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Texas Divorce Residency Requirements: 6 Months in State, 90 Days in County

Reviewed by the Amicably document team · Updated August 22, 2026

Texas will not open a divorce case until residency is established. One spouse must have lived in Texas for the preceding six months and in the county where the case is filed for the preceding 90 days. Only one of you has to meet both parts, so a spouse who has already moved away does not block the case as long as the other one still qualifies where they live.

This guide walks through exactly what the six-month and 90-day tests measure, why Texas checks the county separately from the state, what to do if you have not lived anywhere in Texas long enough yet, and how the rule interacts with the rest of an uncontested filing.

The two-part residency rule

Texas checks residency in two layers, not one. The first layer is the state itself: you or your spouse must have been a Texas domiciliary for the six months right before the petition is filed. The second layer is narrower: you or your spouse must also have lived in the specific county where the case is filed for the 90 days right before filing. Both tests are measured at the moment the petition is filed, not at some earlier or later date.

Neither number is negotiable and neither can be shortened by agreement between the spouses. If the six-month or 90-day period has not run yet for either spouse, the case cannot be filed, no matter how ready the rest of the paperwork is.

Only one spouse has to qualify

The rule does not require both spouses to meet it. Either the person filing the case or the other spouse can satisfy the six-month and 90-day tests, and the case may proceed on whichever spouse's residency qualifies.

This matters most for couples who separate before filing. One spouse often moves out, sometimes out of state, while the other stays in the family home. As long as one of them still meets the six-month and 90-day tests somewhere in Texas, the case can go forward.

Domicile vs residence: what "living in Texas" means

The state-level test uses the word domiciliary rather than resident, and the distinction is practical, not just technical. A domicile is a fixed, permanent home, the place you intend to keep coming back to, not just anywhere you happen to be staying. A person stationed, working, or attending school in Texas temporarily, with a permanent home elsewhere, may not be a Texas domiciliary even while physically present in the state for months at a time.

Courts look at ordinary, practical signs of intent to make Texas home: a Texas driver's license or ID, voter registration, a lease or mortgage in your name, a Texas employer, and where your household belongings actually are. No single item is required by itself, and no single item guarantees domicile on its own either. The county-level residence test is more straightforward: it simply asks where you have actually been living for the past 90 days, without the added intent question.

Why the 90-day county test matters

The county test exists because Texas divorce cases are filed with a specific county's district clerk, and the county residency rule decides which clerk's office and which court can take the case. Filing in the wrong county, or filing before either spouse has reached 90 days there, is a residency defect the same as filing before the six-month mark statewide.

Moving between Texas counties does not restart the state-level clock, only the county-level one. Someone who has lived in Texas for years but moved to a new county two months ago still meets the six-month state test, but has to either wait out the remaining 30 days in the new county or file in the county they left, if they can still show 90 days of residence there before the move.

1. Day 0You move to Texas and establish a fixed home. Neither the state nor the county clock has finished running yet.
2. Day 90The county test is satisfied, as long as you have stayed in the same county since moving in. The state test still has three months left.
3. Day 180The state domicile test is satisfied. If you are still in the same county, both tests are now met and a petition can be filed.
4. After Day 180Both tests stay satisfied for as long as you remain a Texas domiciliary and stay in the same county, or reset the county clock only if you move to a different one.

If you have not met the requirement yet

Falling short of either test is common for couples who recently moved to Texas, or who separated and one spouse relocated. There is no waiver and no court discretion to shorten either period, so the practical options are limited but workable.

1. Check whether your spouse meets the six-month and 90-day tests where they live, even if you do not. The case can proceed on their residency instead of yours.
2. If neither of you currently qualifies, calculate the date the later of the two periods will run out and plan to file on or after that date.
3. If you recently changed counties within Texas, confirm whether your prior county still works: you need 90 days of residence there ending before you moved, not 90 days counting backward from today.
4. Do not file early on the assumption the case will simply wait. A petition filed before either spouse meets the residency rule is subject to dismissal for lack of jurisdiction, which costs time and, where one applies, the filing fee.

How residency gets confirmed on the petition

The Original Petition for Divorce itself states that the residency requirement is met, and the district clerk does not independently investigate it at intake. In an agreed case neither spouse typically contests the statement, and residency only becomes a live issue if someone challenges it, which is rare when both spouses want the divorce to proceed. Confirming your dates before you file, rather than after, avoids having to amend the petition or explain a gap at the prove-up. For the filing steps that come after residency is settled, the step-by-step filing guide picks up from here, and the uncontested divorce guide covers what an agreed case looks like once the petition is filed.

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