Texas Family Law and Interstate Custody Cases

Often when a relationship altogether ends, the initial response of the parent moving out of the family home is to shift as far away from their estranged partner as possible. Apart from the affects this can have on your child's emotional health, it can also affect the processes of filing a suit by raising problems of court jurisdiction.

In Texas, your choice of where you move to is not only a private issue between you and your child. It is also very much a legal question. When starting a child custody suit, you first depend on to give notice to the other parent. Before filing a child custody lawsuit in Texas you need to settle whether the suit has been filed in the proper state and court. Texas has very definite laws to determine whether a custody suit has been filed in the correct court.

It is important to note, however, that all states in the United States 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 establish which state can hear a custody action and avoids confusion, where two states could make custody verdicts involving the same child! Under this law, states must try to co-operate with one another and must recognise and enforce the custody orders of other states.

In the state of Texas, clashes 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.

Normally, the problem of which state has jurisdiction is worked out by where the child (on the date of the commencement of the proceeding) is residing, regardless of whether the family members may have afterward moved. This includes circumstances where the child no longer lives in the state but the parents do.

Things are not always this clear-cut however. In some battles, the court of the state where the child resides may decline to exercise their right of jurisdiction if it is felt that another state is a more appropriate setting.

Again, this reflects the best interest of the little ones, because often a child and their parent has a meaningful connection with a particular state, other than their mere physical presence, or were there is asubstantial amount of relevant evidence available in a particular state - evidence regarding the child's care, protection, training and personal associations.

In other cases, the parent may have already been served the citation of the previous state and agreed to it prior to relocating 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 resided in Texas! A party can be accountable 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 act!

Where one parent does rent or buy in another state, the court can require them to appear before the court in person. This can be with or without the children. When the parent in this state has existing custody of the child, the court can subpoena them to appear in person with the child.

The parent issuing the citation needs to be aware that if a non-resident-of-the-state parent is required to be present at a child custody hearing, the court may compel the other parent to cover travel and accommodation expenses. The child however need not be there.

Once it is resolved that jurisdiction is appropriate 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 dispute exists.

Beyond that, where a court in Texas has already made a child custody determination, it has absolute ongoing jurisdiction over that result unless or until it is worked through that the kids 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 Dallas Law and Interstate Custody Rights:
http://www.texaschild-custody.com/texas-child-custody-law---an-introduction.php

Managing the transition between homes in shared custody

The court always favors custody decisions that are in the "best interests of the child" and as such can specify the rights and duties of parents where shared custody (technically referred to as 'joint conservatorship') has been granted.

Shared Custody is a risky balance to get right, but if you want to avoid involvement from the courts and make your custody arrangement work for the best interests of your little ones, plenty of planning will be necessary to determine how to make the switch between the two homes as smooth as is workable.

An example of a good procedure in a joint conservatorship is to set up a jointly agreed upon system of house rules in both family homes. Often parents are tempted to instantly change rules that were a source of weariness during the marriage or that remind them of their former spouse. Such variations though can be unsettling for the child, and even push them to change their behaviour between homes.

As a result, children can become very good at pleasing or even manipulating states of affairs between the homes for their own profit in situations where parents are still emotionally vulnerable. This is not because children are basically wicked but is simply a survival strategy. A child needs consistency of rules and schedules between homes, for both personal peace and for their healthy emotional and physical development.

Creating this consistency may require routine phone calls and meetings between parents to agree on the needs of the child and the working out of a calendar together, so that there are clear expectations and little room for emotional manipulation. Ensure, as far as is possible, that both homes are in agreement on rules regarding bedtimes, tv viewing, internet use and going out with friends.

As your child grows, these rules will, of course, need to be reassessed together and alterations implemented co-operatively.
In truth, parents who enlist a joint custody arrangement because they are truly looking to the best interests of the child need to put in the stage in your life that you spent necessary to make it work. They also need to be willing to change the agreement should the needs of the child change.

When a child decides that he or she would now like to spend added time in the home of one particular parent, there is often an impossible guilt that they feel over choosing one parent above the other. Parents need to be proactive in freeing their children from this guilt by making it explicit that the arrangements have been set up to serve their best interests and not the needs of the parents, and that you are therefore always open to alter them.

Study in this area still suggests that most children are more settled in one permanent residence. Parents often see joint custody as an arrangement that satisfies their 'rights', but the danger is that the child's needs will be forgotten in the process. Shared Custody can work, and it can work splendidly, but, as in any custody agreement, a willingness to be amenable and to put the child first are the fundamental keys to success.

For more information on Making shared custody work:
http://www.texaschild-custody.com