Also known as: initial determinations · initial decision
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A court's first child-custody determination concerning a particular child. The term identifies the original order that establishes jurisdiction under the uniform act and limits later modification authority in other states.
Claire moved with the child to State L for eight months after separating from Dillon. Dillon filed first in State K, which declined jurisdiction in favor of State L. When Claire filed in State M, the court dismissed because only State L could make the initial determination under the statute.
Jordan and the child lived in State B for years before a temporary move to State C. Alex obtained a custody order in State C during the visit. When Alex sought enforcement in State B, the court refused because State C never possessed authority to enter the initial determination.
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A reporter received a subpoena to testify before a grand jury about confidential sources. The court required the testimony because reporters receive no special exemption from supplying information that assists the grand jury in reaching its initial determination of whether to indict.
Plaintiffs offered scientific testimony linking a drug to birth defects. The district court made the initial determination of admissibility under the new reliability standard and excluded the evidence after weighing the factors supplied by the Supreme Court.
The state agency reviewed medical evidence and issued an initial determination that Eldridge was no longer disabled. Eldridge challenged the procedures because the agency provided no pre-termination hearing before ending benefits.
A state commission denied certification for a nuclear facility based on safety concerns. The utility sued claiming federal law preempted the state process, but the court first addressed whether the state action constituted an initial determination subject to preemption analysis.
The statute defines an initial determination as the first child-custody determination concerning a particular child. Only a court with jurisdiction under section 201 may enter such an order. Later courts may enforce or modify it only when the issuing court has lost exclusive continuing jurisdiction.
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No. Section 203 prohibits modification of another state's custody order unless the modifying court has jurisdiction to make an initial determination under section 201 and additional statutory conditions are met. Without that authority the order cannot be changed.
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A temporary stay does not create home-state jurisdiction or support an initial determination. The child's long-term connections remain in the prior home state, so a court in the temporary location lacks authority to issue the first custody order.
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An enforcing court must deny enforcement if the issuing court lacked jurisdiction to make the initial determination under the uniform act. The respondent may raise that jurisdictional defect even after the order appears facially valid.
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…terminated after July 1972. The notification also advised him of his right to seek reconsideration by the state agency of this initial determination within 60 days. Instead of requesting reconsideration, Eldridge commenced this action in the District Court for the Western District of Virginia, challenging the constitutionality of the…