Changing Your Address or Employment Information

Yes. The law says that you must provide the court and the other side with written notice of your current address if it changes during your case. (This rule applies to all cases.)

Read the law here: Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 30.015.

Note: There are limited exceptions where notice is not required. Talk with a lawyer to learn if a limited exception applies to your case. 

There are exceptions to the general rule. You might need to ask the judge for permission not to disclose your address to the parties in the case for safety reasons. 

Here are some examples of when a limited exception might apply: 

• Providing the information might result in harassment, abuse, serious harm, or injury to yourself or to your children.  

• In certain child custody proceedings, where the disclosure of information may jeopardize the health, safety, or liberty of the party in a case or child, a party may file a UCCJEA affidavit under seal. Filing under seal means the information is not made publicly available (or even available to the other side) unless a judge orders otherwise after a hearing. Learn more here: Texas Family Code 152.209(e). 

• Texas Family Code 105.006(c) sets out exceptions that apply to final orders in certain cases involving children: 

If, after notice and hearing, a judge finds that providing your contact information to the other side is likely to subject you (the conservator) or your child to harassment, abuse, serious harm, injury, or family violence, the judge may: 

1. order the information not to be provided to the other party; or 

2.  issue any other necessary orders. 

There may be other issues involved in your case. Find out more in the Protection from Violence or Abuse section of this website. 

There are formal steps required by law, and a detailed guide with instructions and forms is available here: I need to update my address and other information with the court.  

The general steps include: 

1. Filling out a Notice of Current Address form, and signing and dating the certificate of service to show how you will give the other side’s lawyer (or the other side if the other side does not have a lawyer) a file-stamped copy of your form.  

2. Turning in the Notice of Current Address at the clerk’s office and getting a copy for both you and the other side. 

3. Sending a file-stamped copy of the Notice of Current Address to the other side on the same day you file it by one of the approved methods of service. 

4. Sending a file-stamped copy of your Notice of Current Address form to the State Case Registry and to the Office of the Attorney General if it is involved in your case.  

Keeping your address up-to-date while your case is pending is the only way to make sure you will get notice of papers filed in your case, hearing and trial dates, and notice of any orders made.

If you fail to keep your address up-to-date, you risk:

• The other side or the court notifying you of important deadlines at an old address;
• Losing important rights (such as having a chance to respond to the other side or to show up in court at a hearing or at your final trial); and
• Being fined and penalized.

Yes, you must notify the court and others of current information in most family law cases involving children.

Note: This rule does not apply to:

• Termination of parental rights cases;
• Adoptions; and
• Cases where the court finds that providing this notice “would be likely to expose the child or the party to harassment, abuse, serious harm or injury.”

Learn more here: Texas Family Code 105.006(a), Texas Family Code 105.007.

Provide notice to:

• The court clerk in the county that your court order was issued from,
• The State Case Registry,
• The Office of the Attorney General (if applicable), and
• Other parties (or their lawyers if they have lawyers)

A detailed guide with instructions and forms is available here: I Need to Update my Address and Other Information with the Court.

The general steps include:

1. Filling out a Notice of Current Address or Notice of Employer’s Address form, and signing and dating the certificate of service to show how you will give the other side’s lawyer (or the other side if the other side does not have a lawyer) a file-stamped copy of your form. 
2. Turning in the Notice of Current Address or Notice of Employer’s Address form at the clerk’s office and getting a copy for both you and the other side.
   • File the form as soon as possible after you learn that your contact information or your employer’s contact information will be changing, but no later than:
     • on or before the sixtieth (60th) day before the intended change (if you are aware of the intended change 60 days ahead of time), or
     • on or before the fifth (5th) day after the date you know of the change (if you do not know or could not have known of the changed information sixty (60) days ahead of time).
3. Sending a file-stamped copy of the Notice of Current Address or Notice of Employer’s Address to the other side on the same day you file it by one of the approved methods of service.
4. Sending a file-stamped copy of your Notice of Current Address or Notice of Employer’s Address to the State Case Registry and to the Office of the Attorney General if it is involved in your case.

A detailed guide with instructions and forms is available here: Changing Your Address or Employment Information With the Court.

The general steps include:

1. Updating the court and others in writing by filling out a Notice of Employer’s Address, stating that you are unemployed. Check the box “I am unemployed” on the Notice of Employer’s Address form.
2. Filing (turning in) the Notice of Employer’s Address form with the clerk.
3. Sending a file-stamped copy of the form to the other parties in your case, and the State Case Registry by one of the approved methods.
4. Keeping proof you have kept the court and others informed of your updated information.

Note: It is common to see "unemployed" listed in the “information regarding the parties” section. Your employment status is relevant in most family law proceedings. The consequences of failing to update this information could be serious for you.

If you have questions, talk with a lawyer. 

The law requires you to keep your information current in many cases, even after an order is issued.

• Your custody, child support, or divorce decree is a court order that sets out rules you must follow even after your case is finished.
• If you do not follow a court order, you could be held in contempt of court. You also risk being penalized, subject to jail time, and having to pay court costs and attorney’s fees.

Yes. Keeping your information current will directly impact child support payment processing.

• If you were ordered to pay child support to the Attorney General (or applicable government agency), you will need to provide your employer’s contact information so it can garnish (take out) child support from your wages.
• If you are receiving child support, providing this information will help to make sure that the child support money goes to the right place.

Yes, current contact information can even impact the location for exchange of children for visitation.

• Keeping your address up-to-date is particularly important if your residence is listed in the order as the place for exchange of children for visitation.
• If you fail to notify the other parent or conservator of the change of address, visitation can be impacted.

Yes, keeping your contact information current even protects your legal right to notice.

• If any parties in the case want to have a judge enforce, clarify or change anything about the order, they will have to file a petition.
• To protect your right to receive notice of court papers or deadlines, make sure your contact information stays up-to-date.