I moved from North Carolina to South Carolina. I’ve been living here for six months now. My family and I are settled here—we live, work, and homeschool our child in South Carolina. There’s a court order called a DVPO that says I have primary custody of my child, and the other parent gets to have the child overnight twice a week. I’ve been driving our child to meet the other parent for visits without any issues. But now, the other parent is threatening me, saying they’ll force me to move back or accuse me of kidnapping our child. I’m confused about who has the legal authority now, North Carolina or South Carolina.
Yes, a parent can be accused of kidnapping without a custody order in North Carolina if they take or keep a child with the intent to violate the other parent’s custodial rights, even if no formal custody order exists.
In North Carolina, a parent can potentially be accused of kidnapping even without a formal custody order in place, though the circumstances and specifics of the case are crucial.