Transferring Legal Jurisdiction from One State to Another

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Louisiana

Hello All,

My ex girlfriend and I have joint legal/physical custody of our two year old daughter. My ex is the custodial parent. Our court order was issued by La but I reside in VA and my ex and daughter reside in Fl. What steps I need to take to get legal jurisdicition transferred to Fl from La? At the time we were going through court my ex was living in Fl and I in VA but my daughter was only a few months old so everything was done in La.

I am having many issues with my ex not following the court order but I do believe my first step is to establish legal jurisdicition in Fl. Our court order does state that we have to seek mediation prior to either of us taking any legal action but I am finding it difficult to schedule mediation with my ex and Fl mediators will only speak to me if my case in in Fl.

I have spoken to a few attornies and the price to transfer the case is astoudning so I want to know how I can do this myself. Thanks

Assuming mother and child have permanently relocated to Florida, and no action is pending in Louisiana, you would bring a petition in the Florida court to take jurisdiction under the UCCJEA.

I suggest checking a law school library (you can probably get a day pass) in your area for its Florida collection, and looking for a practitioner's guide to family law, to see if you can find sample forms and instructions for a UCCJEA petition. You should expect that you will have to appear in court for at least one hearing.