As a Boise Divorce Attorney I often get calls from individuals who are seeking to establish or get back custody of their children. The most difficult part of these calls is when an individual is desperate to "help" their child, but the child does not reside in Idaho.
Child's Home State
In order for an Idaho Court to exercise jurisdiction over a child, the child must reside in the state of Idaho for at least six months. That means, if the child does not live here, the court cannot tell the child's home state that they are going to exercise jurisdiction over the child and make a custody determination. If you really need to challenge custody, you will have to petition the court in the child's home state.
Emergency
What if the child comes to Idaho for visitation from another state and it is clear that the child has been abused. Can Idaho do anything? Yes, Idaho can exercise emergency jurisdiction over a child. It is not going to outright change custody, but it will exercise it's jurisdiction to ensure that the child is not put in further danger. The court will communicate with the child's home state court and work to resolve the situation.
Divorce
What happens if you move to Idaho and want to get a divorce and have your custody issues decided here? For divorce, you only need to reside in the state for 6 weeks. If you have been here less that 6 months, you can go ahead and file for divorce and ask that the court not make a custody determination. If you can't wait 6 months to get divorced, you can get the divorce done and then return to the court to have the custody worked out.
If you are seeking a divorce and you need to speak to a Boise Divorce Attorney, please give us a call, (208) 472-2384 and see what we can do for you.
