Legal Question in Family Law in New York
Visitation
My daughter was divorced in Texas where her son was born. She moved to N.Y. when her son was 2. He is now 9. Divorce decree states that the father could have visitation with his son once a month with advance notice and he could not take the child out of the county. The father saw the child once when he was 3 and not again until he was 8 and once more when he was 9. The father wants him to come to Texas for Christmas and expects my daughter to pay for a part of the cost of driving half way and meeting the father and then returning in a week to meet him to pick up her son. The father states that it isn't totally up to him to pay for seeing his child and it's not just his responsibility to see that he sees his child. My questions are, whose responsiility is it regarding seeing his son and the cost of the trip to see his son, if he decides to change the visitation, would he have to petition the courts in N.Y. or would Texas have jurisdiction and is it okay for my daughter to allow her son to go out of state? She is trying to do what's right for her son and would like to know her rights seeing as the father lives in Texas and she, in N.Y.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Visitation
The answers to your questions depend on various factors and information that you haven't provided, including, most importantly, the provisions of the TX divorce judgment/decree, the NY and TX laws in effect at the time of the divorce and the circumstances and timing your daughter's relocation to NY. It sounds likely that NY may exercise jurisdiction and, if so, your daughter may have a viable case to modify the custody/visitation order based upon the father's failure to spend time with the children. Your daughter should consult an attorney as soon as possible to discuss her situation in detail and decide whether it is best to initiate proceedings in NY before the father tries something in TX.
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