Hi Moms,
I have a question that hopefully someone can give us some guidance with . ..
My niece lived in California with her boyfriend a few years ago. She got pregnant and from there, the relationship went downhill.
Prior to the baby's birth, they broke up and she moved back home to Illinois to live with her mother. She had the baby here. The baby is now 1 1/2.
She applied for child support and is waiting for that to begin. The father came once to visit right after the baby was born, but has not come since and rarely calls.
In the mean time, my niece was served papers this week to say that there is a court hearing in California next month and the father is fighting for custody.
She is in school to become a nurse and does not have a job (as her mother, the baby's grandmother .. .[my sister in law] is watching the baby while she [my niece] is in school). Neither of them have enough money to fly her to California right now.
What is her obligation to go to this court hearing?
Just wondering if anyone out there has any information or can lead me to someone who can help.
Thanks!
If she was served papers regarding a custody hearing for her child, it is in her serious best interest to make sure she is there. Does she really want to put the custody of her child in jeopardy? I would think not. Contact a local attorney to get the best guidance possible.
Your niece definitely has a right to child support! The first woman's response sounds right about the custody :) Good luck! There are lawyers who will work for free if your niece qualifies as "low income"
Every state in the United States has enacted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, which establishes, among other things, jurisdictional rules in child custody matters. Based on your description it sounds like the child's "home state" is Illinois and therefore only Court's in Illinois could issue a custody order. The Act defines the "Home State" as "the State in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the commencement of a child-custody proceeding." It is probably not necessary for her to go to the CA court proceeding, because it sounds like CA would not have jurisdiction over the custody. That said, the father will likely not volunteer this information. I would highly recommend that she see a family law attorney to help her figure out how best to address this issue, because she will at the very least have to send a letter or a motion to the court asking to dismiss the action for lack of jurisdiction. At the very least I would file a motion for child custody in Illinois.
Your neice need to contact a legal-aid lawyer and explain her situtation. Call information the number is listed. These lawyer's work pro-bono for low-income families.
Good Luck!
God Bless!
I had a somehat similiar situation, so my knowledge is based on my case from 8 years go. Don't pay attention to the woman who said that your niece has to go to CA. The baby was born in IL and they've been living in IL for more than 6 months, so they are in IL's jurisdiction. Any type of custody hearing would need to take place in IL. The father would have to file in IL. By doing so in CA, he has no grounds to stand on because CA has nothing to do with the case. I know because my son was born in CA and when he was 21 months old, I left my first husband and moved home to IL. I established residency in IL, which takes six months, then filed for divorce. Once I had IL residency, my son did, too, because he was with me. If my then-husband wanted to take any legal action, he would have to do it in IL with a lawyer also from IL.
Your niece should contact a lawyer who specializes in interstate custody law, but I'm sure the lawyer would simply have to send a letter stating that she has IL residency and that the case is under IL jurisdiction.
I know this must be so hard for your family, but rest assured that this guy has no case. He's probably just doing it to shake things up. One letter from a lawyer here should suffice. Good luck!
