What state do I file for divorce? Custody?
Full Question:
Answer:
At least one of the parties to an action for divorce must have resided in the State of Michigan for at least 180 days immediately prior to the filing of the complaint and must have resided in the county of filing for at least 10 days immediately prior to the filing of the complaint. This requirement may be waived, however, if the defendant was born in or is a citizen of a foreign country and the parties have minor children that are at risk of being taken out of the U.S..
At least one of the parties to the divorce action must have resided in Kentucky for a period of one hundred and eighty (180) days prior to the commencement of the action.
Typically, the filing party will file in their state of residence because of the convenience of attending court in the home state. However, if you are asking a Kentucky court to award child custody in a divorce, the child must have lived within Kentucky within the last 180 days and be a resident of Kentucky. If the child has lived in Kentucky for 6 months, Kentucky becomes the home state of the child and Kentucky can award custody of the child to either party. If you are asking for child support the person you are asking to pay support must normally be served in his county and state for support. If he answers the petition and agrees to jurisdiction then jurisdiction is permitted in that state. Even if a Kentucky court doesn't have jurisdiction to decide custody issues, it may still decide the matter of a divorce. A spouse who lives in another state or country can object to jurisdiction by the court in Kentucky. In that event, the court may be prevented from making important orders in your case. I suggest consulting a local attorney who can review all the facts and documents involved if your spouse is likely to object to having the case handled in Kentucky.
For further discussion, please see:
http://www.legalace.com/articles/smartdivorce/articles/interstate.shtml
The failure to properly object and answer is a waiver of any objection and jurisdiction becomes agreed to.