I am sooo confused

[mishelle2]

ok guys I need some input, dh has a daughter whos mother up and took her to FL from CA 6 years ago, without dh knowing or permission, after we found mother,, she was very apologetic, allowed us summer visitation here in CA with daughter (then 7years old) this went on every summer and we also had every other Christmas break, until summer of 04 when child told dad about how stepdad treats her, dh spoke with mom about his concerns, mom said:: if daughter doesnt like how shes treated then she needs to talk to him about it its not my problem, and since dh said something she wasnt going to allow her to come to CA anymore.. dh of course said wrong answer.. and told her he was not sending her home till we  had a court order in place, Well bm went to Fl court got emergency order to return child, which we did, and we retained FL atty, we have been fighting back and forth through atty's since 04, coming to stipulated agreements and such (however mom keeps backing out of them) .. so today.. we received email from our FL atty saying FL court feels this case would be better heard in CA.. I am soooo confused.. any thoughts?  

[CustodyIQ]

If the FL court says jurisdiction should be in CA, then go with it.  Makes it easier on you.

I don't understand the logic, though.

[MixedBag]

because that would mean mom has to travel to CA for all hearings if she doesn't want to settle before court.

Soc has gone into detail on the jurisdiction subject and since he's out of town, maybe if you searched on his forum with the word "jurisdiction" you'll get a feeling why FL said to to CA.

If I remember somewhat correctly, since dad didn't leave CA that is a major factor in keeping it in CA.

Good luck and keep pushing.....

[mishelle2]

ok so I spoke with FL atty, he said just what you said, since dad never left jurisdiction, and mother never requested change of venue, and continues to accept support from CA then CA retains juris.,  You see we thought that there was just a support order on file, but atty says there is a little box with parental relationship marked, and that give CA juris. over custody/visitation issues, What ticks me off is we had daughter here.. and now.. how in the heck are we gonna get her back. I will have to file either a change in venue to my county or go to Orange County CA and file for Custody/visitation. I am supposed to have child for spring break, do you think I could get an emergency temp order for spring break from CA courts?

anyone know a good atty in Orange county CA??

anymore input.. oh I wish soc was here....    ;(

[Davy]

You may want to consider the situation from a legal statue perspective.

The mother abducted the child 6 years ago from Ca to Fl.  A Fl. attorney and court then collaborated with the abductor and took jurisdiction over the  Ca. child and the left-behind Ca. father with an ex-parte emergency order.  The law-abiding father complied with the Fl. court order thereby
submitting himself to the Fl jurisdiction and thus granting proper jurisdiction in Fl.  

The Ca. CS reward is separate from the statues governing the parent-child relationship (irregardless of how some little box is marked).  

Now, the Fl. child abduction collaborators can not get the child abductor to comply with any agreements/court orders because she continues to operate above the law.  

Why would a Fl resident comply with any Ca attorney or Ca court ??
How can a Ca. court obtain relevant information concerning this child from Fl ??  Is it possible the Fl authorities are covering up or extending the legal battles until the child reaches the age of majority ??

The larger concern is that the abducted child is in serious trouble in the home and/or community.

[mishelle2]

ok I received a new email from atty in FL, he said, a new judge was assigned to the case and after reviewing the file the judge filed for this dismissal as the case under some FL statute  says CA maintains juris, therefore there is a hearing next week to dismiss case in FL and opening door for me to file in CA, the question I have is our support order is in ORange County CA, I live at the other end of state, do I have to file there or can I file for custody/visitation here in my county, since it is a seperate issue than support?

any input?

[Davy]

I see you wisely posted to Soc and this is good.

As a practical matter  I would check the daughter's well-being the best I could ............
 
I'm not an attorney nor am I familiar with Ca. statutes but normally you would be able to file in your county of residence.

You must consider that Ca. can reject jurisdiction just like FL took then subsequently rejected jurisdiction (on own motion).  Seems like bizarre judical/legal behavior that shakes at the very foundation of state and federal child custody jurisdictional statues (ie significant connection, convient forum, etc,etc).  You may want to checkout the UCCJA/EA and PKPA articles on this site.

[mishelle2]

well FL is booting it because of one of there state statutes,  and I guess  they are looking at that  since the UCCJA says that familial ties is sufficient for jurisdiction and  has the majority of this with CA, along with the current support order. But Im just guessing, Ive never heard of this happening  before,  usually a state wants jurisdiction.. not the other way around.. and Im waiting for Socs response.. patiently.. .. .. ..

[mishelle2]

ok Im even more confused.. we had our hearing for dismissal a week ago, bm's attorney told judge they did not want Fl to give up jurisdiction, my attorney agreed with judge that CA is best suited, well judge gave bm 20 days to come to an agreement or they dismiss and CA takes over, well it has been 7 days and we havent heard as much as a peep from bm's attorney, so she has 13 day (including weekends, as its calendar days not court days) to give my attorney a proposed visitation schedule, and then we have to negotiate a settlement, so in my opinion, it looks like CA may be getting this case after all.

Anyone out there have any input?