FAMILY COURT DID NOT FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE SET OUT IN THE UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT (UCCJEA) BEFORE DETERMINING IT DID NOT HAVE JURISDICTION OVER FATHER’S CUSTODY PROCEEDING, MOTHER HAD BROUGHT A CUSTODY PROCEEDING IN PENNSYLVANIA, MATTER REMITTED (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department, reversing Family Court, determined Family Court did not follow the procedures required by the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) before determining it did not have jurisdiction over the custody proceeding. Family Court had jurisdiction over father’s custody proceeding when it was commenced, and Pennsylvania had jurisdiction over the wife’s custody proceeding when she commenced it there:
Family Court erred in declining to exercise jurisdiction and dismissing the proceeding without following the procedures required by the UCCJEA … . The court, after determining that another child custody proceeding had been commenced in Pennsylvania, properly communicated with the Pennsylvania court … . The court erred, however, in failing either to allow the parties to participate in the communication … , or to give the parties “the opportunity to present facts and legal arguments before a decision on jurisdiction [was] made” … . The court also violated the requirements of the UCCJEA when it failed to create a record of its communication with the Pennsylvania court … . The summary and explanation of the court’s determination following the telephone conference with the Pennsylvania court did not comply with the statutory mandate to make a record of the communication between courts.
We also agree with the father that there are insufficient facts in the record to make a determination, based upon the eight factors set forth in the statute … , regarding which state is the more convenient forum to resolve the issue of custody. “Because Family Court did not articulate its consideration of each of the factors relevant to the . . . petition . . . and we are unable to glean the necessary information from the record, the court’s [implicit] finding that New York was an inconvenient forum to resolve the [custody] petition is not supported by a sound and substantial basis in the record” … . Matter of Beyer v Hofmann, 2018 NY Slip Op 03259, Fourth Dept 5-4-18
FAMILY LAW (UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT (UCCJEA), FAMILY COURT DID NOT FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE SET OUT IN THE UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT (UCCJEA) BEFORE DETERMINING IT DID NOT HAVE JURISDICTION OVER FATHER’S CUSTODY PROCEEDING, MOTHER HAD BROUGHT A CUSTODY PROCEEDING IN PENNSYLVANIA, MATTER REMITTED (FOURTH DEPT))/UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT (UCCJEA) (FAMILY COURT DID NOT FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE SET OUT IN THE UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT (UCCJEA) BEFORE DETERMINING IT DID NOT HAVE JURISDICTION OVER FATHER’S CUSTODY PROCEEDING, MOTHER HAD BROUGHT A CUSTODY PROCEEDING IN PENNSYLVANIA, MATTER REMITTED (FOURTH DEPT))/CUSTODY (FAMILY LAW, UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT (UCCJEA), FAMILY COURT DID NOT FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE SET OUT IN THE UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT (UCCJEA) BEFORE DETERMINING IT DID NOT HAVE JURISDICTION OVER FATHER’S CUSTODY PROCEEDING, MOTHER HAD BROUGHT A CUSTODY PROCEEDING IN PENNSYLVANIA, MATTER REMITTED (FOURTH DEPT))/JURISDICTION (FAMILY LAW, UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT (UCCJEA), FAMILY COURT DID NOT FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE SET OUT IN THE UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT (UCCJEA) BEFORE DETERMINING IT DID NOT HAVE JURISDICTION OVER FATHER’S CUSTODY PROCEEDING, MOTHER HAD BROUGHT A CUSTODY PROCEEDING IN PENNSYLVANIA, MATTER REMITTED (FOURTH DEPT))