Foreign Jurisdiction

Texas Court Declines to Recognize Pakistani Divorce Due to Lack of Notice

Published on: July 31, 2024 | by Kelly McClure

Texas divorces can be complicated when other potential jurisdictions are involved. A former husband recently challenged his Texas divorce, arguing the parties had already been divorced in Pakistan.

The parties got married in 2009 in Pakistan and subsequently moved to Texas. The husband petitioned for divorce in Dallas County in May 2021 and the wife filed a counter-petition. They both alleged the had been residents of Dallas County for the preceding 90 days and domiciliaries of Texas for the preceding six months.

In January 2022, the husband filed a “Notice of Filing of Foreign Judgment” and attached a “Divorce Registration Certificate” that had been issued in Pakistan on January 1, 2022. It showed addresses in Lahore, Pakistan for both parties for dates in September 2021, December 2021, and January 2022.

Texas Court Denies Grandparents’ Request to Register Utah Visitation Order

Published on: April 23, 2023 | by Kelly McClure

iStock-1175949984-300x200 A child custody determination from another state may be registered so it can be enforced in Texas pursuant to Tex. Fam. Code section 152.305. A request must be sent to the Texas state court with a sworn statement the order has not been modified. The requestor must also identify who was awarded custody or visitation in the determination. The court will give the people identified in the request notice so they can contest the registration. To successfully contest the registration, the contesting party must show the prior court lacked jurisdiction, the determination has been vacated, stayed or modified, or they were not given proper notice before the court issued the determination order. Tex. Fam. Code 152.305(d). The grandparents of two children recently appealed a court’s denial of their request to register a foreign child custody determination containing their visitation rights.

After the parents divorced in Utah in 2016, the maternal grandparents were given grandparent time and certain related rights pursuant to a stipulation order in 2017. They later petitioned for modification, but the Utah court found it no longer had jurisdiction because the parties and children no longer lived in the state. The Utah court dismissed the petition, also noting in the order there had been a separate adoption case and termination of the mother’s parental rights.

Request for Registration

The grandparents requested registration of the divorce decree, stipulation order, and order dismissing their modification petition in Texas. Their request identified the father as the parent awarded custody or visitation in the custody determination.

Registering a Foreign Custody Determination in Texas

Published on: September 18, 2022 | by Francesca Blackard

iStock-1125625723-300x200 A custody determination issued in another state or country can be registered in Texas. To do so, the party must send a letter requesting registration to the Texas court, along with two copies of the determination, one of them certified, a sworn statement that, to the best of the requester’s knowledge and belief, the order has not been modified, and their name and address and the name and address of any parent or person acting as a parent who has been awarded custody or visitation under the order. Tex. Fam. Code § 152.305(a). The Texas court then files the determination as a foreign judgment. The court must also give notice to the person seeking the registration and any parent or person acting as a parent who was awarded custody or visitation in the determination and provide them with an opportunity to contest the registration. If a person wants to contest the validity of the registered order, they must request a hearing within 20 days of being served the notice. The court must confirm the registered order unless the person contesting it establishes that the issuing court did not have jurisdiction, that the determination was vacated, stayed, or modified, or that they did not receive required notice in the proceedings before the court that issued the order. Tex. Fam. Code § 152.305.

Mother’s Request for Registration of Custody Determination Denied

A mother recently challenged a court’s denial of her request for registration. She had filed a “Registration of Child Custody Determination” to register an order from New York. The New York order provided that the parties would share joint custody of the child and that the child would live with the mother.

The father filed a timely objection to the registration. He argued there were proceedings for enforcement pending in New York. He alleged that the New York court had recessed to let the mother get an attorney and rescheduled on the same day the wife sought to register the order in Texas. He argued that registering the decree in Texas would make it enforceable and subject to modification in Texas, while the New York court still had and was exercising continuing jurisdiction.

Texas Appeals Court Finds Property Was Separate Despite Use of Community Funds

Published on: April 25, 2021 | by Kelly McClure

images In a Texas divorce case, property acquired during the marriage is presumed to be community property. A spouse claiming property is their separate property must show that it is separate by clear and convincing evidence. Separate property is generally property that is owned before the marriage, property that the spouse acquired as a gift or inheritance, or property recovered as damages in a personal injury case. Community property is generally property acquired after the marriage that is not characterized as separate property.

