Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

good day to you. i am inquiring about my rights as a spouse. I am currently living in Corpus Christi Texas and am married to a Service Member. We have been going through a lot right now and I want to get a divorce. I was wondering if I am able to leave texas and go to California where I have family because I am fearful that my husband will seek revenge on me and my children because of what I have caused him with his command. I have 3 kids from a previous marriage and 1 child with him. I really didn't want to get his command involved because I know he will get in trouble, but it was the only way I can get the proper financial support of my children and myself. My husband has a tendency of being violent in the past and also happened again not too long ago. But I have never filled for a complaint because I USED to love him dearly. I fear that he will file for a divorce here in texas and my kids and I will be stuck here. I dont have nothing against Texas, I love this state. The only problem is that I dont know what my husband can do. I understand that I have to establish residency in California for at least 6 months before I can do anything. And I know without a doubt that my husband will immidiately file for divorce here in Texas because he has already been talking to a divorce lawyer. I dont know What to do. Please help me. My children and I will be better off in California because our family is there and I already have a job waiting for me which will help me support the kids even more. Please help me. Thank you


Asked on 7/26/13, 6:19 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

That is a difficult problem because, as you correctly point out, you do have to establish residency in California before you can file suit there. If you move, there is an excellent probability that he will immediately file suit for divorce here in Texas. It's also probable that if he doesn't file for divorce in Texas first and you file in California and try to serve him that he will file in Texas and try to serve you instead to establish jurisdiction here. Definitely a mess.

On the other hand, you could move to California and try to evade service long enough to establish residency, establish the children in the community there and then file for divorce. There is no guarantee you could evade service of a Texas divorce suit long enough to establish residency there. That is probably not your best option.

If you have to submit to the jurisdiction of a Texas court, that does not mean you cannot move to California with your children but it will definitely be more difficult and may be financially challenging for you in the long term.

You should probably talk to a California family lawyer about what options are available under the California Family Code, since you would ultimately want to file your divorce suit there. The family lawyers there will have a better idea how their judges would react to these kind of cases.

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Answered on 7/26/13, 7:03 pm


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