Q: Which court has jurisdiction?
I had a question about jurisdiction that I was hoping you could help me with. Long story short - my son's father filed for custody in one county. I live in another county. Technically, our son has lived in both. However, at one point he was voluntarily agreed to pay child support to me, and that order last a few years, until I terminated it during a time we were "working things out." My question is - would that order mean that technically we had a custody related case in my county? Therefore meaning that we HAVE to hold our current custody suit in that same county?
A: Typically jurisdiction is where the child has primarily resided for the last six months. If you had court ordered child support, the order likely would have stated where jurisdiction is and that would likely still be proper assuming the child did not primarily reside anywhere else for more than six months since or unless the order specifically retained jurisdiction. However, I'm not sure what you mean by "order last a few years, until I terminated it" - you have no authority to terminate a court order. Which means what you had may not have been an actual 'order'. Regardless, your best bet is to consult a local family law attorney. The jurisdictional aspect of things is likely the least of your concerns. You should likely be more concerned with the father's prospects of successful getting custody from you. Best of luck.
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