Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts
Massachusettes Custody Issue/ Child resides elswewhere.
Hi,
I have a girlfriend who has a daughter that was born in MA in 2005 and lived with the father for only 10 months. She left him due to emotional abuse and his illegal lifestyle. He became violent and she was forced to get a restraining order for herself and the court ordered visitation for 2 hours a week for him.
He ended up being incarcerated and the visitation was dropped. During this time she found a place to live in Florida and at the advice of an attorney she went ahead and moved. She has been living in FL for 16 months and has a good job and her daughter lives in a great school district.
Her parents found a handwritten summons that the father had done through the courts. She has a court date for March 26th and he is asking for sole custody, yet has not attempted anything in over 16 months. I truly believe this is more about the mother than the daughter.
Does she even need to appear since she holds residency in FL? Does he have a leg to stand on?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Massachusettes Custody Issue/ Child resides elswewhere.
It doesn't sound like she has been served with the papers. Her parents have the court paperwork but she was not served herself was she?
Since she now has a heads up that he's coming for her, she should file a custody action in FL to determine sole custody for herself.
Re: Massachusettes Custody Issue/ Child resides elswewhere.
She has to appear (see below) in Court or risk losing custody simply by failure to appear. If she appears, the court should dismiss the complaint. She does not have to appear in person, she can appear by hiring an attorney. If the child has lived in Florida for 16 months, then Massachusetts doesn't have jurisdiction over the child. This means that an attorney should be able to get it dismissed. If she fails to appear and defend, she risks having Massachusetts order custody to the father and then she has to attack the judgment. It is much easier to appear and defend it now and get it dismissed. It is also possible that a lawyer can look at the documents and interview her and recommend that she ignore it. However, without knowing more about the situation, the only advice is that ignoring the action is unwise. She should consult an attorney.
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