Child Custody in Texas…Husband withholding the children?
I am a mother of a 11 and now 4 year old girls. My husband and I split over a year ago due to various reasons and I moved back to Dallas, Texas where I was from while he still resided in Mississippi. The agreement was to allow them to live with him a year until I got on my feet since I already have a son that is not his that I had to take care of (age 15) and then send them home. Also, we were considering working things out but it just didn’t happen. He now will not allow them to come live with me, tells me I can’t afford them and they are better off with him while he lives at home with his mother (he can’t afford to move out) and it is a constant battle on holidays, birthdays, summers, ect. If I want to see them I have to drive 6 hours to visit because he never will bring them to visit me. We are still married, but I am filing for divorce in the next few weeks. I want to share custody of the girls but I want them to live with me. I can’t afford a lawyer. Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed in this matter? I am not sure of how Texas laws work when it comes to divorce and custody situations. Any help or advice would be great.
I have seen my children within the year, but the only efforts are made by me, not their father. I will make the trips with no problem. I got at least twice a month. He will not bring them to visit me as agreed upon.
I would not go file for divorce in hopes of getting visits. I would start making the 6 hour trip to go visit them so you can prove you can handle it.
The way I see it he isn’t technically keeping you from your kids. He is choosing not to send his children to go stay with somebody that they haven’t gone to visit in a year. You have to build up trust. And once you start visiting the children the courts will definatly give you some sort of custody.
EDIT: If he is suppose to bring the kids to see you per parenting plan then go to court and file that he is in contempt of court. And yes file for divorce and ask for split custody. But you are going to have to have a way to make it reasonable. You might have to move closer. 6 hours away is not very reasonable for split custody.
August 21st, 2010 at 6:05 am
you need legal advice…you can get advice for free from a lot of attorneys I suggest you do that. and try to contact your local legal services for a possible dicounted attorney or maybe even free since your income isnt suitable to pay for one. You could possibly lose all rights to your children if you dont take this seriously and get professional advice.
References :
August 21st, 2010 at 6:10 am
I would not go file for divorce in hopes of getting visits. I would start making the 6 hour trip to go visit them so you can prove you can handle it.
The way I see it he isn’t technically keeping you from your kids. He is choosing not to send his children to go stay with somebody that they haven’t gone to visit in a year. You have to build up trust. And once you start visiting the children the courts will definatly give you some sort of custody.
EDIT: If he is suppose to bring the kids to see you per parenting plan then go to court and file that he is in contempt of court. And yes file for divorce and ask for split custody. But you are going to have to have a way to make it reasonable. You might have to move closer. 6 hours away is not very reasonable for split custody.
References :
August 21st, 2010 at 6:47 am
The jurisdiction of the custody case is in Mississippi, not texas, because that is where the children reside.
You will have a tough time getting custody since he has had it for over a year and is now deemed by the courts to be the primary care taker. I agree you need visitation rights but unless you can prove him to be unfit he will get primary custody.
References :
August 21st, 2010 at 7:03 am
http://diylegalinfo.com/Divorce_Links.html/ has all kinds of legal information on divorces and how to handle a divorce without a lawyer yourself.
References :
http://diylegalinfo.com/Divorce_Links.html