordinarily must be completed within the discovery period, the request itself must be served early enough to allow the applicable response period to run.
Can Text Messages, Emails, and Other Electronic Evidence Be Requested?
Yes. Electronically stored information can be requested when it falls within the permissible scope of discovery. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 196.4 specifically addresses electronic or magnetic data and requires the requesting party to specify the information sought and the form in which production is requested.
Relevant electronic evidence can include emails about disputed property, text messages concerning parenting arrangements, digital financial records, app communications, photographs, calendars, or other stored information connected to an issue in the case.
For example, if spouses disagree about whether money was transferred from a joint account before a divorce was filed, electronic bank records, emails, or messages concerning the transfer can provide relevant context. In a custody dispute, messages about exchanges, school events, medical appointments, or parenting schedules may become relevant.
Electronic discovery can raise additional issues because data may be stored on phones, computers, cloud accounts, applications, or backup systems. If requested electronic information cannot be retrieved through reasonable efforts, or cannot be produced in the requested form, the Texas Rules provide procedures for raising that issue.
Potentially relevant electronic evidence also should not be deleted or altered merely because litigation is pending. Whether particular information must be preserved depends on the circumstances, so preservation issues involving text messages, emails, social media, or device data should be addressed early.
What Are Interrogatories?
Interrogatories are written questions that one party asks another party to answer. A party generally may serve no more than 25 written interrogatories on another party under the discovery rules that commonly apply in Family Code cases. For example, interrogatories in a divorce may ask a spouse to identify financial accounts, property claimed as separate property, or people with information about disputed assets. In a custody case, interrogatories might ask about proposed parenting arrangements or facts supporting a position concerning conservatorship or possession. In a support case, interrogatories might ask a self-employed parent to describe how business income is calculated, what deductions are taken, and who prepares the company’s financial records.
Responses generally are due within 30 days after service, subject to the 50-day response period for a defendant served before the answer is due. Interrogatory answers must be made under oath by the responding party.
What Are Requests for Admission?
Requests for admission ask another party to admit or deny specific facts or opinions, how the law applies to the facts, or the genuineness of particular documents. They are generally used to narrow the issues that actually remain disputed.
For example, in a property dispute, one spouse might be asked to admit that a particular bank account existed on a certain date or that a financial statement is authentic. In a support case, a request for admission might concern the authenticity of employment or income records.
In a custody case, requests for admission may be used to establish specific facts that are not genuinely disputed, allowing the parties to focus their attention on matters that remain contested.
Under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 198, requests for admission generally must be served no later than 30 days before the end of the discovery period. Responses generally are due within 30 days after service. A defendant in a Family Code suit who receives the requests before the answer is due generally has 50 days after service to respond.
Each request must be addressed separately. A matter that is not answered on time is generally considered admitted without the need for a court order, which makes the response deadline particularly important.
What Is an Inventory and Appraisement?
This type of discovery asks a party to make a list of their assets and liabilities along with approximate values.
An inventory and appraisement is commonly used in Texas divorce cases to identify property and debts and state claimed values and characterizations. The exact requirements can depend on the court’s orders, local practice, and the issues in the case. A court may require a sworn inventory and appraisement.
For example, an inventory may list the marital residence, vehicles, retirement accounts, investment accounts, business interests, credit card debts, and property a spouse contends is separate. The inventory helps organize the property issues, but supporting documents and additional discovery may still be needed to verify ownership, characterization, balances, or value.
What Happens During a Deposition in a Family Law Case?
A deposition allows an attorney to question a party or another witness under oath before trial. The testimony is recorded and may be used in the litigation as permitted by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and the rules of evidence.
Depositions allow immediate follow-up questions in a way written discovery does not. For example, if a spouse testifies that money withdrawn from a joint account was used to pay household expenses, the attorney can ask where the money went, what records document the payment, and who else has information about the transaction.
Depositions can also be useful in custody cases. A parent may be questioned about parenting schedules, communications, caregiving responsibilities, disputed incidents, or other facts relevant to conservatorship or possession. In a support case, a parent’s deposition can be used to question how self-employment income, cash payments, or irregular bonuses are tracked, going beyond what tax returns alone show. Other witnesses with relevant knowledge may also be deposed when permitted.
Under Rule 199, notice of an oral deposition must be served a reasonable time before the deposition occurs. Oral depositions generally must take place during the discovery period unless the parties agree otherwise or the court permits a different schedule. The Texas Family Code also imposes limits on deposition time, although a court may modify those limits when appropriate.
Can You Object to a Discovery Request?
