Divorce in Different States
If you and your spouse wish to divorce in different states of residency, you may encounter some difficult obstacles. Here is what you need to know about this reciprocity between states when it comes to divorce.
Divorce in Different States | Unable to Locate Your Spouse
I sometimes receive inquiries from people, who have lost track of their spouses. They’ve separated, maybe years ago. The question is how do I find my spouse? How do I get them served? The courts are going to require that we make a diligent effort to locate them. Buffalo Divorce Attorney Randy Gugino will contact friends, relatives, people that you know that knew them at the time to see if we can get a clue of where they’re at, at the present time.
If we do a diligent search for them, and we’re unable to locate them we can provide an affidavit to the court indicating that we’ve done our due process. Then, we can get an order of publication where we actually serve them by publishing in the Law Journal a Summons with Notice Action for Divorce. We try to avoid that because the courts prefer that we actually have notice on the defendant.
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Divorce in Different States | Spouse No Longer Lives in the State
If you have a situation where your spouse no longer lives in New York State, but you were married here, and you’ve resided here we still have jurisdiction in New York State so long as you have been a resident here for a period of one or two years.
If your spouse leaves the area that does not necessarily mean, we cannot try the case in New York State
Divorce in Different States | Relocate to A Different State if You Have Sole Custody of Your Child
The answer is no. The former spouse, has rights with regards to access. Those rights have to be taken into account. However, there are grounds that would make it okay to bring your child with you if you did decide to move.
Buffalo Divorce Attorney Randy Gugino says to first sit down with the other party and see if you can work out an agreement. If you can’t do that, you have to be able to articulate circumstances for the court as to why it is in the best interest of the child, that you be allowed to relocate. The courts are only going to be interested in what’s in the best interest of the child.
The court is going to take a look at the overall view of the circumstances for the parties to see if it’s practical for the child to relocate. The court will look at things like the child’s age, and education in determining whether or not relocation is in the child’s best interest.
If you have further questions about what a divorce in different states would look like for you and your spouse, please call our experienced Buffalo divorce attorney Randy Gugino today for a consultation.
