Q: We lived in Texas for about 1.5 years. I left the the US to go to my home country in August 2019.
My husband filed for divorce after I left after in August.
I haven't received any papers from the court yet. My green card expires in December. After my green card expired will the divorce still take place in Texas? Has Texas still juristiction over me in this case or will it be my home country where I live now since August? Thank you
A:
You didn’t say where you have been living or whether you have a child together, and if so, where the child was conceived, had been living, etc., all of which make a difference.
There are three kinds of jurisdiction: jurisdiction over adjudication of the marital status; jurisdiction over the parties; and, if there is a child, jurisdiction over the child issues (Ie, subject matter jurisdiction).
These are all somewhat complex and fact dependent. You should consult with an experienced attorney.
A:
In general, there are 2 types of jurisdiction to look at in the scenario you describe: 1. Jurisdiction over the divorce 2. jurisdiction over the custody of the children.
1. Jurisdiction over the divorce: The court can take jurisdiction over the divorce if at least one party's domicile was Texas for at least 6 months prior to the filing of the divorce and if the party has lived in the county where the divorce is filed for at least 90 days prior to the filing of the divorce.
2. Jurisdiction over the custody of the children: Texas can take jurisdiction if Texas is the child’s home state when the proceeding commenced or was the child’s home state within 6 months before commencement and the child is absent from the state, but a parent or acting parent still lives in Texas.
If Texas is not the home state of the children the subject of the divorce then Texas has discretion to decline doing the divorce so that the divorce and custody issue are decided by the same court.
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