Husband Took Child Out of State

[LostMother]

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Illinois and Minnesota.

My husband and I got married because I was pregnant. Given that is not the best reason to marry someone has come to prove itself over and over again. After dealing with 2 years of cheating and lying I decided I was fed up and told him he had 1 month to leave the house and we were getting a divorce. He was not happy to hear this because it ment that our daughter would be staying with me, and I agreed he could come see her anytime he wanted. For that month we argued back and forth and I had not budged on my decision. One night I was outside smoking a ciggarette and talking with a friend when my husband blew up and threw all my stuff out on the lawn I pounded on the door and my friend suggested I go to her house and spend the night let things cool down seeing as it was late at night. The next day I called and called finally I came home only to find the house empty and my child and husband no where to be found. I went to the sheriff's station and they told me since we were still married he had the right to do that as did I if I had chosen to be that cruel.

I got onto his facebook and saw he had been talking to his family about moving back to Minnesota with our daughter. I called his mother and sure enough that was where he was with our daughter and refused to bring her back.
I have filed for full custody, divorce, and child support. Now he filled and Affidivit to have it dismissed because he said Illinois does not have jurisdiction that Minnesota has jurisdiction. I was wondering is this true seeing how he unlawfully took our daughter out of the state without my permission and refused to bring her back?

Also I just recently recived an order to pay back child support that he has recieved in the state of Minnesota since he has been there. Am I liable to pay that if child custody has not been established yet?
And can he legally start a case for child support if one has already been started against him?

I have not seen or talked to my daughter in almost 8 months now. She is my heart and I want her back in my life. Please Help! Any advice would help at this point in time.

-LostMother-

[Disagreeable]

You cannot receive child support for a child you do not have.

[FatherWhoWon]

I decided I was fed up and told him he had 1 month to leave the house and we were getting a divorce. He was not happy to hear this because it ment that our daughter would be staying with me, and I agreed he could come see her anytime he wanted. For that month we argued back and forth and I had not budged on my decision.

Too bad it's not your decision in the least bit when/where/if he has to move nor what time he spends with his daughter. Only a judge can order any of those things. How dare you think that you can make such demands and expect him to jump at your say so. If that's what you wanted you could have filed for those things in the court where both of you were living at the time and the judge would have determined what would have been fair and appropriate.

I went to the sheriff's station and they told me since we were still married he had the right to do that as did I if I had chosen to be that cruel.

Dad will likely claim that your ultimatums were cruel and that he had no other choice. Who knows what a judge will think about either of you?

I have filed for full custody, divorce, and child support. Now he filled and Affidivit to have it dismissed because he said Illinois does not have jurisdiction that Minnesota has jurisdiction. I was wondering is this true seeing how he unlawfully took our daughter out of the state without my permission and refused to bring her back?

When did you file your petitions? How does this compare to how long ago dad left with kiddo?

Also I just recently recived an order to pay back child support that he has recieved in the state of Minnesota since he has been there. Am I liable to pay that if child custody has not been established yet?And can he legally start a case for child support if one has already been started against him?I have not seen or talked to my daughter in almost 8 months now. She is my heart and I want her back in my life. Please Help! Any advice would help at this point in time.

If it has been eight months, Minnesota likely has jurisdiction. You will likely have to fight dad for custody there. If the child has been with dad for all that time in Minnesota, and dad filed for child support, you will likely owe that amount. At this point, unless there are extreme things you haven't mentioned (or even if there are), you can reasonably expect to be granted a long-distance visitation plan as the non-custodial parent paying support, with an order from Minnesota. The time to act on dad leaving was quite a long time ago, and that action should have involved a petition to have the child returned to her home state filed through the court. It would appear that her home state is now Minnesota.

[tex11]

If the child was a resident of Illinois prior to being taken to Minnesota, and if you filed for divorce and custody in Illinois before the child was living in Minnesota for six months, then the Illinois court absolutely has jurisdiction over the child to include child support matters, and there is no way for dad to get around this. The case will be heard in Illinois.

If you waited too long to file, then MN has jurisdiction.

Which is the case here ?

[FatherWhoWon]

Indeed, timing is everything here. Hopefully mom also has an attorney if she wants to fight for jurisdiction to be in Illinois.

[Dogmatique]

Agreed with all of the above.

And I'll reiterate - if Dad has had kiddo for 8 months, he certainly has status quo on his side. While that's not EVERYTHING in an initial custody determination, it will certainly weigh heavily as he's been the primary caregiver for all of this time.

- - - Updated - - -

One more thing - he didn't take the child unlawfully.

Not unless there was a specific injunction against removing the child - which doesn't appear to be the case.

[tex11]

Though the child was not taken unlawfully, if the father has denied the mother any access at all to her child for 8 months, there is clearly an element of BAD FAITH that may easily negate any status quo the father gained as a result of this.

And cause for the court to order the child immediately returned to IL and to the custody of the mother, and possibly temporary orders severely restricting the father's right of possession and access to this child.

In this kind of situation, a parent left behind from an absconded child really has no recourse at law other than to invoke a courts jurisdiction by filing for divorce and custody, which for most folks is not a trivial matter. This may certainly mitigate a delay in taking such action and any jurisdictional issues.

In this instance, if the father has refused the mother access to her child for eight months, a good attorney on her side can make all the difference in the world on how this custody matter is resolved.

An aggressive attorney most likely would have already lit a fire under this case by moving for an emergency custody hearing. And if successful, promptly having dad ordered to pay child support.

[LostMother]

I filed in Illinois

- - - Updated - - -

I guess i did leave out the reason behind me wanting him out. He cheated on me with a co-worker and I saw text messages where he was planning on moving out to be with his girlfriend with our daughter. This is why I told him I wanted him out

[tex11]

The cheating issue does NOT matter at this point

How long was your child gone before you filed for divorce ?

[LostMother]

Less then a month because I had to save up money to get the paperwork done and pay the filing fees as well