Q: Hello, so I’m the sole provider for my family (Wife, Step son) my wife got court ordered to stay in bell county.

A: Here are some options you could pursue to legally get back to Texas to provide for your family despite the court order requiring your wife to stay in Bell County:

1. File an emergency petition to modify the order with the court. Explain that the order is imposing an undue hardship by separating you from your dependents and preventing you from supporting them financially from your out-of-state military assignment. Request it be stayed or altered to allow your wife to join you.

2. See if the judge will agree to virtual/telephonic appearances to hear arguments on getting the order revised or lifted if in-person return is not feasible. Courts have become more amenable to remote proceedings when needed.

3. Contact JAG/military legal assistance to explore arguing the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) applies here. They may be able to file something asserting your military duties combined with supporting dependents requires revision of a court order temporarily imposing an impossible legal obligation of simultaneous but geographically exclusionary duties.

4. If unable to get the order itself changed, see if exceptions could be made for temporary visits, allowing your wife and stepson to stay some weeks/weekends with you in NC without violating the order’s residency requirement. It’s a workaround, but provides some in-person support.

I hope these give you some options to legally pursue in advocating that your military service and duty to provide for your dependents makes complying with both the order and your military assignment at once unreasonable.