Choice of Law Flashcards
Recognition of divorce by another state
Courts give full faith and credit to divorce decrees of the courts of a sister state if the sister state had proper jurisdiction and the decree is valid in the sister state. The jurisdictional requirement is satisfied if one of the spouses is domiciled in the state granting divorce. There is a rebuttable presumption that the state granting the divorce is the bona fide domicile of the plaintiff.
Court exercising jurisdiction over an ex parte divorce - resolving custody matters
Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, a state may exercise jurisdiction if it is the home state of the child at the time the proceedings began or within six months of the proceedings and a parent still resides in the jurisdiction. A child’s home state is the state in which the child lived with a parent, or a person acting as a parent, for at least six consecutive months before commencement of the proceeding. The purposes of the UCCJEA are to promote the use of a more convenient forum and by deterring abductions and unilateral removals of children.
One state’s recognition of another state’s child custody order
The federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act requires states to enforce a custody order of another state, but only if the state entering the custody decree had home state jurisdiction. The jurisdictional standards are substantially similar to those in the UCCJEA.
Recognition of a child support order by another state
Under the Full Faith and Credit for Child Support Orders Act, full faith and credit must be given to another court’s child support order if the court had jurisdiction over the matter and the parties, and the parties had reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard. A state can also enforce another state’s child support order under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act even without personal jurisdiction over one of the parents.
Can one state modify another state’s child custody order?
Under the federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, a state may not modify a custody order if one of the parties continues to reside in the issuing state and, under that state’s laws, the court continues to have and does not decline jurisdiction. Under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, the federal law prevails over contrary state law. Under the Uniform Child Custody and Jurisdiction Enforcement Act, the court that made the initial custody determination has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over the matter until that court determines that: neither the child not the parents continue to reside in the state, or the child no longer has a significant connection with the state and substantial evidence relating to the child’s care, protection, training, and personal relationships is no longer available in the state.
