My decree says I can’t move out of Montgomery County or Harris County. How do I get that changed?

Does your divorce decree give you the “primary right to determine the residence of the child without regard to geographic location”?  If not, you may have significantly limited your options for your future and that of your child.   Many decrees limit the primary parent conservator’s right to move out of the county of divorce or a specific area. This is done to encourage and allow the other parent conservator to have frequent contacts with the children after the divorce.   What happens, then, when you want to move to accept a better job, remarry, or be nearer to family?   If your decree includes a geographic restriction, the person who wants to move out of that area has the burden to go back to court and have the decree modified by another court order.  

What factors will a court consider in deciding whether or not to lift or impose a geographic restriction?

When divorcing or divorced parents have lived near each other at the time of the divorce, the parent who wants to move out of the area must convince the judge that the move is in the child’s best interests and whether it would be a “positive improvement” for the child.  In making its decision, the court will follow the case of Lenz v. Lenz, 79 S.W.3d 10 (Tex. 2002) in which the Texas Supreme Court recognized a national trend toward a more lenient standard in allowing mobility. The Court also pointed out that each case is fact-specific and that a trial court may consider a variety of factors in determining whether a geographic restriction should be imposed or remain in place, such as the reason for the move, the impact of the move on the child’s education, health, and leisure opportunities, the special needs and talents of the children, the effect on extended family relationships, whether the other parent conservator has the resources to relocate, and the ability of the other parent conservator to maintain a full and continuous relationship with the child.

If you are facing a child custody matter or any other divorce related case then you should contact a Houston divorce attorney from our firm today.