Brooklyn, NY asked in Child Custody for New York

Q: Ex filed for full custody in North Carolina. I live in NYC. Can I get jurisdiction in nyc?

My 1 year old daughter was born in nyc but a month after she was born my ex took her down to North Carolina to live with her parents. It was supposed to be temporary. A year has passed and she filed for full custody with a lawyer. My daughter spends 2 weeks out of the month with me in nyc.

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: Legal residence in one state for 6 months determines jurisdiction. In your case, where your daughter spends almost half of each month with you might be determined by other factors: where is your daughter's primary doctor, etc. It helps her that she filed first, but you can try - file a petition for custody in NYC and fight for jurisdiction.

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