Q: My brother & his girlfriend have lived in N. Carolina for about 6 yrs. and they have 2 kids. The girlfriend left with
Her new boyfriend and one of the children. When she arrived in Rhode Island she filed a domestic violence complaint with the courts in R.I. and she alleges the violence occurred in NC. Shouldn't she file in NC? Fyi- she filed this complaint to prevent my brother from driving to RI to bring the child back home & she has broken the custody order which he is dealing with thru the courts in NC. It would seem to me that the Rhode Island judge would kick this out and tell her to file in NC? Yes or No?
A: A2: Your brother would be well advised to consult with an attorney or two (one in each jurisdiction) to understand how the court handles the jurisdictional issue you present on his behalf. When there is a custody order in the foreign(to RI) jurisdiction, the case will normally be heard there. BUT, if there are exigent or emergency circumstances RI MAY take temporary jurisdiction over the case. The first step would be to address the domestic violence complaint in the RI court. As the event did not take place in RI (I presume) and the "threat" is now many miles away(outside of RI jurisdiction), it will not likely stand a good defense argument (depending on the facts alleged and the credibility of the petitioner). http://lrcvaw.org/laws/riuccjea.pdf summarizes RI's adoption of the Uniform law.
A: A2: Yes, and no -Your brother would be well advised to consult with an attorney or two (one in each jurisdiction) to understand how the court handles the jurisdictional issue you present on his behalf. When there is a custody order in the foreign(to RI) jurisdiction, the case will normally be heard there. BUT, if there are exigent or emergency circumstances RI MAY take temporary jurisdiction over the case. The first step would be to address the domestic violence complaint in the RI court. As the event did not take place in RI (I presume) and the "threat" is now many miles away(outside of RI jurisdiction), it will not likely stand a good defense argument (depending on the facts alleged and the credibility of the petitioner). http://lrcvaw.org/laws/riuccjea.pdf summarizes RI's adoption of the Uniform law.
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