Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Re: child custody jurisdiction

Thank you for your question. Having more of the facts would help in providing a response, but this should help.

First, Minnesota unquestionably has jurisdiction over your marriage, so long as you continue to be a resident of Minnesota. The fact that you served her before she commenced her action in New York means that Minnesota could exercise jurisdiction over the marriage (and over property in Minnesota), since your action was commenced first. An action in Minnesota is commenced by service of the pleadings, and not by filing. Nevertheless, if the action has not been filed in Minnesota, New York may ignore your proceeding. (I have had a similar issue in other cases.) As to custody, Minnesota could exercise jurisdiction, but if your children have been out of state in December, it is likely New York will exercise jurisdiction over custody, even if New York does not exercise jurisdiction over your marriage relationship in a divorce proceeding. It is possible you could argue that her move to New York was intended to wrongfully deprive you of a relationship with your children. If true, New York should decline to exercise jurisdiction. Without a detailed understanding of the facts, however, this is just speculation at this point.

Second, the OFP is another matter. If you have not had any contact with the State of New York, New York should not have personal jurisdiction over you -- which means that it cannot properly enter an order against you. Again, many more facts are required to make sense of this.

You will need to hire a New York lawyer to represent you on the jurisdictional issues in New York (that is, both custody and the OFP). You should also have a lawyer in Minnesota moving the case forward in this jurisdiction. Typically, in other cases I have had like yours, I am working together with an attorney in the other state, coordinating our work in the proceedings in each state. Needless to say, this can be an expensive undertaking, but then these are not garden variety issues, and the consequences can be very serious.

You need to work with a lawyer on this matter. Jurisdictional issues can be quite complex, and if you are not careful, you could inadvertently give New York jurisdiction (by making a general, personal appearance in New York, for example, rather than by making a limited appearance). You should not attempt to navigate your way through these issues without counsel. Call my office for more specific advice.