serving out of state summons in custody

[jakie]

I live in Illinois and want to get custody of my child who live with the other parent in california. Neither of us have ever gone to court before for custody of the child. If I got a summons, filed it with the clerks office can I serve the other parent the summons through certified mail? If they sign for the summons are they obligated to come to court and what will happen to the case if the fail to show up on the court date? Will I be granted custody and will the person who accepted the summons be in default if they fail to appear on the court date? Is the service of a summons in this type of case acceptable as a legal service and reconized by Illinois court. Also can they in turn file for custody of the child in california againist me.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

If the children have lived in California for 6 months or longer, then it will do you no good to file in Illinois. The children would be under the jurisdiction of the California courts. Therefore, you'd need to do all of your filing in California.

And yes, he could file a counter-petition in California.

IAAL