Moving to Texas With an Out-of-State Custody Order

What if my custody order was issued in California but I live in Dallas now?

The California order still controls. Moving to Dallas does not cancel it, and California generally keeps exclusive continuing jurisdiction to change it while the other parent or the child still lives there.

You can register the order in Texas so a Dallas County court can enforce it. If you want it changed and the other parent still lives in California, the change usually has to be asked for in California, unless the California court agrees that Texas is the more convenient place.

How do I register an out-of-state custody order in Texas?

You file a registration request with a Texas court under Texas Family Code § 152.305. The filing includes:

• A letter or other document asking to register the order.
• Two copies of the order, one of them certified.
• A statement under penalty of perjury that, to your knowledge, the order has not been modified.
• The names and addresses of the person asking and of any parent or person given custody or visitation.

The court files the order and serves the other parent, who has 20 days after service to ask for a hearing. The other parent can defeat registration only by showing the issuing court lacked jurisdiction, the order was vacated, stayed or modified, or they did not get proper notice in the original case. Once confirmed, those issues cannot be raised again.

Can I enforce a Florida custody order after moving to Plano?

Yes. Once the Florida order is registered in Texas, a court in the county where you now live can enforce it as if a Texas court had issued it. You can register and ask for enforcement at the same time.

Enforcement means making the other parent follow the existing schedule. It does not let the Texas court rewrite the schedule. If the order no longer fits, that is a modification question for the court with jurisdiction.

Can a Texas court change a custody order from another state?

Only in limited cases. A Texas court can modify another state's custody order only if Texas would have jurisdiction to make an initial order and either the other state's court has decided it no longer has exclusive continuing jurisdiction or that Texas is more convenient, or a court finds that the child, both parents and anyone acting as a parent no longer live in the other state (§ 152.203).

In practice, if one parent still lives in the issuing state, that state usually decides. If everyone has left it and the child has lived in Texas for six months, Texas can usually take the case. See custody modification.

Who decides jurisdiction when a child recently moved to Texas?

The state where the child lived for the six consecutive months before the case usually decides, and that may not be Texas yet. Temporary absences count as part of the six months (§ 152.102).

If the child moved here less than six months ago and a parent still lives in the old state, the old state normally remains the home state (§ 152.201). If no state is the home state, a state where the child and a parent have significant connections and evidence about the child is available can take the case. A child simply being in Texas is not enough.

What happens if both parents file custody cases in different states?

Only the state with jurisdiction under the UCCJEA goes forward. A Texas court generally cannot proceed if a case was already started in another state that has jurisdiction, and the judges in the two states communicate to sort it out (§ 152.206).

A parent who moved a child or kept a child to create jurisdiction can find that the court declines to hear the case because of that conduct (§ 152.208).

What happens if my ex takes our child to another state and won't return?

You ask a court in the state where the child is to enforce your order quickly. Nearly every state has adopted the UCCJEA, including its expedited enforcement process, and a court can issue a warrant to take physical custody of the child when the child is imminently likely to suffer serious physical harm or be removed from that state.

If the child is brought into Texas, a Texas court can enforce a registered order, and Texas law also provides a writ of habeas corpus for the return of a child under an existing order. Keeping a child in violation of an order can be a crime under Texas Penal Code § 25.03. Acting quickly keeps the child's time away short and the facts clear for the court.

Can I modify child support after moving from New York to Texas?

Only in limited cases. If the other parent or the child still lives in New York, New York generally keeps the power to modify. Texas can modify if all parties consent in writing with the New York court, or if all the parents now live in Texas and the child no longer lives in New York (Texas Family Code §§ 159.611, 159.613).

Even when Texas modifies, New York law still controls how long support lasts, and New York sets a later end age than Texas does. To enforce an out-of-state support order, it can be registered in Texas, sent to the OAG, or sent directly to the paying parent's employer as an income withholding order. See child support.