Jurisdication Issue

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

If litigation is already pending here, then it is unlikely that she will be able to move the case to Georgia. If litigation is not pending and she has not lived in Georgia for six months she cannot file a lawsuit for custody there.

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Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm

4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax

Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044

Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780

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2

My wife left at the beginning of the year taking my kids to live with her parents in GA without my permission. I never forced her to come back up here because I thought that we were always so close to coming to an agreement. In the mean time, our attorneys have been laboring on a settlement agreement. We came to one, she then sat on it for a month, and then backed out. Now her attorney is threatening to file a change of jurisdiction if we actually file suit. My wife has not reached the six month residency requirements of GA but apparently her attorney could argue that she has established herself. This makes no since to me given that she is living with her parents and doesn’t even have a job. What are the odds that she could be granted the jurisdiction change? Is there anything I can do to stop this? If it happens then all of the money and effort we have put into this so far will have gone to waste. It seems so wrong.

Thanks