Legal Question in Family Law in California

If you have each lived in those states long enough to satisfy the jurisdiction statute for divorces (at least six months residency in CA and three months in the county in which you intend to file -- I don't know what the rules are for NY) either of you can file in the state you reside in. Where it gets complicated, though, is that each state only has jurisdiction over the marriage, not necessarily the children, assets, etc. So either of you could file for and get a bare divorce, but where you can get a judgment that covers everything else is either easy or very complicated. If you have kids, the place where the kids have been living the most time for the last six months is the state that has jurisdiction. For assets its more situation-dependent. The big "however" though is that you can always AGREE on jurisdiction and venue. If one of you files in their state and the other voluntarily appears in the proceeding and participates, any objection to jurisdiction is waived and the case can proceed there as if you both lived there.