Standing orders in a Texas divorce are automatic court rules that take effect the moment a divorce petition is filed in counties that use them. Neither spouse has to ask for the order; it applies on its own, and its job is to hold the status quo in place. That means no draining accounts, no selling off community property, no canceling insurance, no yanking the kids out of state, and no harassing your spouse while the case moves through court. The restrictions stay in place until the divorce is final or a judge replaces them with something else.
Whether One Applies to Your Case
Standing orders are not statewide. They are local rules adopted by individual district courts, so whether one governs your divorce depends on where you file. Counties that use them include Dallas, Bexar, Travis, Collin, Denton, Montgomery, and Bell. Two of the largest counties in the state, Harris and Tarrant, do not have standing orders.
If your county does not use one, the same kinds of protections are still available, but you have to ask for them through a temporary restraining order or temporary injunction. That is a separate motion filed with the court, not something that happens automatically.
Because these orders are local, the exact wording varies from county to county. Dallas County’s version will not read identically to Travis County’s. The core restrictions overlap heavily, but you should read the actual order attached to your petition rather than assume it matches what a friend saw in a different county.
When the Order Starts Binding You
The timing splits between the two spouses. If you are the petitioner, the one who files, the standing order binds you the moment the petition is filed with the court clerk. In counties that use these orders, a copy is attached to the petition itself.
Your spouse, the respondent, is not bound until they are formally served with the divorce papers, which include a copy of the standing order. Once service is complete, both of you are under the same rules until the case ends or a judge signs a different order.
What the Order Prohibits
The restrictions fall into four rough categories: money, property and insurance, the children, and personal conduct. A fifth area, digital records, has become standard in modern orders.
Money
The financial provisions exist to keep the marital estate intact so a judge can divide it fairly at the end. Under a typical standing order, neither spouse may:
- Make large withdrawals or transfers from bank accounts, retirement funds, or investment accounts without agreement or court approval.
- Take on unreasonable new debt that would burden the marital estate.
- Destroy or falsify financial records such as tax returns, bank statements, or business records.
- Hide assets or misrepresent their existence, value, or location.
Property and Insurance
Neither spouse can sell, mortgage, give away, or otherwise dispose of community property without written agreement from the other spouse or court permission. That covers real estate, vehicles, and other significant assets.
Insurance is a common trap. Standing orders prohibit altering or canceling policies that cover either spouse or the children, including health, life, and auto coverage. Changing beneficiaries on insurance policies, retirement accounts, or wills is also off the table while the case is open.
The Children
If you have children, the order aims to keep their lives stable. A parent generally cannot remove the children from Texas to establish a new residence elsewhere or hide them from the other parent.
Most standing orders also bar parents from making negative comments about each other in front of the children and from discussing the details of the divorce with them. Judges have seen enough cases to know children get hurt when they are pulled into the middle.
Personal Conduct
Harassing, threatening, or physically harming the other spouse is prohibited. The rule reaches communications in person, by phone, by text, by video, or through any other electronic channel.
Electronic Records
Deleting text messages, emails, social media posts, or other digital records after a divorce is filed can be treated as destruction of evidence. Some county orders go further and restrict changing passwords on shared accounts or devices. If a judge concludes you wiped something relevant, they can draw negative conclusions about you when it counts.
What You Can Still Do
The order does not put your life on hold. You can spend money on reasonable, everyday living expenses: housing, groceries, utilities, clothing, medical care. The word doing the work is “reasonable,” meaning consistent with how you lived during the marriage rather than a sudden splurge.
Routine bills should keep getting paid. Mortgages, car loans, utilities, and insurance premiums stay on their normal schedule. Letting joint obligations lapse tends to create bigger problems, because a missed payment damages both spouses’ credit no matter which one was supposed to pay.
If you own a business, you can keep running it in the ordinary course. Selling inventory, paying employees, and covering normal operating expenses are all fine. What crosses the line is using the business to move marital assets out of reach or making unusual transactions designed to shrink the estate.
You are also allowed to spend money on attorney’s fees and other costs tied to the divorce itself. Paying for your own representation is treated as a necessary expense.
What Happens If Someone Violates the Order
Violating a standing order is defying a court directive, and Texas judges treat it that way. Under the Family Code, violating a temporary restraining order, temporary injunction, or other temporary order is punishable as contempt of court.1State of Texas. Texas Code FAM – Violation of Temporary Order Contempt carries a fine of up to $500, up to six months in the county jail, or both.2State of Texas. Texas Government Code 21.002 – Contempt of Court Those penalties apply per violation, so multiple infractions add up.
A court can also order the violating spouse to pay the other side’s attorney’s fees and costs for bringing the violation to the judge’s attention. The Family Code gives courts broad authority to order reasonable fees and expenses as part of temporary orders in divorce cases.3State of Texas. Texas Family Code 6.502 – Temporary Injunction and Other Temporary Orders
The consequences reach the final divorce, too. A spouse who hid assets or ran up debts in defiance of the order may end up with a smaller share of the marital estate. A parent who broke the rules around the children may find the judge less generous on custody or visitation. Judges remember who followed the order and who did not.
Changing or Waiving the Order
The standing order stays in effect until the court enters a different order that changes or eliminates it.4Texas Law Help. Standing Orders If you need an exception, you have two ways to get one.
The first is a motion asking the court to modify the order. You might need to sell a piece of community property to cover living expenses or avoid foreclosure. You explain the situation, and the judge decides whether the change is justified.
The second is a written agreement with your spouse. If you both agree a particular restriction is unnecessary or impractical, put the agreement in writing and submit it to the court. Judges usually approve these when the terms are reasonable and do not harm the children or unfairly disadvantage one spouse. A private handshake without court approval does not override the standing order.