Custody jurisdiction law essentially makes sure
that you cannot move your children to another state or country in order
to get a favorable custody order in the new state's courts or to evade an
existing custody order. If there is currently no custody or visitation case
pending and no custody order, and you want to get an order, you need to
do it in the state where the children have been living for the last six
months. If there's already a custody order and you want custody or visitation
changed, you have to go to the courts of the state that originally issued
the order, unless neither parent lives in that state anymore. If you want
to move to another country with the children you need to get a custody order
from the state that has jurisdiction, in the country where the children
actually live, saying that it is okay to move the children to the other
country.
The laws which make up custody jurisdiction
law include the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction
Act, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, the
Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, and (although it technically does not
deal with jurisdiction) the Hague Convention
on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. (The French
version of the Convention is also available on this site.)
When people do not follow these laws, or when they want to make
sure they follow these laws correctly, that is where we come in. Crouch
& Crouch's practice includes cases in which we represent the party trying
to enforce these laws; cases where we try to persuade courts to apply the
specific, narrow exceptions to these general rules in order to have custody
cases heard in the most convenient forum in which the most evidence is available;
cases where the child's home state or other basic questions need to be clarified;
and cases where parents have been falsely accused of violating these laws.
In addition, criminal laws have recently been enacted concerning international
and interstate child abduction. We stay familiar with these laws because
they affect our clients' cases and affect how jurisdictional laws and the
abduction treaty are applied, but we do not serve as criminal defense attorneys
or prosecutors. For more information, see Richard E. Crouch's What
if Your Child is Abducted?