Below is an explanation of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act. The UCCJA is an important federal law pertaining to child custody issues if you live in a different state from your child/children.
I received an email from a reader with questions regarding child custody. The reader had custody of his child and they are living in the state of Texas. The child’s mother lives in Nevada and had filed a petition to modify child custody in Kentucky, the state where the divorce was finalized.
Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, Kentucky would no longer have jurisdiction over custody matters because Texas is not the child’s “home state.”
In other words custody and any custody issues follow the child. The “home state” of a child is one in which the child has lived for six months or more, as outlined in Section 75-d below.
Essentially what the act does is keep one parent from being able to gain custody from a state where the child does not live. It keeps down power struggles between states by only allowing the child’s home state to have jurisdiction over who has custodial rights over the child.
If you were divorced in one state and move to a new state with your child this is a very important act. One that divorce attorneys have been known to ignore when fighting for a client in the state the divorce took place.
Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act
Sec. 75-a. Short title. This article shall be known as the "Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act."
Sec. 75-b. Purposes of article; construction of provisions.
1. The general purposes of this article are to:
(a) avoid jurisdictional competition and conflict with courts of other states in matters of child custody which have in the past resulted in the shifting of children from state to state with harmful effects on their well-being;
(b) promote cooperation with the courts of other states to the end that a custody decree is rendered in that state which can best decide the case in the interest of the child;
(c) assure that litigation concerning the custody of a child take place ordinarily in the state with which the child and his family have the closest connection and where significant evidence concerning his care, protection, training, and personal relationships is most readily available, and that courts of this state decline the exercise of jurisdiction when the child and his family have a closer connection with another state;
(d) discourage continuing controversies over child custody in the interest of greater stability of home environment and of secure family relationships for the child;
(e) deter abductions and other unilateral removals of children undertaken to obtain custody awards;
(f) avoid re-litigation of custody decisions of other states in this state insofar as feasible; (g) facilitate the enforcement of custody decrees of other states;
(h) promote and expand the exchange of information and other forms of mutual assistance between the courts of this state and those of other states concerned with the same child; and (i) make uniform the law of those states which enact it.
2. This article shall be construed to promote the general purposes stated in this section.
Sec. 75-c. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms have the following meanings:
1. "Contestant" means a person, including a parent, who claims a right to custody or visitation rights with respect to a child.2. "Custody determination" means a court decision and court orders and instructions providing for the temporary or permanent custody of a child, including visitation rights.
3. "Custody proceeding" includes proceedings in which a custody determination is at issue or is one of several issues including any action or proceeding brought to annul a marriage or to declare the nullity of a void marriage, or for a separation, or for a divorce, but not including proceedings for adoption, child protective proceedings or proceedings for permanent termination of parental custody, or proceedings involving the guardianship and custody of neglected or dependent children, or proceedings initiated pursuant to section three hundred fifty-eight-a of the social services law.
4. "Decree" or "custody decree" means a custody determination contained in a judicial decree or order made in a custody proceeding, and includes an initial decree and a modification decree.
5. "Home state" means the state in which the child at the time of the commencement of the custody proceeding, has resided with his parents, a parent, or a person acting as parent, for at least six consecutive months. In the case of a child less than six months old at the time of the commencement of the proceeding, home state means the state in which the child has resided with any of such persons for a majority of the time since birth.
6. "Initial decree" means the first custody decree concerning a particular child.
7. "Modification decree" means a custody decree which modifies or replaces a prior decree, whether made by the court which rendered the prior decree or by another court.
8. "Physical custody" means actual possession and control of a child.
9. "Person acting as parent" means a person, other than a parent, who has physical custody of a child and who has either been awarded custody by a court or claims a right to custody.
10. "State" means any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.
