If my wife leaves the state with my children, will I still be hit with the same levels of child support and/or alimony as I would if we remained in TX and divorced? She does not have a job in the other state, just family, so no real reason to leave TX

"She does not have a job in the other state, just family, so no real reason to leave TX"... Family is a POWERFUL reason... Meaning, if she moved to Texas just to be with you, and now you are no longer married, then why would she wish to stay?

I don't know about the legalities of the situation, but I would remind you that EVERYTHING you and she do affect the children. In MN (from http://www.answerbag.com/a_view/7078074 ), she has a support system. In TX, it sounds like all she has is money (child-support and alimony), maybe YOUR family - who have (possibly) taken your side in the divorce, so they aren't supportive of her at all. While you may legally be in the right, are you MORALLY, to force her to live where she doesn't want to, where she has no family or friends? Yes... You want the kids, but would they TRULY be better off with you than with her and her family?

Think objectively about this before doing anything.

BTW: In most cases, the courts decide with that the kids should be with the mother. Since they are YOUR kids, then you SHOULD pay child support, no matter where they live. And, who said she's denying you "access"? Immediate access? Yes. But remember that if you divorce, and she granted custody, you would not have "access" as you did when they lived with you, anyway.

Seems to me you would be better off working WITH her than against her (trying to take the kids from her), and if not, denying THEM of the support you would have paid in TX.

I didn't necessarily allow her to remove them, so takes them to Minnesota for vacation every summer since her family lives there. It wasn't until she got up there that she then indicated her intent to remain up there and enroll the kids in school there. She is asking me to agree so that she can enroll them in school up there, which requires my approval (which I won't grant).

My goal is to get my kids back in Texas with me if she wants to remain in Minnesota and live with her mother. I woudl prefer to have custody, but I know in reality the Texas courst would never allow that. My biggest concern is having the legal system allow her to move them to Minnesota and also make me pay child support as well as alimony, which I can't see being fair since she's denying me access to my children.

Why are you allowing her to remove the children from the state? You could file an injunction to have them removed. If you file a voluntary child support order now, than Texas will retain jurisdiction. If custody order are file there, before she's been out of the state for six months, than they will will also have jurisdiction on it.

What are your goals in this matter? Don't you want your children around?