I hear this question come up a lot for couples who have split. Whether you have children or not when one spouse lives in a different state from you a divorce becomes complicated. Below is a list of some issues that arise:
- If you have property here, a Judge of another state may not be able to divide that property for you. This leaves you with property titled in both names that you still have to resolve in Texas.
- If you have children, once the children live in the other state for 6 months you cannot file anything in Texas to deal with “custody”.
- Child support may not be able to be determined along with the divorce in the other state if you still live here
- If you concede to jurisdiction in the other state for child support, you may also be conceding jurisdiction over property and alimony too.
- Most importantly, you will have to obtain an attorney in the other state and possibly in Texas as well.
So what should you do if your spouse moves out of state?
- If this is temporary for work, possibly do nothing.
- If this is temporary for work, possibly file a suit affecting the children if you have children. This will establish rights and duties for the children. This is to protect both parties.
- If this is not temporary, file for divorce here immediately. This will ensure that Texas has jurisdiction so that you do not have to fight the case in a different state.
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