Legal Question in Family Law in California
My niece allowed her husband to take their 11mth old on vacation to Iowa. He was supposed to return, instead, he filed false charges against her in the state of Iowa. We live in California, and that has been their residence for the past 2 yr. The baby has never lived anywhere but Iowa. The father go a restraining order in Burlington to usurp jurisdiction. We have a custody hearing on Apr. 16th. How can my niece fight the false charges and get her baby back? What should we do, we are desparate. We have hired a lawyer in Calif.
3 Answers from Attorneys
Your question makes no sense. You say the husband took the 11month old to Iowa, and then you say the child has never lived anywhere but Iowa. Both cannot be true, and it makes a BIG difference.
Hopefully he has not been in Iowa long enough to establish jurisdiction. If you already have an attorney in California, you should be asking the attorney these questions. I don't know what the charges are, whether it is criminal, etc., so it would be difficult to give her any advice, in addition to the fact that the charges were made to an Iowa court. She could get an Iowa attorney to appear on her behalf to argue if the allegations were actions that occurred in California, then Iowa has no jurisdiction over her (motion to quash). For further information, visit http://www.ellifritzlaw.com
If you already have a lawyer, you should be directing your questions to your lawyer rather than seeking to second guess him/her.