Hi there, I'm new here and I would like to ask the following question. How are my chances of moving to Texas with my daughter (6) when her father stays in Ohio? We got divorced in Ohio and I want to move in to Texas to start a new live, away from my ex and his live-in girlfriend from California in my old house.How do I go about doing this? He is behind on a lot of payments and the hous may have to be sold, he is also in a lot of other financial trouble. anybody willing to share their thoughts / knowledge with me ? Pam

I live in Canada, and have no idea about any state laws regarding this... however, it does sound to me as though what you need is sound, legal advice.

I would imagine that your ability to move to Texas would depend on custody (do you have full custody?), and would depend on any arguments made and resolved during the divorce settlement (do you have an agreement stating that you are not to move out of state?).

Karen

The courts focus on the "best interest of the child". If you have family in Texas, or a good job waiting, the courts will be more willing to let you go.
However, they really want both parents to be avaiable to the children, so if you are leaving to start a new life with no support system in Texas, it will probably be difficult.

The state will look at many factors in deciding If they will allow you to leave the childs home state, If all your family is in Ohio thats going to be a hard sell,but then again i've heard that Ohio has some strange custody laws, so you better consult a lawyer.

I moved 3,000 miles away from my children's father about 18 months after our divorce, so it can be done. I had no job, no family and no ties in the new state but, I was remarried and my new husband owned property here.

Because I knew that I wanted the freedom to move once our divorce was final, my attorney included a clause that addressed that. This happened prior to the final decree. Because I was well integrated into the community and my family had lived in the area for over 40 years, my x believed I would get "over" the notion of moving, so he signed the papers. He didn't know that my father was getting ready to retire and that he and my mom were relocating to an adjacent state.

I would suggest you get some good legal advice. If your divorce isn't final, ask your attorney to address the issue. My attorney included a clause to the affect that "a move by the custodial parent (me) to another state would not be a reason to re-visit the custody issue." My x and I shared joint custody, with me having physical custody.

It's been 13 years, and the kids are all adults. They would ALL tell you that they are grateful to have lived so far from their dad because they only had one set of friends, one set of rules and one set of "local" parents. The kids do not seem to have suffered (at all) by the physical distance from their biological father. We were married for 13 years and have been divorced for 13. None of the kids has engaged in any destructive behaviors. They all say they've had great lives and they've never felt like they came from a broken family.

My x and his wife (who he had his 4th affair with), and my DH and I are all cordial and cooperative with one another. We've celebrated the children's milestones together, despite the fact that my x and his wife have to travel to do it.

You really need some good solid legal advice. Good luck.

Why do you want to move down here?
Do you have family? What is your custody situation? Joint managing? Do you have the childs domicile?
Is he behind in child support? Have you met someone you plan to marry?
You really need to speak to a lawyer. All states custody laws are different.
I would assume, his money problems are not yours unless you are still on the house with him or he isn't paying his child support regularly.
His rights to his child can't be changed unless he has committed a criminal act. Has he?
Have you reported it if he has?
Sorry for all the questions. I hope I helped.

Aly

Thank you all for reading my post ! I have custody of the child, and yes he is behind on the childsupport, basically becouse he didn't pay it himself when he was inbetween jobs, and now I've heard he will be out of a job again pretty soon. so here we go again with the support and with the medical insurance...we had our final hearing but the papers have not been signed yet. for the past year he's been keeping me and D from visiting my friend in Texas and from visiting my family in Europe. he still needs to sign the papers for her new (old one expired)passport.he's been holding off on that one, delaying it. Would I have a better chance if i would marry my friend in Texas? anybody any experience? I am thinking about getting a custody specialty lawyer as soon as the final papers are signed and fight things like not being allowed to move futher away and midweek visitation, which is making D exausthed together with her school activities. Thanks so much! Pam

Pam,
You really need to talk to a lawyer. Don't marry someone to move. If you really love this person and want to get married, then do it. Otherwise, I would wait.
I don't know all the facts to your case, so to give legal advice this way won't help you.
Moving away will make it harder to get the proper child support. If this really isn't an issue for you, I would consider marrying and moving.
Please, I say again, speak to a lawyer. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

Aly