Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Child custody after a seperation and divorce

Your son certainly has rights, but he must act promptly to protect them. Hiring an attorney will minimize the amount of time and money that he will need to spend traveling to California. If your son has been in Tennessee for over 6 months the jurisdiction for custody will probably lie in Tennessee, if less than 6 months jurisdiction is probably in California. However, by stating that your son took the child without her consent, his wife has stated a case to keep jurisdiction in California. Hopefully, your son has something in writing or witnesses that she consented to his move out of state or that she gave him primary custody. Otherwise it is he said/she said and the court will need to look at the circumstances and credibility of each of the parents to determine who is telling the truth. This is not going to be an easy fight. I suggest that you get an attorney, quickly. Good Luck, Pat McCrary

Re: Child custody after a seperation and divorce

There is a fairly complex system of laws dealing with Inter-state custody disputes. As I am only licensed to practice law in California, I cannot comment on Tennessee law. However, If the wife has filed her action somewhere in the Bay Area I can discuss the course of action to be taken as concerns the California action. If you like, you can call me at 415.334.8439