Moving out of state

[trremorr]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX

My husband filed for an uncontested divorce about 2 months back. I did not sign the "Waiver of service" because I was unsure about some of the lines in the document. I haven't been officially served yet. I plan to move out of state because of job requirements in the next couple weeks. I was wondering if I need to inform the court or anybody at all about my new address. More fundamentally, would the case still hold? (I ask because TX divorce has some residency requirements. Do those have to be satisfied at the time of filing or at the time of serving?)
If the case was still valid and my husband eventually decided to serve me officially at my new address, would I have to make court appearances back in TX? What circumstances might require me to appear at court in TX?
Finally, I wanted to know whether the case would become a contested divorce just because I did not sign the waiver?

Edit:Another question..

Would any of the answers be different if I were moving out of the US?

[mistoffolees]

Originally Posted by trremorr

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TX

My husband filed for an uncontested divorce about 2 months back. I did not sign the "Waiver of service" because I was unsure about some of the lines in the document. I haven't been officially served yet. I plan to move out of state because of job requirements in the next couple weeks. I was wondering if I need to inform the court or anybody at all about my new address. More fundamentally, would the case still hold? (I ask because TX divorce has some residency requirements. Do those have to be satisfied at the time of filing or at the time of serving?)
If the case was still valid and my husband eventually decided to serve me officially at my new address, would I have to make court appearances back in TX? What circumstances might require me to appear at court in TX?
Finally, I wanted to know whether the case would become a contested divorce just because I did not sign the waiver?

Edit:Another question..

Would any of the answers be different if I were moving out of the US?

I'm assuming there are no children since you didn't mention any. If there are children, the following answer will change.

There's nothing to stop you from moving out of state, out of country, or to Mars if you wish. You are not legally obligated to tell him where you are, but it will make the whole process go a lot smoother if you do. No need to start out on the wrong foot - because he can probably track you down.

The case does not end just because you move. As long as either of you is a TX resident, it can be filed there.

He will have to properly serve you. He can do that regardless of where you are. It can be expensive if you're out of the country, though. You will have to either appear in TX or have an attorney to appear on your behalf. Or, you can not appear and he will win a default judgment - which might or might not be fair to you (sometimes people request very one sided judgments in their divorce filings). That means he'll get whatever he asked for. If there's anything of consequence at stake, it's probably worth having an attorney appear for you.

[Ronin]

As long as he is a resident of Texas it does not matter what your residency status is, as he can get a Texas divorce if he wishes.

Any issues you have with the wording of his petition for divorce should be addressed in your Answer to the petition, rather than refusing to sign a waiver of service.

Refusing to sign a waiver of service does not make the problem go away, and will only tend to complicate an otherwise uncontested (or even mildly contested) divorce.

If you move overseas and make yourself difficult to locate and serve, the court may allow service by publication. This could be problematic if it causes you to miss out on any important information prior to a default judgment being entered.

It is not always necessary for both parties to a divorce to be present in court for the hearings. However, this would require keeping all lines of communication open, and making yourself easy to serve documents and filings to.

When your ex eventually moves to have final judgment signed you must be served with a notice of this hearing, which should include a proposed judgment for you to sign. If the content of this judgment is disputed, then you or an attorney will need to be present at the hearing, or you waive your right to the disputed matters.

While it is possible to have a fast one pulled on you with changes to the proposed judgment if you or an attorney are not present, you will be served a copy of the final judgment signed by the judge, after which you will have time to challenge any such issues.