My attorney never indicated that i had to request or file for him to give me money. And no I am not moving because there is a boyfriend. I work full time and can barely make it on my pay. I have gone to job interviews in this new city and have had job offers but i can not accept until i know where i stand with my divorce. I am not trying to prevent him from seeing the kids... i want to be able to provide to them a better life. I cant do that. Living paycheck ( and at times not having enough) to paycheck is not my idea of cutting it. I am very much invovlved with my kids from the moment they were born. My ex was never around and used to travel alot. As i said he was the weekend dad. And i always made excuses for him not being around. and now he drags the kids into this mess. I am so against the kids being involved in this but all he sees is that i am moving for my benefit. To say, that he is completely clueless on my daughters dyslexia. He knows about it but he has never once been to a parent teacher meeting with me for her or my other son. He has never attending their school functions or plays or my lil one's (when she was) in day care plays and such. He was too busy working. All i want to be able to give my kids more than i am able to now. I am primary custodian of the kids and 3 kids require a lot. IF i knew for a fact he would dedicate and do what i do for my kids i would let him keep them here but he wont... he never has. My daughter (11) is at an age where she is growing up and needs me... she wont tell her father many things.. she doesnt like to see him sometimes because he drills her with questions. I dont want to take their father away i just want something better for them.
There is an action in front of the court in the county that you currently reside in. The Judge is NOT going to allow EITHER of you to remove the children from that courts jurisdiction unless there are dire circumstances, like a medical emergency. Since jurisdiction has already been established, the case will remain in it's current location until such time as BOTH parties move outside of it's jurisdiction or the court allows a change of jurisdiction (which, in Texas, is NOT going to happen).
When one party asks for residential restrictions to be PERMINANTLY ordered, it is almost ALWAYS granted. Because of the size of the state, Texas generally restricts the parents from moving the children out of the county or a contingent county. Being allowed to move 7 hours away, without giving the court substantial PROOF that having a close, regular relationship with their father would actually be HARMFUL to the children, is pretty much out of the question.
The income issue won't cut it because you have yet to petition for child support. If you have trouble making ends meet, that is where you need to start. The "my daughter NEEDS me" isn't going to get it either. Wait another year or 2 and she won't be talking to YOU about everything either. That is simply the nature of a pubescent female. If you're really lucky, she'll stop talking to you all together between the ages of 13 - 17. During those years, they tend to have nothing nice to say to their parents anyway, so it's not like you'd miss out on anything important.
You are still married to dad (there's no such thing as legal separation in Texas). If finances are a problem, petition the court for temporary child support and spousal support. I really think that your money and effort can be put to use in much better ways then fighting a losing battle by trying to relocate with the children. If, after the divorce has been final for a while and child support and possibly spousal support has been ordered (at least a year), you STILL can't make ends meet, THEN petition the court to relocate. At this point, you can't show the court that you have made an HONEST EFFORT, using all of the resources available to you, to make things work in your current location. There are options at your disposal (such as support) that will need to be used BEFORE you have a shot at being allowed to move.
