I received a call today from a potential client in Illinois whose partner/spouse left the State of Illinois and set up life with the minor children in another state. As I look back on decades of my Family Law career, I have had a number of similar cases. Sometimes, when a marriage falls apart, a spouse takes the children out of state and goes “home” to where he or she grew up and has family locally. In this situation, sometimes the spouses will file a divorce case is two different states. How does the law handle and reconcile the fact that parents have filed in two states? This is where the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) comes in: it is a nationally (except for Massachusetts) adopted statute that provides a uniform process for Courts to determine where the case should proceed.
- Uniformity: Before the UCCJEA, each state in the US had its own laws regarding child custody jurisdiction. This lack of uniformity often led to conflicting custody orders and forum shopping, where parents would try to file for custody in a state they believed would rule in their favor. The UCCJEA provides consistent rules for determining which state has jurisdiction over child custody matters, promoting fairness and predictability in custody disputes across state lines.
- Child Protection: The primary goal of the UCCJEA is to protect the best interests of the child. By establishing jurisdictional rules based on the child’s home state and prioritizing continuity and stability in custody arrangements, the UCCJEA aims to minimize the disruption and trauma that can result from custody battles.
- Enforcement: The UCCJEA includes provisions for enforcing custody orders across state lines. This ensures that custody orders issued in one state are recognized and enforced in other states, preventing parents from circumventing custody arrangements by moving to a different state.
- International Application: While the UCCJEA primarily deals with interstate custody disputes within the US, it also provides a framework for handling international custody cases under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This helps resolve disputes involving children who are taken across international borders by one parent without the other parent’s consent.
Overall, the UCCJEA plays a crucial role in promoting consistency, fairness, and the best interests of children in custody disputes involving multiple states or countries.