Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

Re: Move to different country after divorce

The answer is -- I don't know.

You can certainly negotiate where you live after the divorce during the divorce. In a divorce, everything is negotiable.

In Texas, the legislature has determined that mothers and fathers are treated equally. Just because you are the mother don't assume that you will automatically receive custody.

Normally if the father is active in the child's life then the child (not you!) is restricted to living close to the father so that they can have frequent visits.

The legislature has recently changed the residency restriction -- it can now even be a school district, a certain county in Texas or a certain county plus any county that touches that county.

It's all negotiable.

Normally in order to move, the mother has to either agree to pay 100% of all transportation costs or reduce the child support so that the father can afford to travel to see the child.

If the father does not want you to leave the US, then it is going to be a problem for you.

Your child is a resident of TX and many TX courts don't want the kids to leave.

I had a case where the father traveled all over the world so he did not care where his children lived. That is extremely rare!

There was a case where Mom moved to Hawaii with her new husband and the kids. The court ordered the kids back to Harris County, Texas! Mom thought she'd pulled a fast one -- but she lost custody and was ordered to pay the father child support. She was also ordered to pay all transportation costs since she moved away. Obviously, she was really upset.

I encourage you to talk to an attorney in your area that is very knoweldgeable about the courts in your county. Each judge is different.