Q: im in colorado and my daughter is in texas with her dad. We never married and has had her 4 months and wont let me see
her, she is 6 its been 2 1/2 months since ive seen her. where is my first legal step and what else would help get her back
A: You should have some visitation rights with the child. You likely will need to file in Texas since Colorado likely will not have jurisdiction (power) over the child or father. If the child has lived in Colorado for at least 6 months of the past year (it does not need to be continuous), you can file in Colorado...
A: You need to first ascertain which state has jurisdiction. If you are indicating that Colorado has been your child's primary home up until 4 months ago, Colorado would have jurisdiction over your case pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. However, you must take action here before she has been gone for 182 days or more. If you don't jurisdiction will transfer to the other state. Jurisdiction regarding custody follows the child. If you file here you then need to get him served. From there, you have the ability to ask for temporary orders which can entail temporary visitation or custody.
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