Also known as: UCCJA
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A model statute that establishes standards for determining which state court has jurisdiction to decide child-custody matters and requires recognition of decrees from other states that meet those standards.
Urban Utley and Ursula Upton obtained a custody decree in State X awarding primary custody to Ursula. Two years later Urban relocates with the child to State Y, where the child has now lived for eight months and attends school. Urban petitions State Y to modify the decree. Because State Y has jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act as the child's new home state, the court may entertain the petition.
Ulysses Usher and Ulrike Ulrich divorce in State C after living there four years with their daughter. Ulrike then moves with the child to State D for an eight-month work contract. Both parents file simultaneous custody petitions, one in State C and one in State D. The court in State D determines it possesses initial jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act because the child has resided there for more than six consecutive months immediately before the filing.
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Before the Act, parents could remove children to another state and obtain a new custody order there, leading to conflicting decrees and forum shopping. The statute created uniform jurisdictional rules based on the child's home state or significant connections to prevent such competition and encourage recognition of valid out-of-state decrees.
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A state qualifies as the home state if the child has lived there with a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the proceeding. That state then has primary jurisdiction to make or modify the custody determination, and other states must defer.
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The Act contains a fallback provision allowing jurisdiction in the state where the child is present when no other state can claim jurisdiction under the primary rules. This prevents a child from being left without any forum for a custody determination.
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Yes. The Act was a uniform law designed for enactment in every state so that jurisdictional rules would be consistent nationwide and courts would recognize and enforce sister-state decrees meeting the statutory criteria.
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…recognized by federal statute. See Parental Kidnaping Prevention Act of 1980, 94 Stat. 3569, 28 U. S. C. § 1738A(c)(2); see also Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, 9 U. L. A. § 3 (1988). [^maj-39]: The Court suggests that there could be no legally effective abandonment because the parents consented to termination of their parental rights before a…