Texas Divorce and Prenuptial Agreement BLOG

In the event that you or your child’s other parent need to modify a child custody order, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA”) dictates what you have to do. The state courts with the power to modify an original child custody are normally those that created the order in the first place. This is a concept in the UCCJEA known as exclusive continuing jurisdiction. The UCCJEA’s focus is on making interstate child custody disputes easier to handle throughout the country. The state with the most contact with the child usually has original jurisdiction, and under the UCCJEA, that state should continue to have jurisdiction unless there has been a major change. There are two ways in which the state with original jurisdiction can lose its exclusive continuing jurisdiction: The parents and child no longer live in the state with original jurisdiction, or None of the parties has a significant connection with the state with original jurisdiction, meaning that there is no longer any substantial evidence related to the case in that state (for example, a non-custodial parent may still be in the original state, but the child’s new state may be in a better position to rule…
Read More »

While the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA”) has been a great benefit to parents, it is unfortunate that the UCCJEA cannot prevent all instances of parental misconduct when it comes to children. Parental kidnapping remains a prevalent crime, with a quarter of a million cases of it occurring each year. In fact, more than 2,000 children are reported missing every day; in the vast majority of cases, law enforcement finds them quickly, but in the remaining cases, most are a result of parental kidnapping. A federal law similar to the UCCJEA (which, though uniform, is adopted state-by-state) requires states to respect child custody determinations made elsewhere. That law is the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (“PKPA”). In many respects, the PKPA echoes what the UCCJEA says: The PKPA requires other states to enforce child custody orders that were properly obtained (states must give “full faith and credit” to proper child custody determinations) If states modify another state’s child custody order without complying with the PKPA, then the new determination is not entitled to enforcement in other states Like the UCCJEA, the PKPA emphasizes the child’s “home state” as the state usually with original jurisdiction (see Tuesday’s post about…
Read More »

The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA”) has helped many parents throughout the country achieve consistent child custody rulings. It helped them avoid losing their children to ex-partners who crossed state lines to take advantage of variations in the law between states. Now that the laws governing interstate child custody issues are the same from state to state, parents have less to worry about, but the need may still arise for an emergency child custody order in the event that a child is in danger. The UCCJEA provides guidance on that as well. The UCCJEA permits ex-parte (when only one side is present at a court hearing) emergency child custody orders under certain circumstances. If a child has been abandoned or a child is in danger, a court in a state that would ordinarily not be able to make a child custody ruling concerning the child would be able to issue a temporary, emergency order for the child’s benefit. Additionally, if no court in any state has made a child custody ruling regarding the child, then the emergency order can remain in effect until the proper state can make a ruling (which may end up being the state…
Read More »

In the past, a parent could (and often did) take his or her child across state lines and get a new child custody order granting that parent full child custody. What would follow would often be a lengthy and expensive legal battle over which child custody order was in effect, all while the child in the middle of the dispute bounced between parents and courts. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA”) changed all this, as the UCCJEA created a standard set of rules that determines which state has initial jurisdiction over a child in a child custody dispute. Home State Has First Priority The state whose courts have original jurisdiction to create a child custody order is often the “home state” of the child, the state where the child has been living. If the child recently left the state (within the past six months), that state will continue to have jurisdiction provided that one of his or her parents continues to live in the state. If the child has been absent from the state for more than six months, that prior home state will not likely have jurisdiction over child custody. What Happens When There is No…
Read More »