Elon Musk with his son, X Æ A-Xii. Clive Mason – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
Elon Musk says Grimes is trying to avoid Texas courts in her custody battle. This is shown by court documents available to Business Insider.
Musk says he has his son X with him, while Grimes took the other two children to California this year.
How the case ends could have a significant impact on possible child support orders.
This is a machine translation of an article from our US colleagues at Insider. It was automatically translated and checked by a real editor. We welcome feedback at the end of the article.
Elon Musk accused Grimes of moving to California with two of her children this year to avoid the custody battle in Texas. This emerges from court documents available to Business Insider. Musk initially sued Grimes in Texas in September to establish the “parent-child relationship” with their three children.
Weeks later, Grimes filed a countersuit against Musk in California. She demanded physical custody of the children. In October, she told a Texas judge that Musk had custody of their three-year-old son, X Æ A-Xii, over her objection.
Texas or California? The answer determines the amount of maintenance
Family law experts previously told Business Insider that the first dispute in this case would likely be over which US state has jurisdiction: California or Texas. The outcome of this dispute could have significant consequences for Musk. California and Texas have different child support limits.
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In Texas, the cap on monthly support payments for three children is $2,760, and Grimes and Musk have three children together. That would be the equivalent of 2540 euros in maintenance per month. In California, however, there is no upper limit. This means that a person like Musk — the richest man in the world — could be ordered to pay an extremely large amount.
On Monday, Musk submitted an amended application. In that he stated that Texas was the correct venue for the custody dispute. Because this was the children’s home state when he filed his first application.
According to Musk, the children were often in Texas – Grimes says otherwise
The petition also says Grimes claimed to be a non-resident of Texas “in an apparent attempt to circumvent the jurisdiction of this court.” While much of the specific dates in the application have been redacted, it does say that Grimes moved to California with two of the children sometime in 2023. She did not return to Texas.
Son X, who is often pictured with Musk in public, remains with his father in Texas, the application says.
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The petition states that she and the three children were in Texas for at least six months. This is despite the fact that Grimes and two of the children are currently in California. Most importantly, they were with Musk, and so Texas is said to be their home state.
However, Grimes’ countersuit states that the three children have been living with her in California since December 31 of last year. The date Grimes and the children moved to California could affect which state is considered their home state. So it also has an impact on how the case ends.
Musk and Grimes could spend months arguing
Peter Walzer is a partner at Walzer Melcher, with experience in complicated and high-net-worth family law cases. He says Musk is citing the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) and the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in his application. These are agreements between states that dictate where custody and support cases should be litigated.
States have different versions of these laws. However, both the California and Texas UCCJEA state that a child’s home state is the one in which the child lived for six consecutive months prior to the custody proceeding. Walzer said Musk and Grimes could spend months trying to prove which state the children actually live in.
The lawyers of Musk and Grimes have not responded to Business Insider’s requests for comment.
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