Yes. A party may object to a discovery request when there is a good-faith legal and factual basis for doing so. An objection may concern lack of relevance, being outside the scope of discovery, an undue burden, an improper form of the request, or another ground recognized by the discovery rules. Requests for privileged information can also be objected to through the procedures governing privilege. Privileged information generally includes certain private communications, such as those between a spouse and their attorney or between spouses, that the law protects from disclosure.
An objection generally must be specific and made in writing within the time allowed for the discovery response. When only part of a request is objectionable, the responding party generally must answer or produce the portion that is not subject to the objection.
For example, a narrowly tailored request in a custody case seeking communications about the child’s schedule may be treated differently from a demand for every private message a parent has sent over a period of many years. Whether an objection is appropriate depends on the request and the issues actually before the court.
An untimely objection may be waived unless the court excuses the waiver for good cause. Ignoring an objectionable request is therefore not the same as making a proper objection.
What Are the Discovery Deadlines in a Texas Family Law Case?
In a typical suit governed by the Texas Family Code, the discovery period begins when the suit is filed and ends 30 days before the trial date. A court can set different deadlines and limits through a separate discovery control order. Within that period, each discovery method, such as requests for production, interrogatories, and requests for admission, has its own service, response, and supplementation deadline, so parties should not assume that one general deadline governs every request.
Common timing rules include:
- Requests for disclosure generally must be served no later than 30 days before the end of the discovery period, with responses generally due within 30 days after service.
- Requests for production generally require a response within 30 days, although a defendant served before the answer is due generally has 50 days after service to respond.
- Interrogatories generally follow the same 30-day response period and 50-day rule for a defendant served before the answer is due.
- Requests for admission generally must be served no later than 30 days before the end of the discovery period and answered within 30 days after service. A defendant served before the answer is due generally has 50 days after service to respond.
- Oral depositions require reasonable advance notice and ordinarily must occur during the applicable discovery period.
- Discovery responses that are, or later become, incomplete or incorrect must be amended or supplemented reasonably promptly. A supplemental response made less than 30 days before trial generally is presumed not to have been made reasonably promptly unless another rule applies.
Court orders, expert-discovery rules, the type of family law proceeding, and other circumstances may affect the schedule. Parties should review the discovery control plan and applicable court orders to determine the exact deadlines that apply in their case.
What Happens If Someone Does Not Respond to Discovery?
Failing to respond properly to discovery can result in procedural consequences. Under Rule 215, a party may ask the court to compel discovery responses and, when authorized, impose sanctions for discovery abuse. Depending on the circumstances, sanctions might include orders requiring compliance, expenses or attorney’s fees, limitations on evidence, or other remedies permitted by the rule.
Separate consequences may apply when information or a witness is not disclosed or responses are not supplemented in a timely manner. Rule 193.6 generally prevents a party from introducing information that was not timely disclosed or presenting testimony from an untimely identified witness, other than a named party, unless the court finds good cause or determines that the failure will not unfairly surprise or prejudice the other parties.
Failure to respond to requests for admission carries another important consequence. A matter that is not answered within the applicable response period generally is deemed admitted unless relief is available under the rules.
How Can You Prepare for Discovery in a Family Law Case?
Start by preserving and organizing information that may relate to the disputed issues. The relevant documents will be specific to the issues in your case, but they might include financial statements, tax records, property documents, employment information, relevant emails and text messages, calendars, and other records. Potentially relevant information should not be deleted or altered simply because it may be unfavorable or embarrassing. Destroying or altering potentially relevant information for this reason is known as spoliation of evidence, and it can be illegal. Texas courts can impose serious consequences for it, including sanctions, an adverse inference instructed against the responsible party, or other remedies the court considers appropriate.
Read each discovery request carefully and note the applicable response date. If a request appears unclear, overly broad, burdensome, or directed at privileged information, the issue should be addressed before the response deadline so that any objection or other response can be handled under the applicable rules.
Complete responses may require gathering information from several sources. A divorce involving a closely held business, multiple accounts, real property, or extensive electronic records may require more preparation than a case involving only a few disputed financial issues.
How Can a Texas Family Law Attorney Help With Discovery?
A family law attorney can identify information relevant to the disputed issues, prepare appropriate discovery requests and responses, review incoming requests and responses, raise or address objections, conduct depositions, and seek court intervention when necessary. An attorney can also help track deadlines and determine when discovery responses must be amended or supplemented.
If you have received interrogatories, document requests, requests for admission, or other discovery in a Texas family law case, Bailey & Galyen can review the requests and explain the procedures that apply. The firm can also help clients seek relevant information from another party in a divorce, custody, property, or support dispute.
Contact Bailey & Galyen to discuss your family law to discuss your family law case and learn what discovery options may be available.
Hablamos español en nuestra oficina.
Bailey & Galyen – Solving Your Legal Puzzle®
Español 
English