Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia

Child support & change of venue

My husband and his ex-wfie were divorced and had had child support arrangments done in Puerto Rico. His ex-wife says that if we don't pay for half of their daughter's private school she will take us back to court. We are already paying $600 per month in child support and that is supposed to cover all her expenses. We also provide her dental and health insurance. His ex-wife still lives in Puerto Rico and we live in Virginia. If she takes us to court, can we request a change of venue to Virginia? My husband is active duty military and we can't afford for him to go to Puerto Rico nor does he have the leave time accrued to do this. We also have 3 other children and live off just my husband's income of $37k per year. Is is fesible that we would have to pay more than $600 per month if we do go back to court? We also are concerned about the care and attention she is getting from her mother who works and goes to school. They live with the ex-wife's mother, who is a smoker and the daughter has severe asthma. Would we have a case to request custody since we have a more stable home?


Asked on 6/23/09, 1:41 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

Re: Child support & change of venue

No, a your request for a change of venue would likely be denied since the children apparently reside in Puerto Rico and the courts of that U.S.territory would be considered to retain jurisdiction over the issues involving child support.

However, if your husband's ex-wife were to file a motion anytime soon to have the support reviewed, your husband might be able to invoke relief under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act as a member of the military on active duty until such future time when he might have the necessary leave accrued and have made the other arrangements necessary for him to fly down to San Juan in order to deal with these court proceedings.

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Answered on 6/26/09, 11:32 am


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