Boise Divorce Attorney Discusses Custody Across State Lines

As a Boise Divorce Attorney I often get calls from people who live in other jurisdictions and have been served Idaho divorce papers. Here's how the calls go.

"My wife left me with the kids 6 months ago and moved to Idaho. I have visited the kids in Idaho and I thought I was on good terms with my wife and now she just served me with divorce papers. I live in a different state and if we are going to get divorced I want the divorce to take place in my state."

Here's the problem. They generally have waited too long to get the divorce in their home state. What that means is they will have to have the divorce in Idaho. This is because once you have been in the State of Idaho for 6 weeks, Idaho has jurisdiction. This applies to the children in this case as well because in effect by not approaching your home court when your children were taken from your state and by voluntarily visiting your children in Idaho, you have submitted to Idaho jurisdiction for child custody.

This scenario, however, is different if the children are illegally taken from the state as in parental abduction cases. When you know your kids have moved with their mother and you visit them it shows a form of consent.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, however. You can still get the divorce, you can still resolve child custody, get visitation etc. You, however, cannot make her come back to your state. As a Boise Divorce Attorney I think the main thing that is bad about this is if you aren't the primary physical custodian, visitation becomes a long distance visitation scenario which will be discussed in a subsequent blog.