Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
My ex and I have joint legal custody. He has primary physical possession. Today, since they are coming to me for my superior right of possession, it has always been that he has to bring them to me by 6 PM but now that I have moved farther away, I guess it is more of a bother now, so he says I have to pick them up! And this was told to me last night! Is this correct? Since I am in the midst of moving and temporarily do not have the court documents with me. Does this sound at all right to you? And, one more thing, if he does not have them here tonight at 6 PM, can I call the police?
Thank you,
Tiffany Smith
2 Answer from Attorneys
It's entirely possible that the order may specify that the drop-off/pick-up arrangements change if a parent moves. I can't tell you what YOUR order says, obviously, but yes, that's a common provision. Look at it this way: he doesn't have any control at all over where you decide to move. Given that, would it be fair for him to be the one to have to deal with greater transportation costs and time just because you decided to move? I'm not saying that you don't have the right to move or good reason to move, or even that your particular order necessarily even provides the change that he's saying it does, just that that would not be an uncommon provision to have and looking at it from the other side, there are some good reasons to have that possibility covered.
If it's that big a concern to you, and you can't find your copy of the SAPCR order, you might want to just go to the clerk and get another copy so you'll know for sure what it says. I would strongly discourage you from calling the police for a number of reasons: it will worsen the situation between you and your ex, it would undoubtedly be traumatic for your kids if they realized you'd called the police, and you're not going to get anywhere with it anyway unless you can show the officer a certifie copy of the order and it very clearly states a provision that he is very obviously in blatant violation of at that moment.
If you've got a problem with this, you can take the case back to court. It's very seldom that involving the police is the right thing to do in a custody situation, and it should never be your first approach unless someone is actually in real danger. Good luck.