Count on Our Out-of-State Child Custody Lawyer for Strong Representation
After a divorce, you and your ex-spouse will set up a child custody agreement that you both agree to use. This ensures that you have specific time you can spend with your children, even if they do not live with you primarily. However, you may run into a situation a few months or years after setting up child custody where your ex-spouse announces a planned move out of state. This can be a jarring thing to hear, as it could affect your relationship with your children. Our San Antonio child relocation lawyer is ready to help.
When clients come to us to discuss complexities in a child custody situation, we know they have a lot of questions. We promise to take the time to answer your questions and to give you a professional level of representation. Our San Antonio child relocation attorneys do not back down from a tough situation.
How Amsberry Law Firm Can Help With Your Case
Our San Antonio Child Relocation Lawyer Will Work Hard on Your Behalf
Although we help our clients when they need to set up a child custody arrangement, we also help whenever you may need child custody modification services, such as when your ex-spouse plans a move out of state. Some of the areas of the case where our team can help include:
- Taking the time to listen to your story, ensuring we understand the situation
- Spending whatever time is necessary to help you achieve the best possible outcome
- Handling negotiations with your ex-spouse’s representatives
- Reducing the emotion from the situation, so we can focus on the facts
- Ensuring that your situation meets all the necessary legal requirements
- Representing your wishes for the agreement, all while focusing on what’s best for the child, as Texas state statute section 153.002 requires
- Addressing any disputes that arise related to the original child custody arrangement
- Helping you understand your rights related to child custody
- Laying out all your options in the case, so we can decide as a team on the best way to move forward
- Being available to answer any questions you have as we move through the case.
When you are wondering whether a custodial or non-custodial parent can move out of state, our San Antonio child relocation lawyer is ready to provide the advice you need. We even can help you work through potential outcomes based on the actions we may take, ensuring that we investigate every possibility to arrive at the best plan to represent you and your interests.
Why Choose Amsberry Law Firm
Our Team Focuses on Family Law and Child Custody Situations
When you have a situation involving divorce and child custody, you don’t want to trust just any lawyer with representing your interests. You need a law firm with the experience required to handle any complexities that arise. Led by Attorney Russell Amsberry, our team’s primary area of focus is family law. This gives us an edge over other law firms that may only deal with divorce and child custody when it is convenient for them. Bottom line: Helping people work through difficult times related to their family situation is our passion.
Russell founded Amsberry Law Firm in 1995. In his nearly three decades of service to families in San Antonio, he has earned many accolades, including:
- Inclusion in the listing of the best lawyers in San Antonio from Scene in SA magazine
- Distinguished rating from Martindale-Hubbell
- Amazing rating from Avvo
- Bar admission to all Texas courts
- Membership in American Bar Association for family sections
- Membership in State Bar of Texas for family sections
- Member San Antonio Bar Association
- Membership in Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists.
Our Clients Appreciate the Service They Receive From Our San Antonio Child Relocation Attorneys
Although it would be unethical for our law firm to promise that we can achieve a certain outcome for you in your child custody relocation case, we can promise that we work hard for all our clients. We take every case seriously, and we put our full effort into helping you seek the outcome you want to have.
Our past clients’ testimonialsshow how we approach cases involving family law and child custody. Our past clients know the level of detail that we delivered for them in their cases, and you can trust that we will do the same for you. We do not back down when facing a tough situation, because we know how much confidence you are putting in our team and in our ability to deliver the outcome you are seeking. We deliver the support that our clients need, both emotionally and legally, so they can focus on their families.
Our San Antonio Child Relocation Lawyer Helps You Understand the Process
We Will Investigate Every Aspect of the Case Thoroughly
Before discussing out of state child custody situations, it’s helpful to understand how child custody in Texas typically works. After a divorce, the courts in Texas may grant sole custody or joint custody. (Texas state law refers to custody as “conservatorship”; if you hear that term, it means the same thing as “custody” in the majority of states.)
- Sole custody occurs when one parent has the right to make decisions regarding the children’s lives, such as for school and medical care. The children live with this parent the majority of the time.
- Joint custody occurs when the two parents share the decision making process regarding the well-being of the children’s lives.
Even in joint custody, the children may live with one parent most of the time, although they can split their living time equally if the parents want this and if it’s in the best interests of the children.
Joint Custody Is a More Common Outcome
It’s important to note that Texas courts attempt to order joint custody as often as possible. As your San Antonio child custody attorney, we can help you come up with a parenting plan after the divorce that spells out where the children will live and whether they will spend more time at one parent’s home, even in a joint custody situation. The parenting plan attempts to ensure that the children will have as little disruption in their day-to-day lives as possible.
