Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
Background: I have been married for 6 years and have two children, (5 year old) twins. My wife suffers from bipolar disorder. She has attempted suicide before and she is usually in a bad mood or angry for no reason. She usually sleeps up to 12 hours a day. She calls her mom on the phone at least 10 times a day up to 3 hours each day. Her mom and her are extremely codependent. She is never interested in going out, helping around the house or getting involved in anyway. She is very dependent in the sense that her parents and I take care of everything for her. She has never paid a bill, gone grocery shopping, or cook. Our sex life is non-existent and we have stayed together for the sake of our children. The only motivation she has in life is to move in with her parents in Hawaii and do nothing else.
Issue: On June of 2009, we all went to Hawaii on a vacation to visit her parents. I stayed for three weeks and she was going to stay an extra month and come back to Texas at the end of July. Two days before the return date, she called me to let me know that she was not coming back. That was the last time I heard from her. I tried calling back for days and she never answered. She didn�t let me talk to my kids either. Days later I got served the divorce papers from a Honolulu court.
Soon after that happened, I hired two attorneys, one in Hawaii and one in Texas, and I also filed for divorce in Texas. The first week of August, the judge in Texas issued a �writ of attachment� and a �warrant to take physical custody of a child�. These two documents gave me the authority to bring the kids back to Texas. As soon as I got the documents I went to Hawaii and with the help of the police, I was able to bring my kids back to Texas with me.
My attorney in Hawaii was able to have the case dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. On September, my wife flew back to Texas to appear in court for the first hearing. In such hearing, the judge ruled that I could have the temporary custody of the children and assigned two guardians ad litem for my children. The judge also assigned a social worker to the case. My wife went back to Hawaii alone the next day.
Now the two ad litems and the social worker are going to go to Hawaii to compare my wife�s environment versus mine.
Based on this information, what are the chances for me to win custody of my children?
Is it better to use a judge or a jury on this case?
In case she wins, can she just take our children to Hawaii? Because if that happens, it will be almost impossible for me to see them again�
I have a really good attorney. He told me that I�m going to win no matter what.
Any comments?
1 Answer from Attorneys
If you have a "really good attorney," you should listen to him or her. That attorney knows ALL of the facts, not just what you can put in one paragraph. The only comment I would make is that I would never tell a client that he is going to win "no matter what." Only the judge or jury can make that determination. Also, your attorney is the one in a position to determine whether a judge or a jury is better.
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