JURISDICTION

Oct 29, 2018

Question #179: I was married in New York in 1999. We now live in Florida and are planning to divorce. How do I file?, in Florida or do I have to do it in New York? Thanks.

If you are both living in FL , you should file in FL , not NY. Leonard M. Weiner, Esq./Divorce Solutions

Oct 29, 2018

Question #175: Before marriage my husband had told me that he had been married previously but had been divorced. We married in Las Vegas in 2003. He recently confessed that he was still married when he left New York 8 years ago but has had no contact with his previous spouse after he left New York to come to California. He said he thought he was divorced because his previous spouse went looking for him at his parents’ house after he moved to California to find him so she could request a divorce since she wanted to remarry. He did receive paperwork for the divorce request but he never signed them or contested them. He does not want to look into it to see if he is indeed divorced because he does not want to “open a can of worms”. Due to unrelated issues, I am now seeking a divorce. However, I am wondering if our marriage was ever legal in the first place. I would much rather have our marriage voided instead of going through a sticky divorce. Is there any resource for me to find out if he is still married? Or does the fact that he has not been in contact with his previous spouse for over 10 years completely void his previous marriage? Thank you in advance for all your help.

In order for your husband to be considered divorced from his first wife he must have a legal divorce order from a court that has jurisdiction over that matter. If he has been living in California for over two years, California should be the state that has jurisdiction. If he never signed the divorce papers, […]

Oct 29, 2018

Question #174: My daughter got married to an person of Indian Origin who is a citizen of USA. He was residing in Bombay(India), and the marriage also took place in Bombay. He had verbally promised her that he would stay permanently in Bombay since he does not like USA. He even had an apartment in Bombay where the couple stayed for about three months. His parents are based in USA. However, three months after marriage he said that he wishes to settle down in USA with his parents. My daughter did not like the place in USA where they were staying. And since she was promised that she would always be residing in Bombay, she came back to India. Now this guy has applied for a divorce in USA and may get an ex-parte Divorce order too. Is this order valid in India ? (The marriage was solemnized in India). How will she know that the order has been passed and what if he marries someone in USA without informing my daughter about the ex parte order Kindly advise

If your son –in-law is living in New York for over two years, he may file for divorce in New York. In order for your son- in- law to get a divorce from your daughter he will have to serve her with a summons and complaint. There are no ex-parte divorces in New York. He […]

Oct 29, 2018

Question #171: My boyfriend has lived apart from his wife for over 6 years. They have a child together. He does not see his child nor even know where his spouse lives. When they were together, they were married and lived in NYS. He still resides in NY and believes she does as well. How can he get a divorce from her? And what about visitation for the child?

Because he lives in New York State for a number of years, New York will have jurisdiction over this matter. In order to get the divorce, however, he will have to serve his spouse with a summons and complaint and therefore will have to make a serious attempt to try to locate her either through […]

Oct 29, 2018

Question #169: I came across your company website while searching for answers concerning divorce on the internet. I am seeking some advice and help with my situation and thought it best to write to you before discussing further on the telephone. I’ll try and keep this simple and to the point. 1. I am a british born and bred citizen. My perm address is in the UK but currently I am working in Switzerland. 2. My wife has been living and working in NYC for about 10 years on a green card however obtained her American citizenship earlier this year (she moved to the USA from India where she was born) 3. We obtained a civil court marriage in NYC Queens over 2 years ago. We then obtained a traditional marriage in India almost 2 years ago. 4. We have never really lived together but i have made occasional trips to NY and she made occasional trips to the UK. We both continued to work in our own countries respectively. 5. We didn’t click from just before the marriage and had many ups and downs which finally resulted in the decision to obtain a divorce. We have been separated (not legally) for almost a year (we have not met each other since the end of February 2009) 6. We do not have children, we do not want any money or possessions from each other, we both agree on a uncontested divorce.

