interstate visitation/ uccja

[mishelle2]

background,

sd lives resides in FL during school year with M  CA in summer with F child is 12, child is from CA but moved to FL 6 years ago, child would like to reside in CA with father, when she comes this summer she will almost be 13

questions:

1. At what age will the courts allow her to stay in CA ?
2. If we petition for her to stay once she is here will we have better chance? (through Fl courts)
3. Fl has jurisdiction, however, no permanent order has ever been made, just temp ones allowing fathers summers, christmas etc. Does that mean anything?

thanks

[socrateaser]

>questions:
>
>1. At what age will the courts allow her to stay in CA ?

There is no particular age threshold. If the child can testify competently and demonstrate that she is stating a mature and informed desire, then the court will give the child's testimony considerable weight as to the child's best interests.

>2. If we petition for her to stay once she is here will we
>have better chance? (through Fl courts)

I'd say it doesn't really matter, either way. The court will want to know what the motivation for the child's desire to move, and that will be the primary determiner.

>3. Fl has jurisdiction, however, no permanent order has ever
>been made, just temp ones allowing fathers summers, christmas
>etc. Does that mean anything?

If the temporary orders were issued in FL, and no final order was ever entered, then this means that you will not need to overcome the substantial change in circumstances burden of proof -- only the easier to meet best interests of the child/preponderance of evidence standard will need to be met.

This makes your case a bit easier to win, than it would otherwise be.

If the temporary orders were issued in CA, then FL doesn't have jurisdiction, until CA dismisses the temporary motions and refuses jurisdiction, however, the same burdens of proof will apply -- only the venue for the next hearing will differ.

[mishelle2]

Soc,

the court in Fl issued the temp order, we usually go about 4 wks before the vacation, judge grants requests but has never given either parent  legal custody, even though mother has asked for it,judge stated he would not grant either parent custody until he had more background information thus granting only temp orders speicifying dh parental time.

Also the mother is attempting to modify support through the FL courts, however there is an open case in Orange County CA, and they maintain juris. because of arrears owed to back welfare. dh is having to bring this issue before the court in Orange county,

1)Can you tell me what the preponderance of evidence standard is?
2)Can you please tell me an attorney for Orange County, or if this can be done  pro se.
3.) and do you know of a good support calculator online?

thanks again

[socrateaser]

>Soc,
>
>the court in Fl issued the temp order, we usually go about 4
>wks before the vacation, judge grants requests but has never
>given either parent  legal custody, even though mother has
>asked for it,judge stated he would not grant either parent
>custody until he had more background information thus granting
>only temp orders speicifying dh parental time.
>
>Also the mother is attempting to modify support through the FL
>courts, however there is an open case in Orange County CA, and
>they maintain juris. because of arrears owed to back welfare.
>dh is having to bring this issue before the court in Orange
>county,
>
>1)Can you tell me what the preponderance of evidence standard
>is?

Preponderance of evidence means that you must persuade the court that your position is more likely than not correct (i.e., anything greater than 50% wins, no matter how small an amount).

Substantial evidence, which is ordinarily required for review of a final custody order/judgment is persuasion by "clear and convincing" proof that your position is correct -- and it is quite a bit more difficult to persuade the court. But, you don't need this level of proof, so it's irrelevant at the moment.

>2)Can you please tell me an attorney for Orange County, or if
>this can be done  pro se.

Everyone is entitled to represent themselves in court (pro se). It's up to you to decide if you wish to do so. If you want an attorney who has a lot of success in Orange County family law, then you may want to try Marc Tovstein of Tovstein and Kratzer. He ain't cheap, so be prepared to spend some serious $.

>3.) and do you know of a good support calculator online?

Orange County Courts use [a href=http://www.cflr.com/products/dissomaster.php]Dissomaster(tm)[/a] software ($450.00 for a license). So, if you want to be on the same page, then you will need to use the same product. However, you can obtain almost identical results from [a href=http://www.nolotech.com/CA/CalSupport.html]CalSupport[/a].

However, if you actually appear in court with the results of CalSupport, you will need a rather convincing argument as to why your result may be slightly different, and the judge will almost certainly rule against you.

Regardless, the differences are usually less than $10 per pay period.

[mishelle2]

would this be taken into account?

 Childs entire family (maternal and paternal) live in CA, therefore child could have ongoing contact with extended family (as right now she sees other family every 2-3 years) Mother and 2 1/2 siblings are only ones in FL
father is home daily when kids are out of school, therefore she would have more time with father, (and 4 1/2 siblings)she could also play sports etc, as she is not allowed to now mother works till 6pm and she is in after school childcare
father has 3 other school aged children who get straight A's and all are in some type of extracurricular activity, father also coaches youth sports for the city.
thanks again

[socrateaser]

>would this be taken into account?
>
> Childs entire family (maternal and paternal) live in CA,
>therefore child could have ongoing contact with extended
>family (as right now she sees other family every 2-3 years)

This is good.

>Mother and 2 1/2 siblings are only ones in FL
>father is home daily when kids are out of school, therefore
>she would have more time with father, (and 4 1/2 siblings)

This is a wash.

>she could also play sports etc, as she is not allowed to now
>mother works till 6pm and she is in after school childcare

Depends on what the child's interests are. Maybe she doesn't want to play sports. Sometimes kids tell you things that turn out not to be true, because the kids want to manipulate the parents.

Not saying it's true, just being the objective observer.

>father has 3 other school aged children who get straight A's
>and all are in some type of extracurricular activity, father
>also coaches youth sports for the city.

Because no permanent order was ever entered, this sort of thing is relevant to the court's deciding custody. However, I can see that this all could be heading for a very expensive home evaluation on both sides of the continent. If the mother wants to fight, you could win, and pay out $20K easy to do it.