You are absolutely correct. I am from south africa and am very very cognisant of the resources available to us who are lucky enough to live in the states. Lol. My mother used to say "good god!! America is the only country where the beggars are fat, wearing nike tennis shoes and sipping mountain dew" she was a very funny woman. I miss her

Does your H know where you have moved to? I am fearful for your safety during this volatile time.

You should also see an attorney asap and find out what your rights are with regards to the finances.

Sevyn, Texas is a community property state. Unless you and your husband had a pre-nup, you are likely entitled to temporary support while a divorce is underway. You will not get alimony (called spousal maintenance after divorce) in TX given that you have only been married a year. However, you may be entitled to property. Please go speak to an attorney this week and tell him of the your husband's abuse...you want an Order of Protection. Many attorneys offer a free consultation. There is no such thing as legal separation in TX. You would have to file for divorce.

Also, you must be a resident of the county you are filing in for a minimum of six months. If the marital home is 1.5 hrs from Austin, you are now staying in a different county. You will have to file in the county you lived in prior to going to Austin unless you wait the six months. Given you don't have children and that your H has cut you off financially I would just file in your original county. That your H still lives in that county, works too.

I would not bother with any sort of anger mgmt, counseling, etc. and strongly recommend you file for divorce ASAP. There is a 60 day waiting period until a divorce can be final in Texas once the petition is filed. You could be free of your abusive husband in a relatively short period of time.

Or if you don't want to stay in TX anymore, you could always go live in any state you want and then file. So long as your husband doesn't file, you can then file for divorce according to that state's divorce laws. You may get alimony in another state but given that your marriage is short, it may not be much either. You will have to look at your options.

One good thing about Texas though, is it is an at fault state. You can file on the basis of cruelty which I believe also affects the division of property. I would file here, get the divorce ASAP and then fade away to where H could never find you.