The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act: Part Ii

• Publication year: 2000
• Pages: 81
• Citation: Vol. 29 No. 10 Pg. 81

29 Colo.Law. 81 Colorado Lawyer 2000.

2000, October, Pg. 81. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act: Part II

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81

Vol. 29, No. 10, Pg. 81

The Colorado Lawyer
October 2000
Vol. 29, No. 10 [Page 81]

Specialty Law Columns
Family Law Newsletter
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act: Part II
by Angela R. Arkin

As discussed in Part I of this article, which appeared in the September 2000 issue,1 the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws ("NCCUSL") drafted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act ("UCCJEA" or "the Act") to bring the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act ("UCCJA")2 into compliance with the Parental Kidnaping Prevention Act ("PKPA"),3 and to simplify procedures for enforcement of interstate parenting time orders. The UCCJEA was introduced in Colorado in 2000.4

The Colorado version of the UCCJEA, House Bill 1262, is effective for all "causes of action" filed on or after July 1, 2000.5 The passage of the UCCJEA in Colorado is intended to improve the lives of Colorado parents with out-of-state children and the lives of Colorado children with out-of-state parents

Part I of this article provided an overview of the history of and significant changes to the UCCJEA, described Part 1 of the Act, and briefly discussed Part 4 of the Act. This article covers the establishment, enforcement, and modification of rules in interstate custody cases, as contained in Parts 2 and 3 of the UCCJEA

UCCJEA?Part 2

Jurisdiction

The drafters of the UCCJEA wanted to remove any possibility of two states separately deciding that each had jurisdiction over a child and subsequently issuing independent parental responsibility orders. The UCCJEA initially grants the home state sole power to exercise or defer jurisdiction in interstate "child custody determinations." If the child?s home state did not make the determination of jurisdiction initially, the UCCJEA disallows enforcement of the resulting order under UCCJEA?Part 3. Note that UCCJEA §§ 201 through 204 define jurisdiction substantially differently than the jurisdictional sections of the UCCJA and PKPA

UCCJEA § 201, entitled "Initial Child-Custody Jurisdiction," sets forth three bases for Colorado jurisdiction in an initial "child custody proceeding": (1) Colorado is the child?s home state; (2) there is no home state, or the home state has declined to exercise jurisdiction, and the child has a significant connection with Colorado and substantial information is available about the child in Colorado; or (3) all other states with jurisdiction have declined to exercise it in favor of Colorado.6 The "home state" specifically is designated as the priority basis for jurisdiction. The home state has the exclusive right to choose whether or not to exercise jurisdiction before any other state can exercise jurisdiction. Bases for jurisdiction other than home state can be used only after initial action by the home state declining jurisdiction, or if the child has no home state, as defined under the Act.

UCCJEA § 202 sets forth the continuing jurisdiction of Colorado as the issuing state, if the initial order was entered properly under the Act or under PKPA. If the order was entered appropriately initially, jurisdiction continues in Colorado unless

(a) A court of this state determines that the child, the child?s parents, and any person acting as a parent do not have a significant connection with this
state and that substantial evidence is no longer available in this state concerning the child?s care, protection, training, and personal relationships; or

(b) A court of this state or a court of another state determines that the child, the child?s parents, and any person acting as a parent do not presently
reside in this state.7

A clear difference exists between jurisdiction in an initial child custody proceeding, governed under UCCJEA § 201, and jurisdiction in a modification proceeding under UCCJEA § 203 In a Colorado modification proceeding, if Colorado did not issue the initial order, the other "issuing state" first must determine whether or not it has, or chooses to...