Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
My ex husband and I separated last March and in June of 2012 I moved to Tarrant county. In July we had a child support/custody hearing where we were appointed joint conservators with our daughter living with me. A geographic restriction was placed not allowing me to move outside of the county or neighboring counties. Due to financial strain and working long hours I moved in with my parents who help with the care of my daughter. Recently my father received a job offer and took it in Corpus Christi, which is outside of the restriction set in place. I also received a job offer down there but need to move in a week and do not have the time to wait for a modification request to go through. My ex and I have agreed to this move and have worked it out. I was told that since I am needing to move so quickly that I may be able to do so even with the standing order if my ex and I have a notarized signed letter with his agreement to the move and then once I have moved file the modification request in the new county with the notarized letter. I am getting a lot of pressure from my family and the new possible job to move qickly but I want to do this as legally as possible. Is this even possible with the signed and notarized agreement from my ex? If I do notm move with my family I will basically have no place to live and no one to take care of my child
1 Answer from Attorneys
Most orders with a geographic restriction on them say that "Neither party shall remove the child from Tarrant County, Texas or counties contiguous thereto without further order of the court or the written agreement of the parties filed with the court." If that is what your order says, or something very similar to it, then you and your ex can agree to the move.
Most courts wouldn't mind if you moved as long as both parents consented BUT your case is different. Tarrant County judges take their orders very seriously (as they should) and if your order says you can't move the child, then you CANNOT move the child without the court's permission.
File a motion to modify the temporary orders or the final order, whichever is in place, and get a hearing set. You could submit an agreed order allowing the move signed by you and your ex and the court might sign it without a hearing.
Do yourself a huge favor and do NOT flee from Tarrant County without a court's blessing, unless your existing order EXPLICITLY says that you can do so with the other parent's permission. You could be held in contempt of court OR your ex could be setting you up for a bad time, although that does not sound very likely.
Good luck!!
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