Wife left with child without notice. What to do?

Question: I live in Texas. my wife and i married after we had our first child. My wife is 17 and I am 19. The baby was 3 months old when we got married and is 6 months now. Our marriage was rough but we were working at it. Last night I came home from work and my wife had left town with her mother who was visiting and with our baby. I managed to contact my wife once only to hear that she wasn't coming back and neither was the baby. I don't feel safe knowing the environment the baby is going to and want to do anything I can to get custody of her.

Answer: Get a Petition for Dissolution (or Petition for Legal Separation) on file immediately. Also consider filing a Temporary Restraining Order/Permanent Injunction on her relocating the residence of the child. Inside the dissolution proceeding, in most jurisdictions you can file for temporary custody. The difficult part initially maybe getting your wife served with the dissolution papers. I strongly suggest that you retain an attorney quickly. If you allow her to establish residency in a new State for six months, you maybe forced to fight the battle on her new turf, instead of your area.

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