Confidential consultations by appointment · Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas · Complex-asset divorce and marital agreements
We represent business owners, executives and their spouses in divorces where the estate is complicated, and couples who want a prenup or postnup done properly. Quietly, with the numbers in order before anyone argues about them.
The firm No. 01
Corliss Wren is a small firm on purpose. Four attorneys, one in-house financial analyst, and a practice limited to Texas family law for estates with moving parts: closely held companies, equity compensation, trusts, property in more than one place. We represent both owners and the spouses of owners, never both in the same family.
No. 02 · Ending a marriage
Divorces where the estate includes companies, equity, property in several places, or money that is hard to see.
No. 03 · Agreements
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, drafted or reviewed for one partner, with independent advice on both sides.
Practice areas No. 04
Seven kinds of work, one habit: we build the financial picture before we argue about it, and we tell you what the evidence is likely to support.
Division
Homes in two states, a family company, brokerage accounts, trusts and a ranch nobody wants to sell. We sort out what is community, what is separate, and what each piece is really worth.
Valuation
When one of you owns a company or a professional practice, its value is often the biggest number in the case and the easiest one to argue about.
Compensation
Stock options, restricted stock, deferred bonuses, carried interest and retirement plans that vest on someone else's schedule.
Discovery
When income drops on cue, accounts go quiet, or money moves to a relative, we follow the paper rather than the suspicion.
Agreements
A calm, plain-language agreement drafted months before the wedding, with each of you advised by your own lawyer.
Agreements
Already married? Texas lets spouses partition community property or set new rules for the future, if it is done carefully.
Support
Court-ordered maintenance in Texas is limited. Negotiated alimony is not. Knowing the difference shapes every settlement.
Not sure yet
Tell us the broad shape of things, no details, and we will point you to the right attorney.
Start the requestThe rules, in general terms No. 05
In Texas, what either spouse acquires during the marriage is presumed to belong to both. What you owned before, or received as a gift or inheritance, can stay separate if it can be traced. Courts divide the community estate in a way they consider just and right, which is not automatically 50/50.
About nine states use community property. Most others use equitable distribution, where a court divides marital property in a way it considers fair, sometimes unequally. If you have lived or owned property in another state, tell us: rules differ by state, and the differences can matter.
General information, not legal advice.
Illustration · a marital estate, mapped
Presumed community
Needs tracing
Claimed separate
None of them is right for every family. We recommend one after we understand the estate and how much each of you is willing to share, and we change course if the facts change.
Road 01
A neutral mediator works with both sides, often in separate rooms, to reach a settlement. Each of you keeps your own lawyer throughout. Many Texas courts require mediation before a contested case goes to trial.
Often fits when
Road 02
You, your spouse and both lawyers sign an agreement to settle without going to court. Neutral financial and family professionals can join the team. Texas has a statute that governs the process.
Often fits when
Road 03
Each side presents evidence, and a judge (or in some Texas cases a jury, on certain issues) decides what you could not agree on. Most litigated cases still settle before trial.
Often fits when
Each road has costs and trade-offs worth weighing honestly, including what happens if a collaborative process breaks down and how public litigation is.
Compare all threeConfidentiality No. 06
What you tell your lawyer for legal advice is privileged. But privilege only starts once we know we can act for you. That is why every first contact begins with names only: we check that your spouse has not already consulted us, and only then ask what is going on.
Inside the firm, your file carries a matter code rather than your name. Calendars say "consultation", not "divorce". We do not confirm to anyone that you are a client. And because Texas court filings are generally public, we work to keep sensitive business and financial details out of the public file wherever the process allows, without promising that it always can.
Please do not send case details through any form on this site or by email before we have confirmed the conflict check.
Your advisers No. 07
Many clients come to us through the people who already know their finances. With your permission, we keep them informed, ask for what they hold, and bring in outside specialists only where a case needs them.
Client reviews No. 08
Adrian understood my company better after two weeks than my spouse's expert did after two months. Nothing about the case ever reached my staff.
R.T. · Business owner, divorce · March 2026
They were honest that my prenup would probably hold. That was not what I wanted to hear, and it saved me a year of fighting and a lot of money.
J.K. · Divorce with a premarital agreement · January 2026
Nadia made the prenup conversation feel normal. My fiancé's lawyer and ours finished six weeks before the wedding, and we never had a tense dinner over it.
S.A. · Prenuptial agreement · November 2025
Reviews shared with permission. Names are reduced to initials and details changed for privacy.
Fees No. 09
Example retainers, not quotes. Your written estimate comes after the strategy consultation, with the assumptions spelled out.
See every feeBecause of the conflict check. If your spouse has already consulted us, we may not be able to act for you, and we must not hear your private details first. Names only, then we confirm, then we talk.
Please do not. Our forms ask for broad categories only. Save the details for the consultation, after the conflict check, when the conversation is protected.
In Texas, property either spouse acquires during the marriage is presumed to belong to both. Separate property includes what you owned before the marriage and what you received by gift or inheritance. Courts divide the community estate in a way they consider just and right, which is not always equal.
Texas court filings are generally public, and sealing records is allowed only in narrow situations. We reduce what reaches the public file by settling through mediation or a collaborative process where possible, and by using protective orders and confidentiality agreements for sensitive business records.
It depends mostly on how much the two of you disagree and how much information is withheld. Our fees page shows example retainers and hourly ranges. After the strategy consultation we give you a written estimate for your case, with the assumptions behind it.
Start with names only. We run a conflict check, confirm we can act for you, and then talk properly: 90 minutes with an attorney, in person or by video.
Or call the office
(214) 555-0163We never leave a detailed voicemail unless you tell us it is safe.