My brothers wife took off to Texas with my nephew. My brother already had opened a divorce custody case in California, now the mother is opening her own case in Texas! Can she do that?
If there is an open dissolution case in California, and it has been served on the wife, then jurisdiction should remain in California. There are also Automatic Temporary Restraining Orders in California that prevent such a move without consent. Should she file her own case in Texas, your brother would need to hire an attorney there to contest jurisdiction, as California has jurisdiction over the dissolution, including the child. In California, he should seek out an attorney and go in on an ex parte basis for an order to bring the child back to his home state of California.
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