canadian citizens in us divorce and relocate to canada 91109

[otto_n]

Hello,

we (I, my wife and 7 yrs old daughter, all canadian citizens) moved from Ontario to US(Illinois) in 2005 for what I thought at that time to be a 3 year only work assignment at my wife's company. I found and held a job too here, but after the 3 years I wanted us to return back to Canada.

I tried to convince my wife ever since 2008 to make the move back as a family but she is resisting the idea and she wants to stay in US indefinitely.

This conflict eroded our relationship and I sold the house we had in Canada in 2008 to make her realize I'm serious about this. Now I'm considering filing for divorce and move back to Canada.

I'd like to know if I have the law on my side to get the child back there. If no please suggest what options I may have (6 months splits or alikes.. )

Also I'd like to know where can/should I file for divorce? In US or Canada?

We're all Canadian citizens, I'm not sure what jurisdiction US government has over us and I think I may have better chances to get this to a Canadian court.

Could I just drive back to Canada with the child and resolve the matter there?

Thanks for your advice!

 

[Proserpina]

Hello,

we (I, my wife and 7 yrs old daughter, all canadian citizens) moved from Ontario to US(Illinois) in 2005 for what I thought at that time to be a 3 year only work assignment at my wife's company. I found and held a job too here, but after the 3 years I wanted us to return back to Canada.

I tried to convince my wife ever since 2008 to make the move back as a family but she is resisting the idea and she wants to stay in US indefinitely.

This conflict eroded our relationship and I sold the house we had in Canada in 2008 to make her realize I'm serious about this. Now I'm considering filing for divorce and move back to Canada.

I'd like to know if I have the law on my side to get the child back there. If no please suggest what options I may have (6 months splits or alikes.. )

Also I'd like to know where can/should I file for divorce? In US or Canada?

We're all Canadian citizens, I'm not sure what jurisdiction US government has over us and I think I may have better chances to get this to a Canadian court.

Could I just drive back to Canada with the child and resolve the matter there?

Thanks for your advice!

I'm thinking the US now has jurisdiction since Mom and child are legal residents here....in which case no, you cannot up and leave with the child.

But stand by. Your question involves Canadian law too and there may be other posters who can voice an opinion.

Either way you absolutely need to speak with an attorney.

 

[mistoffolees]

Hello,

we (I, my wife and 7 yrs old daughter, all canadian citizens) moved from Ontario to US(Illinois) in 2005 for what I thought at that time to be a 3 year only work assignment at my wife's company. I found and held a job too here, but after the 3 years I wanted us to return back to Canada.

I tried to convince my wife ever since 2008 to make the move back as a family but she is resisting the idea and she wants to stay in US indefinitely.

This conflict eroded our relationship and I sold the house we had in Canada in 2008 to make her realize I'm serious about this. Now I'm considering filing for divorce and move back to Canada.

I'd like to know if I have the law on my side to get the child back there. If no please suggest what options I may have (6 months splits or alikes.. )

Also I'd like to know where can/should I file for divorce? In US or Canada?

We're all Canadian citizens, I'm not sure what jurisdiction US government has over us and I think I may have better chances to get this to a Canadian court.

Could I just drive back to Canada with the child and resolve the matter there?

Thanks for your advice!

I can only address US law. If you were suggesting taking the child and driving to another state and filing for divorce there, it would not be allowed (well, the system doesn't specifically prevent it, but as soon as you tried, your spouse could file where you are living to have the child returned - and she would win. It would then look very bad for you in front of that judge).

Since you're dealing with international issues, you really need to speak with an attorney familiar with divorce US style, immigration law, divorce Canadian style (how long would it take to establish residency, etc), and custody law (would you become an international fugitive if you tried that?). While it's possible that you might find an individual lawyer who is well versed in all of that, I'd suggest working with an attorney at a decent sized law firm who could pull in the various experts as needed to resolve the issue. It is likely to be complicated.

 

[LdiJ]

Hello,

we (I, my wife and 7 yrs old daughter, all canadian citizens) moved from Ontario to US(Illinois) in 2005 for what I thought at that time to be a 3 year only work assignment at my wife's company. I found and held a job too here, but after the 3 years I wanted us to return back to Canada.

I tried to convince my wife ever since 2008 to make the move back as a family but she is resisting the idea and she wants to stay in US indefinitely.

This conflict eroded our relationship and I sold the house we had in Canada in 2008 to make her realize I'm serious about this. Now I'm considering filing for divorce and move back to Canada.

I'd like to know if I have the law on my side to get the child back there. If no please suggest what options I may have (6 months splits or alikes.. )

Also I'd like to know where can/should I file for divorce? In US or Canada?

We're all Canadian citizens, I'm not sure what jurisdiction US government has over us and I think I may have better chances to get this to a Canadian court.

Could I just drive back to Canada with the child and resolve the matter there?

Thanks for your advice!

Under the Hague Convention, which is the international treaty that controls child custody issues in a situation like this one, the country that a child has lived in for the last two years is the country that would have jurisdiction over any child custody matters.

Therefore the US would have jurisdiction over custody matters regarding your child. If you took the child to Canada, you would be forced to return the child to the US.

I would also guess that Canadian states also have some sort of residency requirements regarding divorce, so I suspect that you couldn't file immediately for divorce in Canada. It would also make more sense to file for divorce in the US so that custody can be handled as part of the divorce.

You won't find a US judge that would consider a six month split for custody, because that would be too disruptive to the child's schooling. You would be looking at split holidays and the majority of the summer with you in Canada, and the rest of the time with mom in the US.

I realize that this isn't what you wanted to hear, but it is accurate and reality.

 

[otto_n]

Thank you all for your time and advice