If you have a divorce or custody issue and need to speak to a Boise Divorce Attorney or Custody Attorney or have other Family Law issues, please call (208) 472-2383.
As a Boise Divorce Attorney I often get calls from parents who live out of state and whose children have been moved to Idaho by the other parent. What if anything can they do to have their custody case heard in the jurisdiction where the child originally resided? Alternatively, I get calls about people who have an existing child custody order from another jurisdiction who now live in Idaho and want to know what, if anything, they can do to enforce the order in Idaho.
The Idaho Code deals with these two situations with something known as the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. Unlike the divorce situation, where you can get a divorce after being in Idaho for 6 weeks, for a custody action the state of Idaho must be the child's home state for at least six months in order to bring a custody action here. So the way that this applies to the first question is this: if parent A moves to Idaho and resides here for six months, that parent can bring a custody action in the state of Idaho that will be binding on parent B, unless parent B has already, brought a custody action in the state where they resided as a family. If there is an emergency situation, such as immediate harm to the child or the child has been abandoned, an Idaho Court can intercede and hear the case prior to 6 months. If there is no other state that has issued a custody order, the Idaho Court order will stay in effect until a court with more appropriate jurisdiction hears the case.
The second situation deals with modification of an existing order. If state 1 has issued a custody order and both parent A and parent B no longer live in state 1 and it no longer is the appropriate jurisdiction to bring a custody action, if the child has lived in Idaho for 6 months or longer, an Idaho Court can modify an existing decree from the original state that will be binding on both parents.
The Uniform Child Custody Act can cause some minor complications when it comes to getting a divorce in Idaho if you have just moved here from out of state and you have children. As mentioned above, you can get a divorce after being here for only 6 weeks. If you have children in this situation, you can still file for divorce in Idaho, but the custody issues will not be heard. They will either be heard in the child's home state or you will have to wait 6 months to have them addressed in Idaho.
If you have a divorce or a custody issue, or any other family law issue and need to speak to a Boise Divorce Attorney, please call, (208) 472-2383.