Q&A: I'm in Alabama, jurisdiction was signed to AL in divorce, custody is with mother in Florida, can I file in AL?

Question by : I'm in Alabama, jurisdiction was signed to AL in divorce, custody is with mother in Florida, can I file in AL? My ex-wife and I were married in Georgia, had two children together, separated, and she skipped off to Florida to be closer to her family. At the time, I been giving her $ 500.00 per week, and had no money for an attorney for quite some time. By the time I had the money, the Georgia attorney that I consulted with, told me that after six months, Florida has jurisdiction over custody, and the fight would be much more difficult. A year and a half ago, I bought a home in Alabama, moved here with my fiancee. My ex and I finally agreed on all the stipulations of divorce. I filed in Alabama a few months ago, she signed jurisdiction over to Alabama, and our divorce was finalized. My fiancee and I were able to marry a month and a half ago. As she does every six months or so, my ex has started issues, making ridiculous claims about the children and their time here, and has started trying to hinder my visitation. Our visitation is mapped out in the decree, the only thing left to Florida was the child support order (which they had no jurisdiction to, I simply had consented to them taking it over the phone). My question is this. Since she signed the jurisdiction over to Alabama in the divorce, can I file for custody here? The children are constantly in unsafe situations there. She has had DFACS involved twice, due to claims of abuse by her oldest daughter, and the kids constantly come here dirty, with lice, with infections, and out of all 6 of them (her and 5 daughters total), there have been three hospitalizations due to Staph, including herself once, and my older daughter the night she was to come to see my wedding. She is very manipulative and conniving. It does not bother her to invent whatever story necessary to have her way so I have to be very careful. She has displayed this time and time again since we split. We are great parents and have two sons living with us now. What will be the best way to approach this? Best answer:

Answer by Y! Groups Dads House Ed. Center
Sorry, but Florida retains jurisdiction over the children, especially since family services are involved. You can reduce the cost of hiring an attorney through preparation and taking the time to interview attorneys. A less experienced (Cheaper) attorney willing to take payments, but employs an experience paralegal can be as effective as an more experienced and expensive one, The paralegal is the real backbone of any case. Often when an attorney dies or retires, their paralegals will go to work for a young, new attorney to guide and help them gain experience. http://dads-house.org/FatherCustody-CanTheyWin http://dads-house.org/GettingStarted-FathersNFamilyCourts http://dads-house.org/Attorneys-HiringTheRightOne http://ChildSupportRights.org/WhatPayersNeed2Know http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC8077B1999DA0324 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Federal Child Support Enforcement Handbook for Non-Custodial Parents http://childsupportrights.org/ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ To learn a father's rights, join Dads House Educational Center in Yahoo Groups. It's free to join and access all materials. You also associate with other fathers going through, and have already gone through, the same issues. We have an Educational Manual that teaches everything that needs to be known in addressing your legal issues. Mention your question here when asked why you want to join, as well as your state? http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Dads_House_Ed_Ctr/ http://www.youtube.com/DadsHouseEdCtr ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 2nd Wife Club in Yahoo Groups, for those brave enough to take on a man with "baggage". http://groups.yahoo.com/group/2ndwifeclub/ http://www.facebook.com/proudstepmoms ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ For 22 years, I have volunteered my time working with divorced/single fathers dealing in family law issues, such as child support, teaching them about what the states are not telling support obligors. ♂♀

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