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MOTHER, WHO NOW RESIDES IN NEW YORK, MOVED TO MODIFY A TEXAS CUSTODY ORDER; BECAUSE TEXAS DID NOT CEDE JURISDICTION AND FATHER RESIDES IN TEXAS, FAMILY COURT DID NOT HAVE JURISDICTION; ALTHOUGH FAMILY COURT COULD HAVE EXERCISED TEMPORARY EMERGENCY JURISDICTION AND COMMUNICATED WITH THE TEXAS COURT, IT DID NOT (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Family Court, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Gesmer, determined the judge did not have jurisdiction to grant mother’s petition to modify custody. The original custody order was issued in Texas, where father resides. Mother and child, with the permission of the Texas court, now reside in New York:

This case presents the difficult situation faced by a judge addressing a petition by a party who seeks to modify a custody order issued by a court of another state. Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act [UCCJEA] (Domestic Relations Law Art. 5-A, §§ 75 — 78-a), even where New York has become the child’s “[h]ome state” (Domestic Relations Law §75-a[7]), a New York judge does not have jurisdiction to modify a custody order issued by a foreign state unless either: 1) the foreign state cedes jurisdiction; or 2) neither the parents nor the child continue to reside in the foreign state (Domestic Relations Law § 76-b). Since neither of these situations was present in this case, Family Court had no jurisdiction to modify the custody order before it. Alternatively, if the New York judge determines that it is necessary to protect a child, sibling or parent, the court may take temporary emergency jurisdiction, communicate with the foreign court, and issue a time-limited order as necessary to protect the child and t0 permit the party seeking a modification to request it in the foreign court (Domestic Relations Law § 76-c). Here, since Family Court failed to communicate with the foreign court and failed to specify a time-limited duration for its order, it also did not appropriately take emergency jurisdiction. * * *

… [H]ad Family Court recognized that Texas had exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over its custody order that the mother sought to modify, it could have contacted the Texas court in order to determine whether the Texas court would relinquish jurisdiction, thus permitting Family Court to exercise jurisdiction to modify the Texas custody order pursuant to Domestic Relations Law § 76-b. If the Texas court did not agree to relinquish jurisdiction, Family Court could then determine whether it should take emergency jurisdiction and issue a time-limited order pursuant to Domestic Relations Law § 76-c. Matter of Natalie P. v Steven L.R., 2026 NY Slip Op 02458, First Dept 4-23-26

Practice Point: A New York court does not have jurisdiction to modify an out-of-state custody order unless the foreign state cedes jurisdiction or no party continues to reside in the foreign state.

 

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