Legal Question in Family Law in California

myself and my wife are hindu and indian origin and weded in Delhi but setteled in usa and baby born in usa. Now my wife temporarily went to Indian and filed 498 A and and as well as maintance case and came back to usa. My question is whether, my wife can ask for maintance to her child in indian court when my child is us citizen.


Asked on 11/12/10, 9:33 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Indian marriage, custody and divorce law is frequently in significant conflict with U.S. law. So India may assert jurisdiction whereas the U.S. would not if the situation was reversed. You need to consult with an Indian attorney to find out what Indian courts will do. In the U.S., however, the citizenship of the child is not relevant. What is relevan under U.S. law is the principal place of residence, generally looking at the last six months before a divorce is filed. Since your wife, child and you are in the U.S. now, your best bet is to immediately file your own proceeding in California and seek to have the Indian proceeding ordered disregarded in the U.S. An additional advantage is that your wife will then be under a restraining order against taking the child out of California without a court order, and you can have the child's passport ordered surrendered to the court. This is especially true in Indian cases, becasue Indian courts refuse to send ethincally Indian children back to the U.S. even if the children are U.S. citizens.

Read more
Answered on 11/17/10, 12:52 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Family Law, Divorce, Child Custody and Adoption questions and answers in California