Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act - Exclusive, Continuing Jurisdiction

Exclusive, Continuing Jurisdiction

Once a state court has made a custody determination, that state keeps jurisdiction over all matters concerning that child, unless:

1. A court of the state with jurisdiction determines that the child or the child and a parent do not have a significant connection with the state, AND evidence concerning the child's custody determination is not available in the state;

2. A court of the state with jurisdiction, or any other state, determines that the child and both parents or acting parents do not reside in the state any longer.

For an example of #1, the parents divorce in Texas, and mother and children move to Mississippi. The father continues to live in Texas and the children maintain a significant connection to Texas by visiting Texas often and spending their summers there. Three years later father files suit in Texas to modify custody. The mother attempts to transfer jurisidiction to Mississippi. Texas should not relinquish jurisdiction to Mississippi. This interpretation of the statute has been affirmed by the Texas Supreme Court in the case In Re Forlenza 140 S.W.3d 373, 379 (Tex. 2004).

For an example of #2, parents divorce in Texas, mother and children move to Mississippi, Father moves to California. Because the children and both parents no longer live in Texas, the courts of Texas will have lost their exclusive, continuing jurisdiction to modify their own custody orders. For most practical purposes, that means that jurisdiction to modify those orders will most likely not be in Texas, but, rather, in the state where the children and at least one parent have taken up residence (here, Mississippi).