questions & answers

Question: I had a family court case transferred from New Mexico to Arizona a couple months ago. I had a hearing in AZ on 10/30. They required me to send my ex husband (in NM) a letter stating that there was a hearing set. He went back to the NM court the day before our hearing was set and he had a trial set in NM. I need to know what I need to do since the case has been transferred to AZ for months and we have a mediation date and another trial date set.

Answer:

The following is provided for informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal advice.  To determine how the law applies to your specific situation, you may want to consider consulting an attorney directly http://azlawhelp.org/articles_info.cfm?mc=1&sc=9&articleid=129.

When cases are filed, they are heard in specific courts within specific jurisdictions because those courts have proper “venue.”  Venue is important because it means that the court hearing the case has sufficient interest in deciding the matters before it.  Venue is also important because parties should not be unduly burdened by the choice of court if it is at all avoidable.  Once a case is transferred to another court, the original court loses venue to hear the matter. 

It may be appropriate to inform the New Mexico court, usually through a motion, that the case has been transferred.  You must bring this to the court’s attention, do not rely on the New Mexico court to realize it on its own.