Family Court Properly Assumed Jurisdiction Over California Order

In affirming Family Court’s dismissal of mother’s petition for a modification of custody, the Third Department noted that Family Court properly assumed jurisdiction over a California custody order:

Family Court properly assumed jurisdiction over this proceeding.  As California no longer had exclusive continuing jurisdiction over this matter (see 28 USC § 1738A [d]), New York could assume jurisdiction for the purpose of modifying the California order so long as it “[was] the home state of the child on the date of the commencement of the proceeding, or was the home state of the child within six months before the commencement of the proceeding and the child is absent from this state but a parent . . . continues to live in this state” (Domestic Relations Law § 76 [1] [a]; see Domestic Relations Law § 76-b).  “Home state” is defined as “the state in which a child lived with a parent . . . for at least six consecutive months immediately before the commencement of a child custody proceeding” (Domestic Relations Law § 75-a [7]).   Matter of Clouse v Clouse, 514987, 3rd Dept 10-17-13