In a recent case, a wife challenged the court’s characterization of certain property as the husband’s separate property. The wife filed for divorce. The parties agreed they had married in India in 1976, but disagreed on the date they stopped living together as husband and wife.

Husband and Wife Enter into Settlement – But Leave One Issue for Trial

The case went to trial, but, before trial, the parties entered into a Mediated Settlement Agreement (“MSA”). In the MSA, the parties agreed their community property located in India would be divided by Indian courts. The parties agreed to the characterization and division of everything except two pieces of land in India, referred to as the “Fifteen-Cent” property and the “One-and-a-half-Acres” property. The MSA stated they would “defer to characterization and confirmation of separate property” of those two parcels to the trial court.

Texas Court Has Jurisdiction Over North Carolina Child-Custody Order

Published on: January 15, 2021 | by McClure Law Group

iStock-182358076 Sometimes one or both parents move after a custody order is issued. When parents move, they often want to modify custody and visitation. However, if both parents have moved out of state, issues of jurisdiction may arise. In a recent case, a father sought a Texas custody modification of a North Carolina custody order.

Texas Court Should Have Applied Parental Presumption Even When Parent Lived Outside U.S.

Published on: January 10, 2021 | by McClure Law Group

iStock-1183307633 Texas family law has a strong presumption that it is in the child’s best interest to give custody to a parent. Generally, the court must appoint sole managing conservatorship to the parent instead of a non-parent unless it finds doing so would not be in the child’s best interest due to significant impairment of the child’s emotional development or physical health. Tex. Fam. Code § 153.131(a). What if the parent lives in another country? A Texas appeals court recently considered this issue.

Texas Court Did Not Acknowledge Mexican Divorce Due to Procedural Issues

Published on: May 28, 2020 | by McClure Law Group

Divorce can be complicated when the parties are citizens of different countries. Each party may feel a divorce in the other’s country may be unfair to them. There may be issues regarding jurisdiction. Furthermore, even after one country issues a divorce, the other country may not recognize it. A husband recently challenged a Texas divorce after a Mexican court had already granted a divorce.

The parties married in 1986 in Texas. The husband is a Mexican citizen and the wife is a U.S. Citizen. They had residences in both countries during their marriage. Their business was in Mexico, but the wife and daughter lived in Texas at the time of the Texas divorce proceedings.

The husband filed for divorce in Mexico in 2015. The wife challenged jurisdiction, arguing jurisdiction was in Texas because that is where the parties lived. The Mexican court granted the divorce in April 2016.

Interstate Child Custody Disputes and the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act

Published on: August 20, 2015 | by Bryce Hopson

Our society is rapidly changing—from technological advances, to medicinal breakthroughs, to the meteoric ascension of the multinational corporation, individuals and communities are forced to adapt to our culture’s fast-paced global expansion. While there are certainly many factors that have contributed to these changes, our ability to communicate instantly across thousands of miles and travel thousands of miles in a matter of hours has created a society less focused on the proverbial “home roots.”

When parties finalize their divorce or have an order issued relating to their children, what happens when one or both parents have their home roots pulled up by out-of-state job transfers, family issues that require relocation, or new opportunities that send one parent across state lines? Is the order issued in the first state enforceable by the parent who has moved to a different state? Can the traveling parent modify the prior order in another state, or are they stuck litigating in the courts of the state that issued the original order? What if both parents and the child no longer reside in the state that issued the original order?

The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act was crafted to provide answers to these questions. Continue Reading ›

RECENT TEXAS CASES INVOLVING THE RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN DIVORCE

Published on: May 3, 2015 | by McClure Law Group

There has been a lot of talk in this country lately about recognition of same-sex marriage and same-sex divorce, but what about recognition of foreign divorces? In the melting pot that is the United States of America, divorce from foreign countries and their applicability to Texas family law cases are becoming increasingly common issues that are being addressed by trial and appellate courts in the Lone Star State.