My sister is married for last one and half year both are indian citizens and are married in India and are on H1b visa and are living in Aust...

Question

My sister is married for last one and half year both are indian citizens and are married in India and are on H1b visa and are living in Austin Texas , few months after marriage she was diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing treatment few months into treatment her husband left her saying he need sometime because he is under depression and occasionally used to visit her but yesterday he sent her divorce stating irreconcilable differences we are shocked can anyone advice what she do like is she eligible for alimony or any support from her husband? We all feel that he abandoned her midway he also took her passport when asked he denied taking it and so she filed police complaint and she as a copy of it.please advice what can she do now she is really distressed and confused. Thanks all in advance.

Answer

She needs an attorney. Look on this website and on www.avvo.com for an attorney in Austin. There are many - I recommend a woman that has some experience in dealing with people with illnesses -- might be more sensitive than a man to your sister's feelings.

Where they are from or used to live is irrelevant.

They are living in Texas now and Texas has jurisdiction to end the marriage.

Unfortunately, this happens quite frequently when one spouse gets sick. The other spouse leaves because they cannot "take" the pressure.

I had a client undergoing chemo. The opposing counsel, the judge and I worked together to delay the case until after most of her cancer treatments were completed. The judge was very compassionate. I'm sure your sister won't be the first person with a serious illness in his court.

Tell her that I am a 11 year breast cancer survivor. It was really tough -- but I made it. She can too. Also, I recently married so being a cancer survivor won't mean that she cannot be in a romantic relationship in the future.

Also, he can be ordered to pay her temporary spousal support if she has no funds. He cannot abandon his wife in Texas - he is obligated to provide her minimum living expenses while they are married. It's in the Texas Family Code.

Passports "disappear" all the time. I just had the problem last week in a mediation. I wrote that if the husband locates the wife's passport he must return it in 10 days. In the meantime, the wife applied for a lost passport and was getting a new one.

I hope this has been helpful.

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