Legal Question in Family Law in California

Once he has filed and served you, you will both be under an automatic restraining order that prohibits a lot of things, including removing the child from the state. Before that, however, you are under no legal restriction. You need to bear in mind, however, that unless he lets six months lapse after you leave the state, California will still have jurisdiction over the child and you will have to proceed with the divorce in California. In addition, courts do not look at all kindly on parents who try to take off out of state with the children without a court order or an agreement among the parents. So although it is not illegal, if your husband decides to try for full custody it will be strongly favorable to his case if you take off with the child. You would be far better off either initiating the divorce yourself, or waiting for him to initiate it, and then immediately filing a motion for temporary custody orders that allow you to leave the state.