Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

I currently live with my significant other, who is also the father of our 2 year old son. We have signed a piece of paper acknowledging common law marriage for insurance purposes with his job. I am curious as to if I were to chose to leave him, can I take our son and move to a different state? Once there I would file for custody of our son. I do not mind visitation being allowed to the father for say part of summer and every other holiday but I do not feel that living with his father is in the best interest on our child. So can I file in a different state, and how long would I have to be in that state before being allowed to file, or is it dependent on the state? What if the Father were to File a SAPCR before I was allowed in the new state, would it hurt me in my case? Also would I need to file for divorce as well?


Asked on 7/23/12, 10:50 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mark Dunn Mark D. Dunn

You can take your son and move to another state, but filing there (immediately) for divorce is going to be a problem. All states have residency requirements; in Texas, it's six months.

Find a lawyer (online) in the "target" state and ask what the residency laws are in that state for (1) divorce and (2) child custody suits.

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Answered on 7/24/12, 5:17 am


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