Major Change in Texas Law in Regards to Custody Cases Where the Child Resides Out of State

Effective September 1, 1999, Texas NO LONGER automatically gives custody jurisdiction to ANOTHER STATE when the child has been RESIDING in THAT STATE for MORE THAN SIX MONTHS.

This is a MAJOR CHANGE; the previous law (the Texas version of the UCCJA) FORCED Texas to GIVE UP custody jurisdiction after the CHILD had been OUT OF TEXAS for 6 MONTHS.

Texas has replaced the UCCJA with the UCCJEA (Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act) that DELETES the 6 month language in the previous law. The new law is §152.001 et seq. of the Texas Family Code.  It means that Texas can retain jurisdiction so long as one parent remains in Texas, although Texas can certainly release its jurisdiction to another state.

Also see the article on Relocation Cases.

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