What If Your Spouse Takes Your Children Out of Arizona?
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What If Your Spouse Takes Your Children Out of Arizona?
When facing the unauthorized transportation of your children across state lines, you must act immediately and without delay. You should immediately engage legal counsel to help get your children back swiftly and lawfully.
Arizona has many families that moved here from other states. Often a disgruntled spouse will want to move back to their home state when family problems surface here in Arizona. Understanding your rights and receiving competent legal advice will keep you and your Arizona children protected when this situation arises. Our law firm is well versed in not only invoking your legal rights, but also lawfully keeping your children within Arizona’s borders by court order. At Canterbury Law Group, we are dedicated to fighting for the parent’s right to enforce custody, regardless of which state a biological or former spouse lives or wants to move back to.
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction And Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) establishes the legal playing field upon which your lawyers will advance your case to safeguard your family’s home state residence during your family law dispute. The UCCJEA applies when a child has lived with a parent for at least six consecutive months in one state. By law, that state is considered the “home state,” and very specific regulations apply when one party wants to move the children out of the “home state.” Conversely, if the minor child has not lived in any one state for at least six months, the court will rely on other factors in reaching the ultimate “home state” determination.
In either situation, the Court will rely heavily on UCCJEA factors in determining which state has the most significant connections with the child. The court making the determination consistent with UCCJEA will then determine which state should have exclusive jurisdiction over the matter. In turn, exclusive jurisdiction will dictate where the family law case is going to be fought, where the children are going to live during the case, and which spouse should or should not be given more favorable child custody consideration during the dissolution.
The knowledgeable attorneys at Canterbury Law Group are prepared and ready to defend your case to either establish and protect Arizona home state jurisdiction or challenge a spouse who has unilaterally fled Arizona with the children to another distant state which has no business establishing jurisdiction over your Arizona family.
In addition to Arizona, Canterbury Law Group is also actively licensed to practice law in California, Nevada and New York, which can be very helpful if your children have been unilaterally transported to those states.
Things to keep in mind when evaluating the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act in Arizona
An Arizona court cannot modify another state’s child custody order unless that state has declined the right to exercise jurisdiction or has lost jurisdiction.
Although the UCCJEA allows for interstate enforcement of Arizona custody and visitation determinations, if you or your former spouse has moved out of state, it is your right to seek modification of the initial determination to ensure that both parties have equal parenting rights after the other spouse has completed their move.
It’s also worth noting that even though the federal government has passed several laws in regard to custody issues, parental kidnapping is still the number one reason for child abductions. If you are fearful that the other parent may leave the state with your child, it is highly recommended that you contact a family law attorney immediately to obtain an order of protection from the court. If you find yourself faced with volatile custody conflicts, and your spouse is threatening to leave the state, or has already done so, the time to act is now not later. Every day that you delay can be looked down upon by the court as a reason to allow the children to remain out of state permanently. The child custody attorneys at Canterbury Law Group are well versed in the tactics and strategies best suited to recovering your children back to Arizona and litigating all further family law issues in an Arizona court of law.
While family law disputes can be varied and complex, one core truth always remains: the children should come first. It is vitally important to know your rights as a parent in a multi-state custody dispute. The child custody attorneys at Canterbury Law Group are a qualified and proven resource to navigate you through these disputes. They are committed to representing you and aiding the return of your children. If threats of your children’s removal from Arizona have occurred, you must act immediately to preserve your children’s ability to continue living in Arizona without disruption. If you are fearful that your spouse is going to relocate with your children, let us help now.
Do not sit back and speculate about what might happen, proactively engage legal counsel now to ensure that it never does. Your children belong at home, with you, in their home state, without disruption or subject to ambush and out-of-state tactics deployed by your volatile spouse.
Contact us today to schedule your initial case review. We’re here to help!