I believe that you are able to file in the state you are currently a resident in. If your stbx’s divorce filing were legitimate there may be an issue, but since the year and day is not over he legally can not file. The child is born of your marriage regardless of which state she was born in. You will need to file for child support and custody for your daughter.
If you go to the North Carolina General Assembly web site and type into the statutes look up 50-6 you will find the following that you could give to your attorney:
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You can file for divorce in your new state, if you qualify for residency. BUT there are many caveats.
Your current attorney is best able to explain this (and if there’s any disagreement, they know better than I do, plus they’re familiar with the law of your new state.)
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way. Your (new) state does have jurisdiction and can declare you divorced. This is because courts have nearly complete jurisdiction over any parties inside the boundaries of the forum state, this includes marital status.
However, depending on STBX’s contact(s) with the (new) state, their ability to order STBX to pay spousal support, property distribution outside the (new) state’s borders, or for STBX to pay child support (although I think UIFSA does allow filing of child support actions, even w/o in personam jurisdiction over the obligor, although I think the process is more convoluted) would at least be open to question, quite possibly in favor of STBX.
As for your second question, look at NCGS 50-6.
I previously posted in here about my husband filing for divorce in NC before the 1yr 1day separation time. I no longer live in NC and the state I currently reside will legally allow me to file for divorce after 6mnths (which I have been here 8 months). I have proceeded to file in this state and my stbx is counter claiming that my state has no jurisdiction over him and he is contesting the divorce being filed here. Can he do this and does our divorce have to be filed in the state of NC? He is lying to the courts in NC about our separation date and I am hopeful that the case in NC will eventually be dismissed. I have an attorney through Legal Aid here, but they will not help me with any filings in NC. So I guess basically my questions are:
a) will the current state I live in have any jurisdiction over him? There was a child born into this marriage and she was NOT born in NC, she was born in the current state I reside in.
b) does any one know where I can find a legal statement that states when divorce can be filed in NC? I need something to give to my attorney and the courts here to prove that he is filing for divorce in NC before he is allowed to.
Thanks again for any help!