Boxcarbill or IAAL

[ktarra617]

What is the name of your state? TX

I just need an answer to a real quick question. We went to court early last fall for custody, we lost the custody but got a ruling for a residency restriction on the child involved. Basically keeping the child here.

No final orders as yet.

Hubby has been approached to sign on as a co-complainant in another lawsuit being filed here in Texas in regards to the child custody laws.

Can his signing on as a co-complainant in any way shape or form affect this previous ruling that we are all currently going by?

We just don't want any surprises with the ruling keeping his child here.

Thanks!

 

[Boxcarbill]

What is the name of your state? TX

I just need an answer to a real quick question. We went to court early last fall for custody, we lost the custody but got a ruling for a residency restriction on the child involved. Basically keeping the child here.

No final orders as yet.

Hubby has been approached to sign on as a co-complainant in another lawsuit being filed here in Texas in regards to the child custody laws.

Can his signing on as a co-complainant in any way shape or form affect this previous ruling that we are all currently going by?

We just don't want any surprises with the ruling keeping his child here.

Thanks!

Let me see if I understand the issue which concerns you: Whether the state (Judge) can penalize a person by making a ruling in a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship because that person exercised a right provided to him under the law--i.e. to join in another action?

Answer: To paraphrase a Judge which I appeared before: The law is whatever I say it is unless your client has the money to appeal the decision.

 

[ktarra617]

basically that is what I am asking, but let me see if I understand what you are saying.

And please correct me if I am wrong: the ruling from last fall stands, regardless of the final orders or not, unless his ex wife had appealled the ruling in the given time, correct?

if I am that would lead me to believe that the ruling could not be changed without further action on his ex-wife's part? (we are not appealing the decision, can't afford it)

so his joining in this other suit will not effect the previous ruling is what I gather, correct?

Thanks so much!

 

[ktarra617]

just bumping this back up, we gotta give these people an answer in the next few days and I just wanted to make sure that I correctly understood what BCB was telling me!

BCB, did I understand you correctly?

 

[Boxcarbill]

basically that is what I am asking, but let me see if I understand what you are saying.

And please correct me if I am wrong: the ruling from last fall stands, regardless of the final orders or not, unless his ex wife had appealled the ruling in the given time, correct?

if I am that would lead me to believe that the ruling could not be changed without further action on his ex-wife's part? (we are not appealing the decision, can't afford it)

so his joining in this other suit will not effect the previous ruling is what I gather, correct?

Thanks so much!

What I'm saying is that I cannot tell you what a judge will do. I can tell you what the law is. But like I said, "The law is whatever the trial judge says it is unless the litigant has the money to appeal to a higher court to have the trial court's decision reversed." Now, having said that, most of the time, trial judges do follow the law; but it doesn't always happen that way. I don't know what your husband is involved in. I don't know what, if any, impact what your husband is involved in will have on the judge in the current pending case. I don't know the temperment or prejudices or leanings of the judge in the current pending case or whether this judge will be the same judge that will be hearing the case that your husband is considering getting involved in. In fact, I don't even know the judge or judges that he will appear before.

A court order stands until it is modified by a subsequent order. Temporary orders are just that--temporary orders--and the substance of the temporary order can change upon entry of the final order. In your case, the judge could have placed the residency requirement on the party only for the purpose of maintaining the status quo during the pendency of the case. If that is the case, then the residency requirement would not apply after the final hearing and not be a part of the final order. Or it may become a part of the final order.

 

[ktarra617]

ok, i understand what you are saying now.

What we have been asked to do is or rather what my husband has been asked to do is join in as a co-complainant challenging the constitutionality of the child custody laws in Texas. The case is being filed in Tarrant county on April 7th. We have been told that all he has to do is occassionally sign documents agreeing that he feels the laws violate his constitutional right to parent his child equally. The suit it going before the district court in Tarrant county.

As for the residency restriction it is final. We went to court for the final hearing and the judge gave us his ruling the following day. She retained custody, child support went up, but she could not move out of the state.

The reason we have no new orders is her attorney has never drawn up the paper work to include the judges final ruling to amend their divorce decree.

The case is over as far as the judge is concerned, at least that is what our attorney has told us. We have nothing pending just waiting on her attorney to draw up the paperwork for my husband and his ex's signature.

I'm sorry I probably should have spelled out the situation a little more, I was just trying to keep it as brief as possible.

Given that all we are waiting on his the paperwork how does that effect the situation?

Thanks for all your help. I really do appreciate it.

 

[Boxcarbill]

ok, i understand what you are saying now.

What we have been asked to do is or rather what my husband has been asked to do is join in as a co-complainant challenging the constitutionality of the child custody laws in Texas. The case is being filed in Tarrant county on April 7th. We have been told that all he has to do is occassionally sign documents agreeing that he feels the laws violate his constitutional right to parent his child equally. The suit it going before the district court in Tarrant county.

As for the residency restriction it is final. We went to court for the final hearing and the judge gave us his ruling the following day. She retained custody, child support went up, but she could not move out of the state.

The reason we have no new orders is her attorney has never drawn up the paper work to include the judges final ruling to amend their divorce decree.

The case is over as far as the judge is concerned, at least that is what our attorney has told us. We have nothing pending just waiting on her attorney to draw up the paperwork for my husband and his ex's signature.

I'm sorry I probably should have spelled out the situation a little more, I was just trying to keep it as brief as possible.

Given that all we are waiting on his the paperwork how does that effect the situation?

Thanks for all your help. I really do appreciate it.

Ok, when a Judge announces a ruling, it is the order of the court on the day that it is announced in court and is binding on the parties at that time regardless of when the Judge signs the order. [Side note: The clock for appeal, however, does not begin to run until the Judge actually signs the order.]

Now to the suit that your husband has been asked to be a plaintiff in, I won't comment beyond stating that I hope that your husband knows the current Texas law on custody before he signs on to challenge it as unconstitutional. He also needs to make certain that in signing on that he will not be responsible for any costs involved in the suit.

 

[ktarra617]

thanks for the info, my husband has been very leary of signing on to do this for a lot of reasons, I am all for the suit, just not sure if he should sign on as co-complainant. We have been told it is strictly to show to the media the number of people in Texas who object to the laws as they are. However that would release his name to the media and then you can bet his ex will make our lives a living hell if she found out he was party to a suit trying to declare the laws unconstitutional.

No, we do not know the ins and the outs of Texas' custody law but the bottom line is my husband does object to these laws. The laws allow his ex wife to keep the time he sees his child to the minimum that the state says she has to allow. She gets to collect an outrageous amount of child support for the child and sit on her butt all day long. He finds it wrong that his opinion in how his daughter is to be raised can be totally disregarded by his ex wife because she is the CP. (ie she's pregant, shacked up and probably about to go after child support from the boyfriend when that baby is born if he doesn't marry her) Between my husband's support and the child support she will probably get from the new baby's dad she won't have to work! she can sit around and live off the child support with not actually having to provide financially for the children herself at all! What kind of example does that set for the children?

I really didn't mean to start ranting. I'm sorry. It's just so frustrating to see someone treat the other parent like all they are there for is a babysitter eow and to give them money!

He hasn't made his decision yet and I don't know what he's going to do. He just wanted to make sure that he could not be penalized in the restriction keeping his daughter here being removed.

We are currently trying to determine if he would be responsible for any costs of the lawsuit which, we cannot afford, would be our responsibility. If we could afford costs we would be appealing the custody ruling!

As always I learned something new!

Thanks for explanation! I do appreciate it.