Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

My 7 year old son lives in SC with his mother (who just moved there 4 or 5 months ago from NC) and I moved to TX about 2 months ago. I drove 17 hours this weekend to my mother's house and my ex wouldn't even drive two hours to meet me so I could pick my son up from her for a visit. She refuses to make any attempt to meet me at all. And on the few occasions that she did, it was only because I gave her gas money. We were never married and there is no formal custody order but my name is on his birth certificate. He has lived with her most of his life with visitation to me on the weekends. I have always been the one to pick him up and drop him off. She doesn't seem to care whether he has a relationship with me or not. When she wouldn't meet me this past weekend, I decided that I want to just take him with me back to Texas without telling her and enroll him in school there. Is this illegal? Can she make me come back and what would she have to do to have this done? Does she need a lawyer to do that? Is there some sort of temporary order I need to file before doing taking him? I feel like he would be better off with me because she has moved 4 or 5 times over the last two or three years and she is always in financial distress of some sort. Plus she won't work with me at all to let me have visitation. Please give me some advice.

Thanks,

Chris


Asked on 9/18/09, 7:32 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Keith Engelke Law Office of S. Keith Engelke

I don't know anything about SC law. However, in Texas, if there is no court order that spells out child custody, then either parent has the right to possess the child. However SC law may be different. You need to consult with a lawyer knowledgeable in SC law to find out if what you are thinking about is not a criminal act.

What you really need is a judgment from a court that spells out custody. Just because you are not married does not mean this can't happen. The kind of action is called a Suit Affecting the Parent Child Relationship. You need to find out where mom and child are living and hire a family lawyer licensed to practice in that area.

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Answered on 9/27/09, 8:01 pm


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