Family law · Montgomery & Walker County, Texas
Divorce, custody, support — Texas law gives each of them a real, knowable sequence. Below is how a case actually unfolds, step by step, and where an attorney fits in at each one. When you’re ready to talk about yours, the office is in downtown Conroe.
How a Texas family case unfolds
Every divorce in Texas moves through the same statutory sequence. Knowing the sequence doesn’t make it easy, but it makes it navigable. Here is the map, with the services this office provides placed where they actually occur.
Day 0 · Filing
A divorce begins when an Original Petition is filed — in Montgomery County for most local cases. Getting the petition right at the start shapes everything after it: what’s requested, how property is characterized, what protections are asked for on day one.
Days 1–60 · The waiting period
Tex. Fam. Code § 6.702 · limited exceptions apply in family-violence cases
Who stays in the house, where the children live, and who pays what — decided early, and often setting the tone for the final outcome.
Conservatorship, possession schedules, and child support are worked out here — by agreement where possible, by hearing where not.
An inventory of what the marriage owns and owes. Community property can’t be divided fairly until it’s actually known.
Most cases settle. The waiting period is when a fair agreement gets built — usually cheaper, faster, and calmer than a trial.
The fork · Three ways a case resolves
How your case ends is not one-size-fits-all. It depends on what the two of you can agree on — and a good attorney is honest with you about which path your case is actually on.
Path one
When both spouses agree on all terms, an uncontested divorce can be finalized shortly after day 60 — the least expensive and least adversarial route.
Note: an attorney can represent only one spouse, even in an agreed case.
Path two · Also offered as a service here
A structured negotiation with a neutral third party. Most Texas courts expect it before trial — and most cases that reach mediation settle there.
This office also serves as mediator for other parties’ cases.
Path three
When agreement isn’t possible, the case is prepared for and decided by a Montgomery County court. Preparation for this path starts on day one, not the eve of trial.
Day 60+ · Resolution
A final decree divides property, sets conservatorship and support, and closes the case. In an agreed case this can be a brief prove-up hearing; in a contested one, it follows trial. Either way — there is an end, and you will reach it.
After · Life keeps changing
Jobs move, children grow, circumstances shift. Texas law allows court orders to be modified when circumstances materially change — and enforced when they’re ignored. The end of a case isn’t always the end of the relationship with your attorney.
The attorney
You don’t hire a building or a brand — you trust one person with your family’s next chapter. Denise Norman grew up here, trained here, and has practiced here for her entire career.
1998
Graduates Conroe High School
Raised in the community she now practices in.
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Sam Houston State University
Double major, Huntsville, Texas.
2007
J.D., St. Mary’s University School of Law · Licensed, State Bar of Texas
2011
Founds the Law Office of Denise Norman in Conroe
Family law, mediation, estate planning, and business law ever since.
Today
Practicing in Conroe and Huntsville
Practicing in the same community she grew up in.
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Beyond divorce
What clients say
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Talk to the office
Principal office · Conroe
220 W. Davis St.
Conroe, TX 77301
By appointment · Huntsville
168 Col. Etheredge Blvd., Ste. D
Huntsville, TX 77340