San Antonio Law Blog | Brown and Brown Law Offices

Can you move out of Texas with your child following divorce?

On behalf of Brown and Brown Law Offices posted in family law on Tuesday, February 18, 2020.

When you're going through a divorce, you automatically have to reassess your plans and goals. It's time to let go of the picture you had of your future while married and embrace a different one.

For many people, that means relocating. Maybe you want to go back to your hometown. Maybe you want to move somewhere to get a better education or a different job. There are a dozen different reasons you may want to move away from your current location, but that can be a complicated prospect if you share a child with your soon-to-be ex.

Are criminal justice reforms coming to Texas?

On behalf of Brown and Brown Law Offices posted in criminal defense on Thursday, January 23, 2020.

Texas has long been the land where criminal justice is thought of as swift and unyielding -- but that may be changing. Is Texas about to take a more progressive approach toward criminal justice?

Here's what to expect in 2020:

Is your spouse playing dirty during your divorce?

On behalf of Brown and Brown Law Offices on Monday, January 20, 2020.

Not every divorce can be the mutual, amicable parting many struggling couples hope for. Those spouses who opt for calmer methods of divorce, such as mediation, may still find there are topics that raise their ire or bring out the worst in their partners. Ideally, even in a litigated divorce, both sides can remain civil as they fight for what they want.

You cannot always guarantee this will be the case. You may think you know your spouse well, but when a marriage begins to fall apart, it is not easy to predict how one spouse may react if he or she feels wronged or blindsided. For this reason, you will want to be alert for any of the common ways an embittered spouse may try to retaliate during the divorce process.

Did the holidays make you realize your marriage is broken?

On behalf of Brown and Brown Law Offices posted in divorce on Tuesday, January 7, 2020.

The holiday season can be, for many people, kind of intense. There's a lot of financial and social stressors occurring simultaneously, along with tons of "family togetherness." You're also bombarded with images of what the holidays (and a marriage) should be like. All that can make you keenly aware of how your own situation fails to measure up in comparison.

That's why the Monday of the first full week in January has gained a reputation as "divorce day," as many disillusioned spouses make their first trek to a family law attorney's office seeking a divorce. Indeed, all of January typically sees an uptick in the number of people who decide to end their marriages.

Texas man's case highlights flaws in DNA evidence

On behalf of Brown and Brown Law Offices posted in violent crime on Thursday, December 26, 2019.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing has long been heralded as the "gold star" of evidence among both law enforcement officers and juries. In a world where television magic has convinced most people that DNA is always subjected to exacting tests and provides incontrovertible evidence of someone's guilt or innocence, it's easy to understand why jurors convicted a Texas man of murder based on the genetic material found under the victim's fingernails.

The problem is that the defendant was innocent. However, it took nine years for members of the Innocence Project to prove it and get a judge to listen. In the meantime, the defendant languished in jail -- only being released under strict conditions once it became clear that someone else had committed the crime for which he was convicted.

How do you survive a medical fraud investigation?

On behalf of Brown and Brown Law Offices posted in criminal defense on Thursday, December 12, 2019.

When you do business with the government, the government is inclined to take a pretty close look at any discrepancies or red flags. That's a major concern if your medical office participates in the Medicaid and/or Medicare programs.

Medical fraud is estimated to cost billions each year through things like:

Billing for services that were never provided
Upcoding, or charging for a more expensive procedure than the one actually performed
Filing fraudulent claims for reimbursement
"Unbundling," or filing individual charges for treatments that are usually billed together to pad the bill
Ping-ponging a patient back and forth between doctors unnecessarily to increase their bill
Providing unnecessary testing or treatments

5 reasons to end your marriage

On behalf of Brown and Brown Law Offices posted in divorce on Thursday, November 28, 2019.

Marriage can be messy. Keeping a relationship healthy and happy requires a lot of work over time. Some spouses simply fall out of love over time if they change in different ways or were just temperamentally ill-suited to be together.

Here are five ways to recognize that your marriage is over:

Assault charges in Texas are not to be taken lightly

On behalf of Brown and Brown Law Offices on Monday, November 25, 2019.

Many people go their entire lives without getting into a serious physical altercation with another person. You may have expected that you would live your life in such a manner, but unfortunately, that is not how it worked out for you. Now, you are in trouble with the law.

Whether you had a few too many drinks and ended up in an altercation with another person or were defending yourself from someone else who had a few too many, you have legal options if authorities have charged you with assault and battery. In order to understand those legal options, you may first want to understand the charges you face.

What's the weapon focus effect?

On behalf of Brown and Brown Law Offices posted in violent crime on Thursday, November 14, 2019.

If you were faced with an armed robber, would your mind be on the gun or the robber's face? If you saw a shooting in the middle of a street, what would attract your attention more: The flash of the muzzle when the gun goes off or the actions of the shooter?

Eyewitness accounts regarding the circumstances of a violent crime or the identity of the people involved tend to be weak when there's a weapon involved. The presence of the weapon is often enough to drive other details straight out of the witness's memory -- particularly when the presence of a weapon is unexpected.

Texas custody battle puts gender identity into the spotlight

On behalf of Brown and Brown Law Offices posted in family law on Friday, November 1, 2019.

Two Texas parents in the throes of a divorce both still deeply love their child. The problem: One parent says that the child is a girl, and the other parent says the child is a boy. Now, the courts are involved and politics are in play.

This issue surrounds the gender identity of a child who was designated male at birth. The child's mother, a pediatrician, says that the child is a transgender female. The father disagrees.

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