Did the Trial Court Have Jurisdiction to Make a Child Custody Determination?

A court’s decision is subject to review at any time if the court did not have jurisdiction to make the decision.  There are several technical rules that apply to determining whether a Florida court has jurisdiction to make a decision on an issue concerning a child.  With few exceptions, the Florida court cannot make a child custody determination unless Florida is considered the “home state” of the child.  The determination of whether Florida is the child’s “home state” is fairly technical.  Generally speaking, Florida is not the “home state” of a child unless the child lived in Florida with a parent or someone else acting as a parent during the six month period before a lawsuit was filed.

The bottom line is that if there is any question as to whether the trial court has jurisdiction to render a child custody decision an attorney should be consulted.  The question to whether there was jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act can be a difficult analysis, even for attorneys and judges who are well versed in family law issues.

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