Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
International Child Custody Matter
My wife is from Canada originally, but we resided together with our two children in Texas. About two weeks ago, my wife announced that she would be visiting her family in Canada, and would take our kids with her for the visit. When she reached Canada, she contacted a Canadian lawyer, filed for divorce in Canada, and announced that she was staying in Canada with the kids. I love my kids, but I cannot afford to constantly travel back and forth to Canada. Besides, my kids' school is in Texas, and my relatives.
I retained a Canadian lawyer who advised me that he have two choices: (1) I could contest custody and the divorce issues in Canada, or (2) I can hire a Texas lawyer to file a custody action in Texas and try to get the court to rule that the kids were ''unlawfully removed'' from Texas, their ''habitual'' residence. He said that I couldn't file for divorce in Texas because my wife filed in Canada first, and their cannot be two divorce cases going on simultaneously, but I could still pursue the child custody matter in Texas. He said that if Texas ruled in my favor, the Canadian court would enforce it under international treaty.
Could I would win custody in Texas? Should I file for divorce in Texas or other legal action?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: International Child Custody Matter
Your Canadian lawyer gave you good advice. My advice would be to retain an attorney here, to try to abate the Canadian proceedings, and proceed here. You will need to coordinate with the Canadian lawyer. If the effort fails here to move the case, you will need to contest the matter in Canada.
Re: International Child Custody Matter
I agree that you should file for divorce as soon as possible down in Dallas. Texas is the home state for the children. I ask for temporary orders directing the children to be returned to Texas.
Good luck.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
