The Law in Texas and Interstate Custody Rights

The Law in Texas and Interstate Custody Rights
By David B. Smith

Often when a marriage dies, the first response of the parent leaving the family home is to move as far away from their former partner as possible. Apart from the affects this can have on your child's emotional well-being, it can also affect the processes of filing a suit by raising issues of court jurisdiction.

In Texas, your choice of where you set up house is not only a personal issue between you and your children. It is also very much a legal question. When initiating a child custody suit, you first must be sure to give notice to the other parent. Before submitting a child custody lawsuit in Texas you need to ascertain whether the suit has been filed in the proper state and court. Texas has very definite laws to determine whether a custody action has been filed in the correct court.

It is worth keeping in mind, however, that all states in the USA are governed by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA). This is a law that determines which state can make custody resolutions. It sets out the rules that decide which state can hear a custody case and avoids confusion, where two states could make custody verdicts involving the same child! Under this law, states must try to join forces with one another and must recognize and enforce the custody orders of other states.

In the state of Texas, arguments arise when one parent does not reside in Texas, or the child and other parent have left Texas. Whether they have moved to another state or another country it is dealt with in the same way.

For the most part, the issue of which state has jurisdiction is verified by where the child (on the date of the commencement of the proceeding) is living, regardless of whether the family members may have afterward moved. This includes situations where the child no longer resides in the state but the parents do.

Things are not always this simple however. In some disputes, the court of the state where the child resides may refuse to exercise their right of jurisdiction if it is determined that another state is a more appropriate setting. Again, this reflects the best interest of the child, because often a child and their parent has a significant connection with a particular state, other than their mere physical presence, or were there is a sizable amount of relevant evidence available in a particular state - evidence regarding the child's care, protection, training and personal relationships.

In other instances, the parent may have already been served the citation of the previous state and agreed to it prior to shifting interstate, allowing the original county to exercise it's jurisdiction over them.

Technically, jurisdiction of a child custody dispute can be fixed in Texas even if a party has never lived in Texas! A party can be subject to a state's jurisdiction if they had merely engaged in sex in that state, and the child was conceived as a result of that incident!

Where one parent does live in another state, the court can order them to appear before the court in person. This can be with or without the youngster. In cases where the parent in this state has legal custody of the child, the court can require them to appear in person with the child.

The parent instigating the citation needs to be aware that if a non-resident-of-the-state parent is obliged to be present at a child custody hearing, the court may insist that the other parent to cover travel and accommodation expenses. The child however need not be with them.

Once it is ascertained that jurisdiction is correct in Texas, when a party or the child resides out of state, then the proper county for the case is determined by the general venue stipulations, as previously set out above, concerning where most of the information concerning the suit exists.

Beyond that, where a court in Texas has already made a child custody decision, it has total continuing jurisdiction over that result unless or until it is established that the little ones or parent's significant connection with that state no longer exists and that substantial evidence concerning the child's care, protection and training now can be found in another state.

For more information on Texas Family Law and Interstate Child Custody Rights:

http://www.texaschild-custody.com/texas-law-and-interstate-custody-disputes.php

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