Also known as: UCCJEA
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A uniform act that establishes standards for determining which state court may exercise jurisdiction over child custody and visitation disputes. It prioritizes the child's home state for initial custody determinations and confers continuing exclusive jurisdiction on the court that issued the original order. The act also supplies procedures for registering and enforcing out-of-state custody determinations.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Urban Utley, a resident of County D for ten years, files an adoption petition for a teenager in County C court based solely on his employment at a nonprofit headquartered there. The court must decide whether the UCCJEA's exclusion of adoption proceedings leaves jurisdiction to be determined under the state's separate residency statute for adoption petitions.
After a State Q1 court issues a detailed visitation schedule allowing shipboard visits during school breaks, the custodial parent refuses visits once the other parent relocates to State R1. The noncustodial parent petitions the State R1 court for temporary enforcement of the existing schedule. The court may issue a time-limited order directing compliance without modifying the original determination.
The home state where the child has lived for at least six consecutive months immediately before commencement has primary jurisdiction. If no state qualifies as the home state, a court may exercise jurisdiction based on significant connections and substantial evidence concerning the child's care.
The original court retains exclusive continuing jurisdiction until it determines that neither the child nor the child and a parent have a significant connection with the state and that substantial evidence is no longer available there. Jurisdiction also ends when a court determines that the child, parents, and any person acting as a parent no longer reside in the state.
…Indian”).[^maj-29] The majority’s interpretation of ICWA is also inconsistent with the views of 18 States that have adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA). The UCCJEA is a uniform act designed to avoid jurisdictional conflicts between States in child custody proceedings. See Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act §101…
…alleging, among other things, that the Alabama trial court lacked jurisdiction to make a child
Yes. A court lacking modification jurisdiction may still enter a temporary enforcement order that supplies logistical details to make an out-of-state visitation schedule effective, provided the order is time-limited and does not alter the substantive terms of the original determination.
No. The act expressly excludes adoption from its coverage. Most states have filled the resulting jurisdictional gap by either adding adoption to the proceedings governed by the UCCJEA or by adopting the jurisdictional provisions of the Uniform Adoption Act.
The petition and order must be served by a method authorized under forum state law on both the respondent and any person who has physical custody of the child. Proper service on both categories is required before the court may enforce the order.