When Texas courts create a joint custody order after a divorce, the order almost certainly will include any limitations on the geographic area in which the child may live. Typically, part of the original child custody arrangement will require that the two parents live relatively close to each other. This usually is in the same county in Texas or in adjoining counties. This arrangement makes it easier for both parents to be able to drive to see the children. It also ensures the children aren’t spending hours upon hours in a car, driving back and forth to each parent’s home to fulfill the custody agreement.
With this in mind, it’s understandable why one parent would not want the other parent to move out of state. Such a move would greatly complicate the process of each parent spending as much time as possible with the kids. If the kids live primarily with the parent who is moving, the other parent will surely lose time with the kids.
Let Our San Antonio Child Relocation Lawyers Protect Your Rights As a Parent
Once the court sets the geographic area in which the child may live in the original custody agreement, if one parent wants to move, a modification to the child custody arrangement is necessary. Because the original order is binding, parents cannot ignore it when they don’t like the original terms. The parent who wants to move would need to petition the court to change the terms.
If you are the parent who is not moving, you have the right to oppose this move. Our San Antonio child relocation attorneys can present your argument to the court, such as by introducing facts that show the move would not be in the best interests of the children. We also might be able to argue that the move would greatly diminish your ability to see the kids.
If you are the parent who wants to move, our San Antonio child relocation lawyer can develop a strategy to help you. We can try to negotiate with your ex-spouse’s representatives, so they will not oppose the move in a court filing. Should your ex-spouse choose to fight your move, we can present facts to the court to show why the move will be beneficial to the children.
Common Questions Our San Antonio Child Relocation Lawyer Answers for Clients
FAQ for Out of State Child Relocation Situations
Our San Antonio child relocation lawyer always has our clients’ best interests in mind. Along those lines, after you hire us, we promise to spend the time necessary to answer your questions and to learn about your story. Although this requires extra time on our part, our experience as a child relocation lawyer shows that it is a strategy that works well for our clients. To give you a feel for how we handle these types of cases, here are some common questions that we hear and our answers.
Do I have to tell anyone if I plan to move out of state with the children?
It depends on the type of child custody arrangement you have with your ex-spouse. If you are sharing custody, for example, you cannot move with the children without informing the court. Our San Antonio child relocation lawyer can help you figure out the best way to approach this situation legally.
Can your out-of-state child custody lawyer help if my ex-spouse moved with the kids without telling me?
In some cases, our out-of-state child custody lawyer might file a motion for temporary restraining order to counteract the move or even block it. If the court determines that your ex-spouse moved with the kids illegally, this could result in charges of interference with child custody.
What happens if my ex-spouse wants to move without the kids?
In Texas, the non-custodial parent typically can move to a new location without the permission of the court, including out of state, as long as the children are not also moving.
Can your San Antonio child relocation lawyers help if my ex-spouse wants to move the kids to a nearby county instead of out of state?
In most cases, one spouse can move with the children to a Texas county adjacent to the county where the court granted the divorce. However, if the move will involve a greater distance, permission often is necessary, and our San Antonio child relocation lawyers are ready to help you.
Our San Antonio child relocation lawyer knows the importance of keeping our clients informed at every step along the way. We do this by taking the time to listen to your needs and by answering your questions as they come up. We never want you to be wondering about the status of your case, which is why we spend so much time communicating with you.
Count on Our San Antonio Child Relocation Lawyer to Always Put Your Children’s Needs First
Reach Out to Amsberry Law Firm Today
Amsberry Law Firm always focuses on our clients’ needs. In cases that involve a potential out-of-state move with the kids, we always try to come up with solutions that are in the best interests of the children. Most people who hire us to help with these situations are simply looking for a solution that is as good for the children as possible, while also protecting the relationship they have with the children. We understand this aspect of the case fully, and we know just how important it is to you.
When you are ready to discuss the aspects of your particular case, we are ready to listen. Contact Amsberry Law Firm as soon as possible at (210) 354-2244. You can put your trust in us.
Attorney Russell J.G. Amsberry
Attorney Russell J.G. Amsberry founded the Amsberry Law Firm in 1995 with the goal of providing clients with exceptional, focused representation on their issues. His success as a legal advocate has been reflected in the numerous professional honors he has received, such as speaking engagements and inclusion in Scene in SA magazine’s listing of the best lawyers in San Antonio, a Distinguished rating from Martindale-Hubble, and an amazing rating from Avvo. [ Attorney Bio ]