Legal Question in Family Law in Nevada

The answer depends upon where the mother is living. If the mother still lives in Orange County, the Court can retain jurisdiction. If she has moved from Orange County but still lives in California, while the Superior Court of California still has jurisdiction, your grounds for moving the case are even greater. Additionally, if you received the guardianship through Child Protective Services or some other agency was involved in your grandchildren's safety, you probably won't be able to get transferred. Where the maternal grandparents live are irrelevant to this issue.

You can petition the California Court to allow the transfer of jurisdiction to Clark County and if the Court grants the petition, you would have to have a Petition here so that there is still court review of your actions.

I am licensed and active in both California and Nevada and could handle both courts. If you desire to meet with me, you may email me at [email protected].

I agree with Mr. Cogan, in part. If the mother is not living in California, then the children, and both parents, will have left the jurisdiction of the court, and a case could simply be initiated in Nevada immediately. If she is still there, then California has retained "Exclusive Modification Jurisdiction." For an explanation, see the article titled "The Basics of Family Law Jurisdiction," on the Published Works page of our firm web site, at http://www.willicklawgroup.com/published_works.

But even if so, you could ask California to relinquish custody jurisdiction on these facts. Before doing so, you would still initiate a Nevada case, so there would be "simultaneous proceedings" in two jurisdictions. Then the judges could decide which State should proceed, basically requiring a finding that California is an "inconvenient forum." Again, see the posted article.

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