Do we have a foot to stand on???

[treici]

Okay....I'm SM to two kids, 9 and 7 who live with BM in MO. Original divorce decree from IL gave her custody. It was uncontested and DH received reasonable visitation. During their separation, the children lived with BM, seemed appropriate at the time to not disrupt their arrangements. Since then, BM has moved 4 times within the past year and to 2 states...pulled the kids out of school twice at the end of the school years to relocate to new state. She also fails to provide copies of school and medical records when asked and the only way we know of doctor's visits are from insurance statements. Most recently, BM took a demotion to move to MO because her boyfriend 'got a better job' but she constantly complains that she doesn't have any money. DH pays his court ordered child support regularly. We feel that the instability of the kids BM is having a negative effect on their lives, do we have grounds for pursuing custody or would we be getting in over our heads? BTW...he last move, she pulled the kids out of school around 2 weeks prior to the end of the year and did not enroll them in the new school system which had about 3 weeks left in their year. We live in FL, they live in MO, original order from IL.

 

[Ambr]

if the original order is from IL and the jurisdiction has never been changed, then IL law will apply to it.

personally, i would think that the stability factor and moving frequently, different schools, all of that should allow for the change of circumstances that you need for modification.

you would need to file the modification in IL - unless she has changed the jurisdiction. this would be a toughie, neither parent resides within the state that established the order.

 

[treici]

I looked over the divorce decree and it does say that the IL court maintains jurisdiction, however his lawyer said that it would be given to MO in this situation because the children live there. We are in the process of obtaining copies of there report cards and attendance/disciplinary records from the old school. (the office said that no one had requested them as of yet)