I moved to Texas with my husband 5 1/2 yrs ago. We are having serious problems. I have no one here in Texas my closest family is in Michigan. Could I just leave Texas with our daughter and move there. My husband works out of town all week only coming home on weekends. I don't work and when I tell him I am leaving he says that he would get full custody. I don't want to lose my daughter what can I do?

You can get a job, make a life in Texas, you can go to court, file for divorce and ask for custody and permission to take child out of Texas.

If you just leave, your husband can go to court and get a order to make you return child to Texas.

You need to file for divorce and, as part of the divorce ask for permission to move. If you just leave, he can file for divorce in TX and require that you return the child to the state. I suggest you contact a divorce attorney or woman's support group for help.

Before you leave you file for divorce. If you don't have another place locally to go look into women's groups in the area. They may know of places you can stay locally for a small fee or possibly free (for a time). While your husband can't stop you personally from leaving, he can stop you from bringing the child that you share.

You need to know all your options so that's where you start with free legal advice, and advocates that deal with poor women issues like shelters. This takes plotting and planning as opposed to impulsive actions. Or free counseling to find better coping strategies for your circumstances. The first thing you do though is stop being scared of his threats to take away your daughter. The best he can hope for is shared custody which may be beyond his mean.

Now the real issue is why have you not built a life that you enjoy in 5 and a half years? How old is your daughter?