When you get divorced, you certainly do not have to get divorced in the same state or the same county where you got married. People sometimes worry about this because they may have moved a significant distance in the years between that marriage and the divorce. But if you live in Texas now, even if you got married in Michigan, you don’t have to go back to Michigan just to get divorced.
That being said, there are some residency requirements. Each state is allowed to set these however it would like. Some states have none at all, but Texas says that at least you or your spouse have to be a resident for six months prior to filing for a divorce. And that is just at the state level. You also have to be a resident of the county in which you reside for 90 days. Only after you have satisfied these can you file for divorce.
Why is it set up this way?
You may think it is odd that states would put these restrictions in place. Maybe you just moved to Texas and you already knew you wanted to divorce, but you hadn’t started the process yet. Why would the state keep you from pursuing it?
The basic reasoning is just that states do not want people filing for divorce in places where they don’t reside simply because they favor those divorce laws. State governments try to prevent people from moving and then quickly getting divorced because they think they will get a better outcome in that state. The government wants to see proof of actual residence within the state before applying those laws.
Divorce may be a bit more complex than you assumed, which is why it’s so important to understand what legal steps to take.