Jurisdiction and the UCCJEA

The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) is a federal law that must be considered in all Florida child custody and child timesharing cases. The UCCJEA Affidavit states where the child has resided for the past five years; who the child resided or resides with; and whether there are any conflicting court orders from any other state or jurisdiction. A UCCJEA Affidavit must be filed along with a Dissolution of Marriage with Children; and any subsequent modification of time-sharing or custody.

There are two requirements under the UCCJEA for making or modifying a custody determination:

(1) the court must have a basis of jurisdiction under the Act, and

(2) the parties must be given notice and opportunity to be heard.

The UCCJEA's jurisdictional provisions vary, based on whether a case involves an initial custody or visitation determination; or modification of an existing order. 

Initial Jurisdiction

The UCCJEA establishes four bases for initial jurisdiction—

• Home State,
• Significant connection,
• More appropriate forum, and
• Vacuum jurisdiction.

Home State jurisdiction.

Under the UCCJEA, a court has home State jurisdiction if the court is located in the child's home State (when the proceedings begin) or if the court is located in the State that was the child's home State within 6 months of the proceedings' commencement and the child's parent (or a person acting as his or her parent) continues to live in the State even after the child has been removed. This extended home State rule allows a left-behind parent to commence a custody proceeding within 6 months of a child's removal from the home State.

Example. A 2-year-old child, born and raised in Florida, is abducted by his father before either parent has filed for custody. The boy and his father move to Georgia. The left-behind mother may file for an initial custody determination in Florida (which has home State jurisdiction) within 6 months of the child's removal. The child's absence from Florida does not deprive the State of jurisdiction. If the father commences a custody proceeding in Georgia while Florida is the child's home State under the UCCJEA, the mother can seek dismissal of the Georgia proceeding based on lack of jurisdiction.

Significant connection jurisdiction.

When a child has no home State or when a home State declines jurisdiction, another State court may exercise jurisdiction if the child has sufficient ties to the State and substantial evidence concerning the child is available in the State. A child need not be physically present in a State for the State to exercise significant connection jurisdiction. More than one State may have jurisdiction on this basis, but only one State may exercise jurisdiction. The statute resolves the conflict in favor of the first-filed proceeding. However, the courts are required to communicate, and the court in the State of the first-filed proceeding may defer to the court in the second State following judicial communication.

Example. A father and his child go to visit the child's paternal grandparents in Colorado. The father is reminded of the beauty of the mountains and decides not to return to Florida, where his marriage had been faltering and his job prospects have dimmed. The family had been living in Florida for 4 years. Within 2 months of his arrival in Colorado, the father files for custody there on significant connection grounds. The Colorado court lacks jurisdiction and may not proceed to the merits of the case unless Florida, the child's home State, declines jurisdiction in favor of Colorado. However, if the mother does not commence a custody proceeding in Florida within 6 months of the child's removal, Colorado becomes the child's home State and the Colorado court may then exercise jurisdiction and decide custody.

Example. A mother and father are high-tech professionals who have moved frequently during the previous several years to work for Internet companies. After 4 months in California, the father leaves the mother and their infant and returns to Florida, where the family had lived for 5 months preceding their move to California. The infant has been in daycare and has pediatricians and relatives in both States. The father's cross-country move prompts the couple to assess the viability of their marriage, and they decide to divorce. However, they cannot agree on custody, and the mother and father simultaneously commence separate custody proceedings in California and Florida. The parents have not lived in any State long enough for their child to have established a home State. Both California and Florida arguably have significant connection jurisdiction, but under the UCCJEA only one of them should exercise it. If a court learns from the required pleadings that a proceeding has been commenced in a sister State, the court is required by the UCCJEA to stay its proceeding and communicate with the other court to decide which proceeding should continue. If they cannot agree, the court with the first-filed case may move forward and the other court should dismiss its proceeding.

More appropriate forum jurisdiction.

Under the UCCJEA, a third basis for initial jurisdiction exists when both the home State and significant connection State(s) decline jurisdiction in favor of another, more appropriate State on grounds of inconvenient forum or unjustifiable conduct.

Example. The parents of a 10-year-old girl are separated but have not filed for custody. Pursuant to her parents' informal agreement, the girl remains with the father in Florida, where she goes to school. She spends the majority of her time with a housekeeper because her father is frequently out of town on business. The child spends one weekend a month in West Virginia with her mother. Because the mother works a night shift involving frequent overtime, many of the girl's weekend visits are spent at the homes of friends in her mother's neighborhood. Both sets of the child's grandparents live in Maryland. The father plans to move to Maryland at the end of the school year so the child can go to her grandparents after school, and he has a contract to purchase a house in Maryland when the school year ends. However, before the move, the father becomes increasingly concerned about the mother's absence during the child's visits. He files for custody in Maryland. Based on these facts, it is conceivable that courts in the District of Columbia (the child's home State) and West Virginia (a significant connection State) might decline jurisdiction in favor of Maryland, the child's soon-to-be home State. A decision to decline jurisdiction is discretionary and fact dependent.

Vacuum jurisdiction.

The UCCJEA provides that if no court has home State, significant connection, or more appropriate forum jurisdiction, an alternate court may fill the vacuum and exercise jurisdiction over an initial custody proceeding. This provision would apply to situations in which children fail to remain in any State long enough to form attachments (such as - homeless children, children of migrant workers or military personnel, or children sent from relative to relative for temporary care).

A UCCJEA Affidavit must be filed in every Florida Dissolution of Marriage with Children; and all subsequent modifications of time-sharing or custody.