Q: can my ex and texas court determine custody of my children without inviting me to attend? Cause they did!!
said I was served and wasnt.... therfore gave her everything she asked for and she raped me basically and I had no clue there was even a hearing
A:
Depending on when the hearing was held, you may have a couple of options for getting back to court. In either of these situations, you should seek a family law attorney to assist you as they will know how to navigate through either of these options.
The court has basically issued a "default judgment" against you because, in your case file, the court filings show that you were served with notification of the lawsuit and the date a hearing was to be held.
If it has been less than 30 days since the hearing, you may be able to request a motion to set aside the default judgment that was granted against you at the hearing on the grounds that you were not properly notified of a hearing and that is why you missed the hearing.
If it has been more than 30 days since the hearing, but it has been less than 4 years since you learned of the default judgment, you may be able to file a Bill of Review. This is a proceeding that asserts to the Judge that your constitutional rights were violated because you were not properly provided notice of a hearing. If it is found that you were not properly notified of the hearing, the court can set aside the default judgment that was entered against you. This will basically gives you a "second bite at the apple".
If it is found that you were properly given notice of the hearing and you did not appear, and a default judgment was properly granted, your next option may be to request a modification of the current court order. As long as you can show that there has been a "material and substantial change in the circumstances of any party", then the court can consider changing some or all of the terms of the current court order.
I hope this information helps you out. Good luck to you.
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