J Ramsey Law

09/09/2025

I’m generally not a very emotional creature, but Today was my last court appearance in front of our County Judge before her retirement. She was the first judge I ever practiced in front of, and it's hard to put into words how much her presence on the bench has meant to me over the years as a prosecutor, defense attorney, probate attorney etc.
She has ruled both for and against my clients (although I don’t lose often 😎), but she has always been fair, thoughtful, and objective—giving both sides the time and respect they deserve. She brought wisdom, grace, and integrity into every case she heard and every decision she made.
No matter who stood before her or what the day held, she met it with a smile. The fruit of the Spirit is evident in her life—she walks the walk, not just talks the talk.
There’s a saying of hers I’ll never forget:“Happy days… now let’s go get some lunch.”
She’ll be missed on the bench, but her example won’t be forgotten.

09/09/2025

The topic of the week will be . The best insight I could possibly provide above all else is when an officer tells you to be honest with them (i.e confess to them) and/or voluntarily let them search your car and in exchange things will go better for you, the officer is secretly laughing inside wondering if you’ll be dumb enough to fall for it……because spoiler alert, it will not go better for you. The only person it will be better for is ME, because you’ll be giving me a phone call shortly after!!

09/05/2025

Question: how is child support calculated in Texas and is there a cap on it?

Answer: child support is calculated based on a % of net income. 1 child = 20%, 2 children = 25%, 3 children = 30%, 4 children = 35%, 5 children = 40% (40% is the max % regardless of how many children you have in excess of 5).
The “cap” is based on a max net income of $11,700. For instance, if you net $15,000 per month your child support calculation will still be based on a net income of $11,700. So let’s say you make $15,000 per month and have 3 kids. Child support would be 30% of $11,700.

Attorneys usually calculate child support with the child support calculator at this link:

This calculator provides an estimate for a single source of income. The actual amount set or approved by the court may differ.

09/04/2025

Question: How does the Court split marital property in a Divorce?

Answer: The legal standard is for the Court to make a “Just and Right Division” of the community property. The presumption going into Court is that a 50/50 split of the community property is “Just and Right” (although this presumption can be overcome). First, the Court must determine what is considered to be “community property”. Community property is everything acquired during the marriage (with a few exceptions such as gifts, inheritance, and property acquired with money earned prior to the marriage). I have clients tell me all the time, “but the deed is only in my name”. Sorry, just because your spouses name is not on the deed does not in itself take away their community property interest if it was purchased during the marriage. The Court also has to allocate debts to determine who will be responsible for debts acquired during the marriage. For example, car loans, home loan, credit card debt etc etc. And no, it isn’t “your spouses credit card debt” just because the credit card was only in their name. It is community property debt, same rules apply to debt as they do to assets!

There are so many things to consider when it comes to splitting assets. What about retirement, I started putting into retirement prior to the marriage so how does that work? What about “alimony” aka spousal maintenance? Does Texas still order that? How do I qualify? It took me years to figure all this out! Give us a call if you need competent representation!

09/03/2025

Did you know in 2021 the State Legislature updated the Texas Family Code to include that an “Expanded Standard Possession Order” is presumed to be in the best interest of the children if the parents live within 50 miles of each other. So what does that mean? Let’s compare the Standard Possession Order with the Expanded Standard Possession Order for the “non-custodial” parent.

THURSDAYS (every week)
- Standard: 6pm-8pm
- Expanded: time school dismissed Thursday to time school starts Friday morning

WEEKENDS (1st, 3rd, 5th)
- Standard: Friday at 6pm-Sunday 6pm
- Expanded: Friday when school dismissed to Monday when school resumes

In the absence of a mutual agreement, this is about as close as you can get to being 50/50. Judges typically do not order 50/50 BUT the Judges will sign off on an agreement for it to be 50/50.

If you are currently living within 50 miles of your child’s other parent and you don’t have an Expanded Standard Possession Order give my office a call and we can discuss your options.

09/01/2025

Divorce is hard, especially when children are involved. Lots of questions arise: what will happen with the marital assets? How does it get divided? How do I make sure I don’t get “screwed”? How is child support calculated? What does the visitation schedule look like? How will my children adjust? Is there a local counselor around here who specializes in post divorce counseling for children and co-parenting counseling? I have years of experience in this arena. This week I will provide useful insights based on that experience.

But before I provide insight related to a topic that is the most trying time of peoples lives, the best advice I can give is to turn to the ultimate comforter, Jesus Christ. No amount of advice or wisdom from me or anyone else can provide what he can. The Bible refers to this as “THE PEACE THAT SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING”, and that is only possible through him.

08/30/2025

I thought about posting something clever….maybe even informational.

But instead, I figured now’s a good time to offer a public apology in advance if I’m a day late getting something done for you. Although, you can see my laptop in the picture which shows I am giving it 110%…….to both your case and this game.

08/30/2025

Question: how long does it take to Probate a Will in Freestone County?

Answer: when you use us, 2-3 weeks on average. That is assuming you have the original Will and there are no complications.

08/29/2025

Question: what does the process look like to get my Will and other Estate Documents done? Do I need to bring anything with me?

Answer: you do not need to bring anything with you and you can expect about an hour to an hour and a half to discuss, draft, sign & notarize all the documents. It’s very straightforward and you will feel like a massive weight has been lifted off your shoulders!

08/28/2025

Question: If your Will and Payable on Death Beneficiary Designation conflict one another, which one wins?

Answer: If you name someone as a payable on death beneficiary “POD” on a financial account, the money will go to that person automatically upon your death regardless of what your Will says. For instance, if you name your son as your POD on your Edwards Jones IRA and/or InCommons bank account and then decide to name me (your favorite attorney) as the beneficiary of those same accounts on your Will, the POD controls and I get none of the big bucks sitting in those accounts! ☹️