Vol. 3, No. 4, Pg. 36. The Uniform Child Jurisdiction Act.

• Author: By Robert Rosen

South Carolina Lawyer

1992.

Vol. 3, No. 4, Pg. 36.

The Uniform Child Jurisdiction Act

36The Uniform Child Jurisdiction ActBy Robert Rosen"Whatever might be said about the domestic relations bar in the United States, the fact is a lot of very bad situations have gradually been remedied. One of these is the contest over jurisdiction being won by running off with the child to another state."

There is a kind of layman's law notion that is pervasive in the legal community about divorce and custody cases. This law includes the idea that adultery has to be proven by a Sam Spade character kicking down the door and snapping a picture; it also includes an idea prevalent among members of the Bar that if a child can be grabbed by one of the parties and taken to another state, that state will have exclusive jurisdiction of the custody case.

That was, in fact, the situation for most of the 20th century. A litigant would decide to leave South Carolina, take a minor child to another state, bring suit for custody and that state would claim it had jurisdiction because of a child's mere physical presence within the state. Possession not only became nine-tenths of the law but also usually insured absolute victory. Thus there was a premium on kidnapping the child.

Whatever might be said about the domestic relations bar in the United States, the fact is a lot of very bad situations have gradually been remedied. One of these is the contest over jurisdiction being won by running off with the child to another state. Beginning in the1960s, the commissioners on uniform laws began drafting the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA or the Act), which was promulgated in 1968. The purpose of the Act was to prevent just this sort of forum shopping and disruption of a child's life at the commencement of a custody suit.

The philosophy of the Act is to require the parties to litigate custody in the state which has the most substantial contact with the child--usually the state where the child has been living in the six months prior to the filing of an action. The purpose of the Act, codified at S.C. Code Ann. Section 20-7-782 et seq., is set forth in Section 20-7-784, which stresses the avoidance of "jurisdictional competition and conflict with courts of other states," the deterrence of abductions and avoidance of relitigation of custody decisions.

In fact, the key provisions of the Act are Sections 20-7-786...