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Bowie County guidelines for pro se (self-represented) divorce petitioners: the advice to retain an attorney and that court staff cannot give legal advice; the requirement, when children are involved, of an attorney's letter approving the decree as to form on file before the hearing; and how uncontested-divorce settings are made through the County Court at Law coordinator after the 60-day waiting period, with the need to appear and present adequate testimony and a properly prepared decree.
Texas > Tenth Administrative Judicial Region > Bowie County > District Courts, County Court at Law.
Guidelines for Pro Se Petitions for Divorce You are advised not to file your own divorce petition without a working knowledge of the Texas Family Code, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules promulgated by this court. This court advises you to seek the expertise of an attorney. However, if you insist on filing your own divorce petition you must do so in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas and the local rules of this court. No one in the district clerk’s office or the judge’s office may give you legal advice or tell you how to do so. You are advised to seek the advice of an attorney when there are children involved. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to present a correct decree that has not been prepared or approved by an attorney when there are children involved. You must have a letter from an attorney stating that he has approved the decree as to form. This letter must be on file with the district clerk’s office on or before the date of your hearing. Settings for uncontested divorces are not automatically made as soon as the 60-day waiting period is concluded. You must call the court coordinator of the County Court at Law to make a setting. On the day of your scheduled hearing you must appear before the court and be prepared to present adequate testimony regarding your case to the judge in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas. The judge cannot assist you in the presentation of your case. You must present a properly prepared decree containing all of the necessary and pertinent information regarding your divorce and all state forms filled out and ready to be filed. Failure to properly present your case may result in the divorce being denied, delayed or your case being dismissed.
Guidelines for Pro Se Petitions for Divorce You are advised not to file your own divorce petition without a working knowledge of the Texas Family Code, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules promulgated by this court. This court advises you to seek the expertise of an attorney. However, if you insist on filing your own divorce petition you must do so in accordance with the laws of
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-20 (AJR-10 Tenth Region build, own-site layer) from BenchPath custody ajr10 corpus sources/county/bowie/975f9852ec911fd2.pdf (122,336 bytes, sha256 975f9852ec911fd280d20cfa530a26c518dd4fa5a2d9d7170a184a4c3458acc4; 1 page(s)) - the document the county posts on its own website, not registered with the Office of Court Administration's TOPICs registry as of 2026-09-20: digital text layer normalised (whitespace, hyphenation, page furniture) and every page checked against the rendered PDF; signature and file-stamp blocks bracketed. Posted on the 102nd District Court page of the county website; undated. Published from the document's text layer.
The Precinct 4 justice court's instruction letter: a plea of no contest or guilty makes the fine and costs due, a not-guilty plea brings a mailed court date, remittances by money order or cashier's check only (personal checks returned), juveniles 16 and under must contact the court with a parent or guardian before the appearance date, and payment online or by phone.
3 verbatim requirements from Checklist.