Legal Question in Family Law in New Mexico

Re: child custody

The answer to this type of question has different components to it: First, there is a criminal component. (a) do you have a court order that says the child is supposed to be with you? (b) does that court order recognize the man as the child's father? & (c) have you called to police? You should start by calling the police. Once you have made a police report you can ask the District Attorney to report this matter to the federal district attorney's office and ask them to call the FBI. There is nothing preventing you from calling the FBI. This is called child kidnapping and we have laws against such activities.

Next, is the previously existing domestic relations court order component. The next thing to do is file a motion in the court where the court order is from? If your court order is based out of NM then file your motion in that NM court. If your court order is based out of Missouri then you may have to engage legal counsel in Missouri to file the action on your behalf. While it will cost some money to file the matter and bring it before the court you may be able to have the court order the father to pay your attorney fees. (You could have supplied more facts for a better answer on this part).

The last component is to begin a legal action if there is not one previously existing court order. If you do not have a court order and there is no legal action pending (like, in Missouri). You should file a petition in domestic relations court asking the court to recognize that the child has been residing with you in NM for the past 4 years and that NM is the homestate of the child. Thereafter, you will have some amount of court proceeding to deal with but the court may rule in your favor if you have relayed the facts to me accurately in your 3 sentences above.

Good Luck.