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TexasLawHelp Set B: The With-Children Divorce Forms, Explained

Reviewed by the Amicably document team · Updated September 8, 2026

TexasLawHelp's Set B toolkit is the with-children path: for parents who have minor children together and do not already have a conservatorship or child support order on file. It bundles a dozen-plus documents, from the petition that opens the case to the affidavit that finishes it, and unlike the Texas Supreme Court's own Set 1 (no children, no real property), Set B is published by the Texas Access to Justice Commission through TexasLawHelp.org, not promulgated by the Supreme Court.

This walks through every form in the toolkit, who signs which one, how the agreed track differs from the default track, and what the Final Decree actually orders once a Set B case reaches its prove-up.

What Set B is and who publishes it

TexasLawHelp organizes its uncontested-divorce toolkits by situation and labels them Set A, B, C, and D. Set B is for parents with minor children together who do not already have a court order about those children; if a conservatorship or child support order already exists, TexasLawHelp directs filers to the Set C toolkit instead.

The authority behind Set B is worth being precise about. The Texas Supreme Court promulgated exactly one uncontested-divorce form set by Misc. Docket order: Divorce Set 1, for couples with no children and no real property. Set B was not approved by that order and carries no Misc. Docket citation; its forms are published by the Texas Access to Justice Commission, and the form footers read "© TexasLawHelp.org" rather than citing a Supreme Court docket number. Set B is a well-maintained, widely used toolkit, just not a Supreme Court form set.

The core forms in the toolkit

A Set B case runs on a common core of documents, plus a handful that only apply depending on how the case unfolds. Form numbers below are current as verified against the TexasLawHelp with-children toolkit at write time.

Everything in that table applies to nearly every Set B case. Two more forms come up only in specific situations: an Out-of-State Party Declaration if one spouse lives outside Texas, and a Notice of Current Address if a party's mailing address changes while the case is open.

Agreed track vs default track

TexasLawHelp runs Set B down two instruction tracks depending on how the respondent participates, and the paperwork differs between them.

The waiver of service carries a timing trap worth flagging on its own: it must be signed after the petition is filed, not before, or it has to be redone. TexasLawHelp's own instructions tell filers not to sign it until at least one day after filing.

What the Final Decree actually orders

FM-DivB-201, the Final Decree of Divorce for a with-children case, is the longest document in the toolkit because it carries every order a Set B case can produce in one place.

Conservatorship in Texas is not the same question as the possession schedule. Naming both parents joint managing conservators is a decision about shared legal rights and decision-making, not a promise about how the children's time is split; the possession and access schedule is requested separately and does not have to be equal. The Standard Possession Order itself is built around fixed weekends, a Thursday period during the school term, and a block of summer time, with a longer-distance version when the parents live more than 100 miles apart.

Guideline child support itself runs on a percentage-of-net-resources model, with the percentage set by how many children the order covers, applied up to a net-resources cap that the legislature adjusts periodically.

From filing to a finished Set B case

The forms above are not filled out all at once. They arrive in roughly this order.

1. Filing dayThe petitioner files FM-DivB-100 along with the Civil Case Information Sheet. The clerk assigns a cause number and the 60-day waiting period starts, running from the filing date rather than from whenever the respondent is served.
2. Within days afterBoth spouses exchange the Required Initial Disclosures. The respondent either signs the Waiver of Service Only (after the one-day timing window and before a notary) or is formally served and later files the Respondent's Original Answer.
3. While the case is openThe spouses negotiate and draft the Final Decree of Divorce, covering conservatorship, possession and access, child support, medical and dental support, and property division.
4. Day 60 or laterOnce the waiting period has run and the decree is ready, the petitioner completes the Agreed or Default Prove-Up Affidavit.
5. Prove-upA judge signs the Final Decree, and the petitioner files it along with the VS-165 Vital Statistics form to close out the case.

Whether the prove-up itself needs a live courtroom appearance or can be handled by a written affidavit depends on the county and the individual court, so check local practice rather than assuming either way applies statewide.

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