What You Can (and can’t) Change Post Divorce
By NANCY PERRY
Once your family law court signs your order for custody, access and possession, and child support, that case is not closed out per se. Courts that hear family law issues are called courts of continuing jurisdiction. What this means is these orders may need modifying as the child grows and the circumstances of the parties change over time. For this reason, the court that signed the order, or issuing state, will maintain jurisdiction over the case until your last child turns 18.
If the order needs to be changed, then the modification action must be filed in the original issuing court. The only time this will not be the case is if all of the parties move out of the issuing state or if there is an emergency and the non-issuing state needs to hear the matter and deal with it immediately. Here are some answers for some frequently asked questions on changing custody arrangements.
