I am 4 months pregnant. When I am 8 months pregnant I plan to move to Ohio for financial reasons and to have the baby. I have family in Ohio. I have no one in Arizona. My husband is an alcoholic and marijuana user. He has just gotten another DUI and is driving with a revoked license. I want to divorce him, but which state do I file in and how can I get sole custody?

If I start filing now in AZ can the divorce be finalized even though the baby isn't born yet. Will I be forced to stay in AZ until the child is born and custody can be decided?
Should I wait until I move to Ohio and have the baby to file? I don't want my husband near the child. He is irresponsible and dangerous.

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Originally Posted by elamprecht

I am 4 months pregnant. When I am 8 months pregnant I plan to move to Ohio for financial reasons and to have the baby. I have family in Ohio. I have no one in Arizona. My husband is an alcoholic and marijuana user. He has just gotten another DUI and is driving with a revoked license. I want to divorce him, but which state do I file in and how can I get sole custody?

If I start filing now in AZ can the divorce be finalized even though the baby isn't born yet. Will I be forced to stay in AZ until the child is born and custody can be decided?
Should I wait until I move to Ohio and have the baby to file? I don't want my husband near the child. He is irresponsible and dangerous.

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You can go wherever you want to go. Once the baby is born your husband can prevent you from leaving.

You file for divorce where you are a resident. At the moment that is Arizona. You cannot become an Ohio resident and then file there - first, there's a waiting period. Second, you cannot force him to travel to Ohio to argue the issues in Court. You are moving so you are the one who will have to travel.

Was your husband irresponsible and dangerous when you got pregnant?

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Originally Posted by elamprecht

... If I start filing now in AZ... Will I be forced to stay in AZ until the child is born and custody can be decided?.

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No.

The waiting period in Ohio would be six months:

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3105.03 Venue.
The plaintiff in actions for divorce and annulment shall have been a resident of the state at least six months immediately before filing the complaint.. .

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Lawriter - ORC - 3105.03 Venue.

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

You can go wherever you want to go. Once the baby is born your husband can prevent you from leaving.

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Well, technically, he can prevent the baby from leaving, and presumably the OP wouldn' want to leave her baby.

But to be clear, until the baby is born, you have every right to move.

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

... Second, you cannot force him to travel to Ohio to argue the issues in Court. You are moving so you are the one who will have to travel.

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I disagree. If, after 6 months of residence, the case is filed in Ohio, the husband will have to litigate it in Ohio. He cannot have it somehow transferred back to Arizona.

Also, Ohio would then be the home state under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.