Legal Question in Family Law in California
My daughter lives in CA and has two kids, ages 4 1/2 and 18 months that were born and reside in CA. My daughters husband just annouced that he wants a divorce and is planning on trying to get a fair amount of custody of the kids and move to Reno, Nevada. (He currently also lives in CA). He has family in Reno and she believes that he has been trying to set up residency there and will file for divorce there and perhaps apply for custody of the kids. Can he do that?
Since the kids are so young, would a judge actually give him partial custody and allow the kids to move out of state for an extended period of time, when the mother opposes it? Should she be the one that files in CA first (even though he doesn't want the divorce) and custody?
Thank you!
2 Answers from Attorneys
If she wants to be sure that California has jurisdiction, she should file first, and make sure that he gets served.
BARRY BESSER
www.besserlaw.com
Child custody jurisdiction is based on the residence of the children, so even if he established NV residency so that he could file there, he could not obtain jurisdiction over the children unless he lies in his filings, and even then the case would ultimately be transferred to CA once the truth came out. I have to agree with Mr.. Besser, however, that there is no reason to take a chance on having to fight that potentially very expensive fight. If her husband is scheming like that, the marriage is over. Just file in CA and get on with it, to avoid the whole issue.
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