How can I move my custody case to the non-custodial parent's state?

[FeelingDefeated0711]

Found my 11 yr old daughter after looking for 9 years. Maternal grandmother took her to PA 12/24/09 and this is the last I saw her. Mother moved there 2 years later but the child still lives when grandmother I just found out. Courts and law enforcement wouldn't help because they kept a fake NJ address. 6 years later I moved to NY to live with family due to financial hardships and child support was just transferred to here. Can I file a motion for a change in custody and support in NY as the mother and grandmother left against court orders? I'm now physically disabled and traveling 4+ hours for court is near impossible.

 

[justalayman]

You have no basis for moving the case to New York unless the child resides in New York or the original order was issued by a new York court. You will need to file your motions in the court that currently has jurisdiction or move to move the case to the child’s current state of residence if it is different. It isn’t automatic it would be moved to the child’s state of residence so you may be stuck with the state the order is currently from.

So, where is the current order issued from?


I doubt the grandmother did anything against court orders as it’s unlikely she was even a party to the case. As,such, the court would not issue orders enforceable against her.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Your post implies that NY was not the state in which the last order in the case had been entered since you only moved there six years after the child or the mother moved to PA (it's not clear which it is). So which was the state in which the court was located that issued the last order in the case? NJ?

I'm guessing you want to litigate this in NY because that is where you now live and travel is difficult for you to go to NJ. The problem is that that the mother and grandmother don't live in NY and thus it is likely that the NY courts do not have personal jurisdiction over them. Generally when it comes to custody and support issues you need to file the case where the child has lived the last six months or where the other parent lives. So it's likely you need to do this in PA.