Legal Question in Family Law in New Mexico
State of Texas.
I have primary custody of my daughter 5 years old and have to stay in TX, and was not married to the father, he was granted visitations but never paid child support. I was running out of money because I was raising her by myself and she had no medical care and we couldn't pay rent for the trailer and received eviction notice so I had to leave TX because I received a good job offer in another state ($2000/mon). Without giving any notice, I left and got the job. Now I'm married to a wonderful man who is a true father figure and we're both Full-time students getting our BS degree. My daughter has medical care and goes to pre-school and we're living in a nice house. I'm also pregnant from my husband. I've been in this state for about 2 years.
Recently, I was told that her biological father has filed for the following in the past year (listed in order):
1- "Petitioner's Motion for Notice of Final Hearing by Publication and Request for Hearing". (He was given order for publication) I wasn't aware of the hearing so I missed it.
(my question regarding #1: where do they publish this notice, so I can read it online? What are the consequences after missing this hearing?)
2- He was given "Temporary Order: In Suit To Modify Parent-Child Relationship".
(my questions regarding #2: what does the above statement mean? can they modify custody rights without me present in the hearing? What do you think they modified it to?)
3-Lastly, he filed for "Motion for Contempt" which is scheduled next month.
(My question regarding #3: what is Motion for contempt? If I was found in contempt, could I be jailed? and would the court help the biological father to locate my daughter in this situation?)
My other concern, what do you think would happen next? I really don't want to go through the whole legal processes again for the interest of my daughter and would prefer to leave the situation as is, until she's old enough to decide for herself. Her biological father used to drink and even do drugs as I heard from one of his friends. He didn't pay attention to her at all, even during visitations her grandparents would take her not him. He can't hold a job and didn't finish school. She's living in a healthy drug-free alcohol-free home with a caring father.
Please let me know what I should do. Thank you very much.
1 Answer from Attorneys
You need to ask this question in Texas to get the particulars of Texas law. I'll give you the New Mexico answers, which are probably but not necessarily similar.
Your current situation is tough because you are not allowed to remove the child from the jurisdiction of the court (Texas) without permission of the court or without following whatever procedures are set forth in your court-approved parenting plan., regardless of the excellent reasons which you provide. All the things you describe follow from this action on your part..
1. In general, when he got an order for notice by publication it means he couldn't locate you to serve you personally and asked the court for the right to publish notice in a newspaper in the area near your last known address. When you missed the hearing he may have gotten a default judgment giving him what he requested, or there may be a default judgment in the offing.
2. If it's a temporary order it probably means the court hopes to get you into court to answer the suit. You don't say what was in the temporary order - you need to get a copy and comply with it. It probably, among other things, orders you to return to the state with the child. The court can probably change the custody arrangement in that situation, you need to get the order and comply with it. Such an order also could be used to support a law enforcement search for you and child.
3. When you violate a court order the usual remedy is a contempt proceeding - you are charged with contempt of court and must respond . If the court considers the contempt criminal it can have imprisonment as a penalty.
First advice to you is, get a lawyer. You need to to respond to this action ASAP, and you'll need a Texas lawyer to do that. In addition, a lawyer in your new state may be able to initiate a proceeding there, depending on circumstances, that will transfer jurisdiction to the new state. The prospect of doing this successfully is not high, in my view, but you should discuss it with an experienced lawyer. Interstate child custody proceedings are tricky. A lawyer in your home state should coordinate with a Texas lawyer to determine your best strategy.
To summarize: the failings of your ex as a father and human being do not justify you violating a court order. You first get straight with the court, then in the process you can begin to justify keeping custody of the child including making provisions for involvement of the child with limitations based on father's unfitness. I strongly advise you to get lawyers to help you with this.
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