Legal Question in Family Law in Iowa
child custody help
My son just moved here to TN and brought his 16month old son with his ex-girl friend's permission for a short time...3 weeks. The boy's mother is not very good at providing or caring for the baby and associates with known Felons as both her parents have been in jail. Her father is living with her now and her mother gets out of jail next week. My son wants to keep his child away from the situation as much as possible as the childs mother likes to run around and party more than look after her children. He is on the birth certificate and has an avidivit of paternity but they were never married. He has estabilished residency here and has found a full time job. We want to get full custody but she is not happy about it as it will be less she gets from Iowa in welfare. I may be reading that into it but she also has another child by someone else...less than a year after my son's child was born. The father of that child has multipe domestic violence charges against him. The mother say's she is going to file in Iowa for custody and that we will have to take him back there for court. Any suggestions as to what we should do ??
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: child custody help
I don't have time to give you a full response. So I will have to jot these notes down quickly. If the child resided in Iowa and came for a visit to TN, then ordinarily Iowa retains jurisdiction over his person and subject matter. However, Colorado is routinely seizing children of out-of-state visitors to CO. See my article http://riskmgmt.biz/seizure.htm If CO can get away with that, then TN can as well.
You may be in a "race to the courthouse" situation, where either TN or Iowa will defer to the other state if a lawsuit was filed there first.
Arguably, the child's physical presence in Tennessee may be enough to confer personal jurisdiction. It would be even stronger if the child was enrolled in school here -- but a 16 month old is not school-age. My advice is to get a custody suit filed as soon as possible in Tennessee, and let the opposing side decide how hard it is going to try to fight that case in TN. Of course, you should anticipate the mother will file suit in Iowa alleging kidnapping and failure to return her child. Is mediation out of the question? Even if you believe mediation is out of the question, the court might order you to pay for a mediator.
If you have actual proof that the mother has left her children alone, and consorts with felons, then you can file a complaint against her with the Iowa children's protective service. The state should have a toll free number for that. If the state determines she should not have custody of her children, then that would blow her Iowa lawsuit out of the water.
Re: child custody help
It might be possible to maintain an action for custody in Tennessee, but I will have to have more facts from you to make a determination. Our office is located in Franklin, and we will be glad to meet with you to consult at no cost to determine what action could be brought in Tennessee. Based upon the facts provided, it is unclear whether you might be able to bring an action in Williamson County for custody. Please email or give our office a call and we will be glad to consult with you further regarding your questions. Holland McKinnie, [email protected], 790-2575
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