Legal Question in Family Law in California
My sons father lives in nevada. He has not voluntarily paid child support or had contact with our son in 3 years. He claims he pays child support because his income tax refund gets withheld and is sent to us for support. He is over $6000 in arrears. We have an open child support case in CA, but I never pursued legal action prior because after 3 years of no contact, we assumed he didnt want to be a part of my sons life and we were fine without him or his money. Now the father cannot get his real estate license because he is behind on child support so he has begun paying support again and has taken me to court to reduce his support obligation due to the fact that he has 4 additional children and he wants visitation again. My son who is now 10, does not want anything to do with his dad. He feels abandoned by him and feels its too late to make contact. My question is, he has taken me to court in nevada where the judge did reduce his child support obligation from 300 a month to 200. We have a meeting for a specialist to meet with my son to determine his feelings about reconnecting with his father in NV. We have lived in CA for 10 years. How do I determine jurisdiction? How can I move our case to CA? Also, I want to change the visitation order and legal custody of the child that was established in 2001 due to his abandonment. Is this something I need an attorney for?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You should file a motion to change jurisdiction to CA since the children live in CA and the original child support order was in CA. It would be a good idea to contact an attorney since jurisdiction issues can be complex. The dad if he wants to see his son will be able to have contact with him. However the reunification must be slow and at a pace that is not damaging to the child. The child has had no contact with dad for such a long period of time.
For self represented individuals you can consult with the family law facilitator self help center at your local court house.
As always please consult a local attorney prior to taking legal action. Good luck. Also please check out my Santa Clara County Family Lawyer blog.
Law Offices James Chau
1625 The Alameda Suite 204
San Jose, CA. 95126
http://www.jameschaulaw.com/
http://sanjosefamilylawyer.blogspot.com/
Chau's answer makes no sense and is contrary to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. First off, it doesn't sound like your existing order was issued in California, but rather Nevada. If it was issued in California, it would make no sense to ask about moving jurisdiction to California. To answer your question, jurisdiction automatically remains in the court of original jurisdiction unless both parents move out of that state, or the child and one parent moves to another state AND the original court agrees to surrender jurisdiction after a motion and hearing,, and consideration of all the evidence as to which state is most appropriate for continuing jurisdiction. So you cannot move the case to California under the UIFSA unless the Nevada court agrees to surrender jurisdiction. You would have to file a motion in Nevada. I do agree with Mr. Chau that this is a tricky area of the law, and you will have a tough time without an attorney. You would need a Nevada attorney primarily, probably with the assistance of a California attorney to facilitate the transfer if Nevada agrees to give up jurisdiction..
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