LD 432
pg. 27
Page 26 of 63 An Act to Adopt the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act ... Page 28 of 63
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LR 316
Item 1

 
settled on the phrase that "a court of this State or a court of
another State determines that the child, the child's parents, and
any person acting as a parent do not presently reside in this
State" to determine when the exclusive, continuing jurisdiction of
a State ended. The phrase is meant to be identical in meaning to
the language of the PKPA which provides that full faith and credit
is to be given to custody determinations made by a State in the
exercise of its continuing jurisdiction when that "State remains
the residence of ... ." The phrase is also the equivalent of the
language "continues to reside" which occurs in UIFSA § 205(a)(1) to
determine the exclusive, continuing jurisdiction of the State that
made a support order. The phrase "remains the residence of" in the
PKPA has been the subject of conflicting case law. It is the
intention of this Act that paragraph (a)(2) [Me. cite subsection 1,
paragraph 3] of this section means that the named persons no longer
continue to actually live within the State. Thus, unless a
modification proceeding has been commenced, when the child, the
parents, and all persons acting as parents physically leave the
State to live elsewhere, the exclusive, continuing jurisdiction
ceases.

 
The phrase "do not presently reside" is not used in the sense
of a technical domicile. The fact that the original
determination State still considers one parent a domiciliary does
not prevent it from losing exclusive, continuing jurisdiction
after the child, the parents, and all persons acting as parents
have moved from the State.

 
If the child, the parents, and all persons acting as parents
have all left the State which made the custody determination
prior to the commencement of the modification proceeding,
considerations of waste of resources dictate that a court in
State B, as well as a court in State A, can decide that State A
has lost exclusive, continuing jurisdiction.

 
The continuing jurisdiction provisions of this section are
narrower than the comparable provisions of the PKPA. That
statute authorizes continuing jurisdiction so long as any
"contestant" remains in the original decree State and that State
continues to have jurisdiction under its own law. This Act
eliminates the contestant classification. The Conference decided
that a remaining grandparent or other third party who claims a
right to visitation, should not suffice to confer exclusive,
continuing jurisdiction on the State that made the original
custody determination after the departure of the child, the
parents and any person acting as a parent. The significant
connection to the original decree State must relate to the child,
the child and a parent, or the child and a person acting as a
parent. This revision does not present a conflict with the PKPA.
The PKPA's reference in § 1738(d) to §
1738(c)(1)


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