Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

You need to talk to an attorney that practices in your county and knows the judge.

I don't know all of the facts. So I'm just going to make a guess. I can make one assumption-- you are not going to like my answer!

What the judge is going to look for is what is the best for the child. What was best for the child was the an intact family. Well, that is no longer the case. So now, it is having 2 parents in the same town. Having both parents available in case the child needs one of you in case there is an emergency -- not one of you 5 hours away in case there is an emergency.

The judge is going to consider what is best for this minor child. What is best for this child is having BOTH parents involved with this child. Moving this child away from his father is not best for this child. Therefore, if the father is involved in the child's life the judge is probably not going to allow the child to be moved 5 hours away since it will make it harder for the father to see the child.

If you marry, however, YOU can move away. You are NOT prevented from moving. The only person prevented from moving away is the minor child.

Your child is not going to be moved just because there is a change of circumstance in YOUR life. It is harsh -- not really because this child is a product of both of you. The change of circumstance is in YOUR life.

You need to continue to co-parent with your ex-husband. You produced this child together. You will be co-parenting this child together for the rest of this child's life.

You have JOINT CUSTODY of this child. In the State of Texas, JOINT CUSTODY is PRESUMED BEST FOR THE CHILD. In reality, neither of you will ever have "full custody" of this child. I have no idea what you mean by "full custody" of "my son". You should refer to this child as "our son". He does not belong to either of you -- he is a product of BOTH of you.

Now that I've totally depressed you. You might make the father an offer an "offer he can't refuse" in order to get him to allow you to move. For example, you might offer to do all the driving or to lower his child support a lot in order to allow you to move away.

Or, you might consider going to mediation in order to try to resolve this matter instead of going to a judge. Often a mediator can find a "creative" solution to this matter instead of a judge.

If you want to move away you might have to find a way to "sweeten the pot" for the father -- like more time in the summer or every Christmas or every Thanksgiving or giving the father something that he wants that a judge could not give him. Perhaps you could make this a "win-win" situation for everyone. But, be sure to get it in writing so that it cannot backfire on you later!

Good luck!