I am not familiar with the residency requirements in England to tell you whether England would also have jurisdiction in your case. In NY, one would have to be living in NY for at least one year for NY to have jurisdiction. Because your spouse is living in NY for 2 or more years, NY […]

Oct 29, 2018

Question #168: My husband and I separated in July 2009, I moved to NYC he still resides Upstate NY. I filed for an Uncontested Divorce (on my own due to financial hardship), and attempt to serve him with the Summons with Notice and Verified Complaint. He knows that the Process Server tries to serve him but he is hiding because he wants to file for divorce against me “first”. Is it possible for him to file for a divorce in the same state (NY) but in a different County than the one I reside in, if I already filed for divorce with the court?

It is possible for him to file in a different county but generally the county where the plaintiff or the defendant resides is the one that has jurisdiction. In the event of a conflict between two proper jurisdictions, the one which filed first generally will succeed. However, you must serve him before the time period […]

Oct 29, 2018

Question #162: A friend of mine married a women in NY but is from Canada, they have been married for 2+ years but have never lived together. He is living in NY and has been for 3+ years, he is there on a work visa. He is wanting a divorce but she is giving him problems & he feels she will not sign the papers. They have not been together in any type of relationship in over a year. She keeps telling him that she has applied in Canada and papers have been sent to him but he never gets them as she is playing games with him. What advise would you suggest for him to end this legally?

If he is living in New York for three years he can file for the divorce New York. He does not have to file in Canada or wait for her to file. In fact he would be better off filing in New York where he is residing and would not have to travel to Canada. […]

Oct 29, 2018

Question #161: A friend of mine married a women in NY but is from Canada, they have been married for 2+ years but have never lived together. He is living in NY and has been for 3+ years, he is there on a work visa. He is wanting a divorce but she is giving him problems & he feels she will not sign the papers. They have not been together in any type of relationship in over a year. She keeps telling him that she has applied in Canada and papers have been sent to him but he never gets them as she is playing games with him. What advise would you suggest for him to end this legally?

Oct 29, 2018

Question #159: My husband and I were married in Newport News, VA in 2005, we separated for a year and a half in 2006. We got back together in December 2007. I left my husband in March of 2009 because he began to be cruel towards me and due to domestic violence on his part towards me in the past I left for fear that I would go through that with him again. I moved back to my home state of residence to live with my parents. We have a 3 year old daughter and I would like to get full custody of her allowing him visitation rights. I am not working and I would like to get help from DC now that I am a full resident again but I have been told I need to file paperwork for a legal separation and child support. I don’t know where to begin. I want to know do I need to do these things in VA or DC. He has moved to live with his mother in MD and to my understanding will be residing there from now on. Where should I start as far as getting a legal separation agreement filed and custody/child support motions?

You can file in the state where your husband is residing or in the state where you reside. Each state has its own jurisdictional requirements regarding length of time you must be a resident of such date in order for it to have jurisdiction. Consult with the county clerk in which you reside to find […]

Oct 29, 2018

Question #151: I married my husband in June 18, 1999 in the country of Panama. I’m a U.S. citizen. As I was filling for the papers for him to come to California to live with me and his son, he has an affair in Panama and gets a girl pregnant. I went back to panama to try to get a divorce, but I gave him another chance. Now looking back I wish that I could turn back time, and never gave him that chance. It took me a while to forgive him, but I did and I continued on with the papers, now my husband is a resident of California. I brought him to California to live with me 2004. Now I would like to get a dirvorce because he is not doing anything that will help us to better our future. We have a son that’s 7 years old and he’s not even paying child support. How can I get a divorce in California? The only record that shows we are married is Immigration, not the court, so can I go to the local court and get a divorce even thought I got married in Panama? I still have the marriage cirtificate, but its in spanish.

Yes you can file for divorce in CA even if you were married in another state or country, such as Pananma. Keep the Panamanian marriage certificate as proof if you will be asked to provide evidence of the marriage. Leonard M. Weiner, Esq./Divorce Solutions

LEONARD M.WEINER, ESQ, Ph.D.

Divorcesolutions.com

Divorce Solutions

Question #179: I was married in New York in 1999. We now live in Florida and are planning to divorce. How do I file?, in Florida or do I have to do it in New York? Thanks.