Q. In April when my son and I were here for school vacation visiting my sister and her family, my son discovered my husband was having an affair.  He showed me the texts that somehow uploaded to his iPad. My husband and I had a big fight, and he told me to stay with my sister. I did. I enrolled our son in school here and he is doing well. My husband and I have been doing virtual marriage counseling for several months and he came for Thanksgiving. I thought we were doing well and was considering making plans to go back to Connecticut.

Over Thanksgiving, my husband dropped the bomb that he just learned the woman he had the affair with was pregnant and having the baby. I am not sure I can get over this blow.  Apparently, he expected me to react differently and come home anyway. I told him I was not going to do that and now he is threatening to file something in court saying I kidnapped our son. I don’t want to put him in the middle of this, but he is 14 so I guess he can testify that I didn’t kidnap him.

What are my options?  I know I can’t file for divorce yet because I’ve only been here for seven months, but I don’t want our son ordered back to Connecticut.

A. You actually can file for divorce and seek custody and child support right away. Typically, you need to live here for a year to file for divorce but if the irretrievable breakdown of your marriage happened in Massachusetts when at least one of you was living here, you can file for divorce before the one-year mark. Ultimately, if he objects to jurisdiction claiming he never lived here, your asset division will need to take place in Connecticut.

Your son has been here for more than six months meaning Massachusetts can now issue orders for his custody and support.  As part of the divorce complaint, ask for custody and support for your son.

Your son will not be asked to testify. But if your husband objects to his staying in Massachusetts, the court can appoint a Guardian Ad Litem to interview your son and others and make a recommendation on what parenting plan serves his best interest. You may be accused of alienating your husband from your son if their relationship is not good. I highly recommend you get your son a therapist.

You should hire a divorce lawyer to navigate this.

Email questions to whickey@brickjones.com