Family Law Attorneys in Scottsdale and Phoenix
Over 16 Years of Experience Handling Interstate Custody Matters
At the law office of Deloughery & Ruotolo, P.C., we bring over 16 years of experience to individuals, handling all matters related to relocation and insterstate custody issues. Our lawyers understand the emotional challenges that come with current issues and focus our efforts on easing the burden on you by helping you get the right result in your situation. We provide flexible representation, aggressively protecting your rights in court when necessary, and seeking negotiated settlements to your differences when appropriate. For a confidential consultation, contact us or call us at 602-443-4888.
Our Representation in Interstate Custody Matters
RELOCATION CASES:
It is not uncommon for on parent to request that he or she relocate out of Arizona with the child. This can obviously pose problems to the parent that is remaining in Arizona. Actually the law provides the same procedure to be followed if the relocation is as great in distance as moving out of Arizona or as little in distance as moving over 100 miles within Arizona.
A.R.S. §25-408 provides the guidelines to be followed to address relocation issues. This statute provides specific notice requirements that the relocating parenting must follow. Just as important, it places specific duties on the parent objecting to the relocation and who wants the child to remain at their current resident.
Obviously the Court does not have the authority to prevent a parent from moving. This would be a violation of that parent's Constitutional rights. However, the Court does have authority to either order that the child may be allowed to relocate with the moving parent, or that the child most remain in Arizona.
Like everything else regarding your child and the other parent, if you and the other parent can not reach agreements between yourselves, you will need to take the issue to a judge to make a final order, this will be in the form of a trial or what is called an evidentiary hearing. It is at that final evidentiary hearing that the judge will make the decision to either allow the child to relocate or that the child must remain in Arizona. You will of course need to have witnesses and documents to proof your position being whether you are the parent that wishes to relocate with the child or have the child remain at their current residence.
Like everything in the law, there are usually provisions to address emergency or unique circumstances, and the laws applying to relocation are no different. There are provisions that may allow the parent requesting to relocate to be allowed to relocate on an immediate basis before the final orders are made at the final evidentiary hearing.
Either parent can seriously hurt and damage their case by not following the statute in the early stages of the relocation case. I have to often seen the parent that wants to relocate, seriously hurt their case by acting to aggressively to soon, and on the other hand I have seen the parent objecting to the relocation seriously hurt their case by not acting aggressively enough soon enough. Therefore, it is advisable to consult with an attorney before discussing the issue of relocation with the other parent.
INTERSTATE CASES - THE "UCCJEA":
It is not uncommon for a custody case to involve more than one state. One parent may believe Arizona is the proper state to handle the child issues (what is called jurisdiction) and the other parent may believe jurisdiction is proper in another state.
To address the very issue of what state should make the decisions regarding children issues all states have adopted a version of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which is referred to as the "UCCJEA", or "UCCJ&EA"
There are many factors that the courts will consider to determine which state should handle the child issues.
Home State: In its simplest form the court(s) will usually look to see where the child has lived for the past immediate six (6) months prior to the commencement of an action. The period the child has lived for the immediate past six months is called the "Home State". Usually the Home State of the child will be the proper state to handle the child issues of a case. But it is not always that simple and the courts may also look to see which state is the more convenient court to handle the case.
Inconvenient Forum: Even though a state may have jurisdiction of the child issues the court may wish to decline the case because it finds the state is inconvenient to handle the case. This is referred to as "Inconvenient Forum". So for various reasons, maybe the location of witnesses and documents, whether there was or is domestic violence involved, the financial resources of the parties, the length of time the child lived in either state and many other reasons, a court may find that the case should be handled in another court.
Emergency Jurisdiction: Like everything in the law there are usually exceptions and provisions to address emergency circumstances. For example, Arizona can take emergency jurisdiction of a case if the child is currently in Arizona and has been abandoned or the child needs to be protected from mistreatment or abuse.
Jurisdiction cases can be very complex and in fact often require the judges from the two or more states to have a conference to determine amongst themselves which state should handle the case. Therefore it is not uncommon for the parents to have to consult with attorneys from each state involved.
To schedule a confidential consultation, contact our office or call us at 602-639-4618. After hours and weekend appointments are available by special request. We accept all major credit cards.
