Highland Park Divorce Lawyer

A tree-lined residential street in Highland Park, Texas - CoilLaw represents Park Cities families in high-net-worth divorce

By Jill Coil, Founder and Family Law Attorney, State Bar of Texas

Quick answer: Highland Park and University Park are independent municipalities inside Dallas County, so divorces here are filed with the Dallas County District Clerk at the George L. Allen, Sr. Courts Building, 600 Commerce Street. One spouse must have lived in Texas six months and in Dallas County 90 days before filing, and Texas requires a 60-day waiting period. What sets Park Cities cases apart is not the procedure, it is the balance sheet.

A Highland Park divorce lawyer spends most of a case on questions that never arise elsewhere in Dallas County: what a closely held business is worth, whether an inheritance kept in a joint account is still separate property, how much of an executive’s compensation is community, and how to keep any of it out of the public record. CoilLaw represents families across the Park Cities and Preston Hollow in divorce, custody and complex property division under the Texas Family Code. Our office at 100 Crescent Court is roughly five minutes from Highland Park Village.

The Park Cities and Preston Hollow

Highland Park and University Park are separate towns entirely surrounded by the City of Dallas, together known as the Park Cities. Preston Hollow sits just north, inside Dallas city limits. All three are in Dallas County, so all three file in the same courthouse, and residents of each face the same practical reality: household wealth concentrated in assets that do not have a market price.

Highland Park Independent School District serves both Park Cities, which matters more in a custody case than people expect. A geographic restriction written to “Dallas County and contiguous counties” permits a move that takes the children out of HPISD entirely. If staying in the district matters to you, it has to be written into the order specifically.

What Makes a Park Cities Divorce Different

Assets that need valuing, not just dividing

A brokerage account divides itself. A law or medical practice, a family business, a private equity interest, or a portfolio of rental property does not. Each has to be valued before it can be divided, and valuation is where these cases are genuinely won or lost. A recurring dispute in owner-operated businesses is how much of the profit is really the owner’s salary, because that single figure moves both the value of the business and the support calculation.

Separate property that has been mixed

Texas presumes everything held at divorce is community property, and overcoming that presumption takes clear and convincing evidence. Old money complicates this. An inheritance kept in its own account stays separate; the same inheritance deposited into the account that pays the mortgage may not, and reconstructing it a decade later is a forensic accounting exercise rather than a conversation.

Privacy

Court filings are public records. In a community this small, where the other parent’s colleagues and your children’s classmates’ parents overlap, that is a real exposure. It is the strongest argument for resolving a Park Cities divorce through mediation or a collaborative process, and we raise it at the start of a case rather than after something has already been filed.

How We Help Highland Park Families

Complex property division covering business interests, professional practices, executive compensation and multiple properties.
Business and practice valuation, working with valuation professionals and forensic accountants where a case calls for one.
Tracing separate property through account records so a separate-property claim survives challenge.
Custody and conservatorship, including geographic restrictions written around HPISD rather than the county line.
Tax-aware settlement. Two settlements with identical headline numbers can leave you in very different positions after tax.
Premarital and postmarital agreements, and litigation over their enforceability.
Mediation and collaborative divorce, which keep sensitive financial detail out of the public record.

For the full picture of how we handle complex estates, see our Dallas high-net-worth divorce practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do Highland Park and University Park divorces get filed?

With the Dallas County District Clerk at the George L. Allen, Sr. Courts Building, 600 Commerce Street in downtown Dallas. Although the Park Cities are independent municipalities with their own police and schools, they sit inside Dallas County, so the county courts hear their family cases like any other Dallas County address.

Will a custody order keep my children in Highland Park ISD?

Not by default. Most Dallas County orders restrict where the children may primarily live to the county and those adjoining it, which is far wider than the district. HPISD covers only the Park Cities, so a move a few miles north complies with a standard restriction while taking the children out of the district. If the schools matter, the restriction has to be drawn around them deliberately.

Is my spouse’s professional practice community property?

If it was founded during the marriage, generally yes. If it predates the marriage, the practice itself may be separate property while the increase in its value during the marriage, and any community funds or labour invested in it, can support a community claim for reimbursement. Goodwill is treated carefully in Texas: personal goodwill attached to the individual professional is generally not divisible, while commercial goodwill belonging to the business can be.

I inherited money and put it in our joint account. Is it still mine?

Potentially, but you carry the burden of tracing it with clear and convincing evidence, and whether that succeeds depends almost entirely on your account records. This is one of the most common and most expensive disputes in Park Cities divorces, and it is far easier to win with statements than with recollection.

Can we keep the details private?

Substantially, yes, if the case settles. Filings are public, but what goes into them is partly within your control, and mediated settlements keep detailed financial disclosure out of contested hearings. Where litigation is unavoidable, protective orders can restrict who may see sensitive documents.

Does a prenuptial agreement settle everything?

A valid Texas premarital agreement can control characterisation and division, and courts generally enforce them. They are challenged most often on grounds of involuntary signing or inadequate disclosure of assets at the time of signing. We assess enforceability early, because the answer reshapes the entire case.

Nearby Areas We Serve

Dallas–Fort Worth divorce lawyer · Dallas County divorce lawyer · Dallas high-net-worth divorce · Richardson · Plano

Talk to a Highland Park Divorce Lawyer Today

Call 469-552-5992 or request a consultation online. CoilLaw, 100 Crescent Court, Suite 0429, Dallas, TX 75201.

This page is for general information and is not legal advice. Every case is different. For advice about your specific situation, speak with a licensed Texas attorney.