New York Divorce Lawyer Summaries

The above principals cannot be applied in a rigid or mechanical fashion but require the trial court to exercise discretion. In re Tatham. The standards applicable to determining jurisdiction cannot be applied in a mechanical fashion, but require the exercise of discretion by the trial court. In re Kehres.

Factors Considered

The child's home state, the location of necessary evidence of the child's well being, and the significant relationships of the child or parties to the competing states are considerations to be weighed in determining whether Illinois is an inconvenient forum. In re Rizza.

Inconvenience

-Not Shown Circuit court abused its discretion by declining to exercise jurisdiction on the basic of an inconvenient forum; no other state was or recently had been the home state of the children, no other state had a closer connection than Illinois to the children or their mother, and all evidence regarding the children's present circumstances was available in Illinois. Arulpragasam v. Eisele. Since petitioner agreed that Illinois was the proper forum as late as December of 1994, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in deciding not to decline jurisdiction. In re Tatham.

Interstate Communication by Judges

Intertstate communication by the trial judges is authorized by subsection (d). In re Horne.

Jurisdiction

-Conceding

In a proceeding in which the husband sought to punish the wife for violating the terms of the judgment for dissolution of their marriage by moving to Georgia with their child, the court properly conceded jurisdiction to Georgia where the mother alleged, and the husband offered to evidence to dispute, (1) that Georgia was the child's home state, (2) that all the evidence concerning the child's care, protection, training, and personal relationships was available in Georgia rather than in Illinois; and (3) that she had filed a motion in the Georgia court to enroll the Illinois judgment of dissolution of marriage. In re Blanchard. Trial court did not abuse its discretion in conceding jurisdiction to another state where other state was child's home, has a closer connection with the child and with respondent than did Illinois and there was substantial evidence there, as settlement agreement provided that post decree proceedings would be constructed under Illinois law not filed only in Illinois. In re Walker.

Before proceeding on your own, please consider the expertise of a divorce or family law attorney. You can seek references from bar associations or from other attorneys.