Legal Question in Family Law in New Jersey

I am currently separated from my husband. in July 2014, I left him and moved to NJ from our home in NY. I took our three children with me. I filed papers for primary physical custody in a NY Family Court in August 2014. We have been in and out of court since that time. I filed in NY because I understood that I had to file in the jurisdiction where our children had resided for 6 months prior to filing. Now, a year later, the proceedings are still going on. My husband has just decided (one year later) that he wants to fight our move out of state. He still has not filed papers for this, but his lawyer stated it in court last week. The judge said that even though it has been over a year and the children completed an entire school year in NJ, he is leaning toward ordering me to return them to NY since, according to my husband, I took them without his consent. This is where it gets difficult. My husband was physically and verbally abusive toward me for several years. I left NY because we were living with HIS family and my family and support system was in NJ where I grew up. Not long after I moved to NJ, my husband got a job in NJ (prior to that, he was not working) and for the past few months, he has been residing in NJ as well in a small apartment that he rents on a month to month basis. So, now, we technically both work and live in NJ and the kids have been here for over a year. My question is: is it possible for me to change the jurisdiction of the family court proceedings to NJ?


Asked on 8/06/15, 1:40 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Gary Moore Gary Moore Attorney At Law

If he now lives Iin New Jersey there is no place to take children back to in New York. You might move to dismiss New York action if neither of you lives there.

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Answered on 8/06/15, 2:52 pm


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