The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction & (and) Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) - A Metamorphosis of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA)
![handle is hein.journals/nordak75 and id is 315 raw text is: THE UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION &
ENFORCEMENT ACT (UCCJEA)-A METAMORPHOSIS OF THE
UNIFORM CHILD CUSTODY JURISDICTION ACT (UCCTA)
KEU.Y GAMES STON
We are a mobile society. Each day, many parents and their children
leave one state and move to another. This is especially true in North
Dakota, due to the presence of two military bases in our state. As
people's lives cross state lines, so too do their domestic relations. As a
result, multistate custody disputes are on the rise across the nation.
Multistate custody disputes occur when more than one state claims a
genuine interest in resolving a custody dispute in its own way. Such child
custody struggles often lead to heart-wrenching results both for the
children and the contestants involved.1 To deal with these increasingly
common and potentially painful cases, courts must often engage in
elaborate jurisdictional struggles.
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA)2 was created
to end the interstate custody jurisdictional tug-of-war between states.
However, the UCCJA has not been uniformly administered. States have
enacted various versions of the Act and have not applied it consistently.
Further, the Act is ambiguous regarding a number of issues, such as:
whether the forum state must have personal jurisdiction over both.
parents; what constitutes adequate notice to contestants; when a court has
jurisdiction to hear a custody dispute; when a court may modify another
state's custody order; and what types of custody proceedings it
governs. In addition, it is unclear whether the Act applies to recognition
of Indian tribal court custody orders.
As a result of these ambiguities, the Uniform Child Custody Juris-
diction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) was drafted. North Dakota
enacted the UCCJEA on March 30, 1999.3 The UCCJEA is intended to
* Clinical Instructor, Native American Law Project, UND Legal Aid Clinic; J.D., University of
Oklahoma, 1988. The author would like to thank the people of the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe for
allowing her to represent and work on behalf of the children of the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe.
1. O'Connell v. KIrchner, 513 U.S. 1138, 1138 (1995) (O'Connor, J., dissenting from denial of
stay). See also In re B.G.C., 496 N.W.2d 239,246 (Iowa 1992).
2. UNI. CQM CUSTODY JUnuSDICnoN Acr, 9 U.L.A. 115 (1988) [hereinafler UCCIA].
3. Recently, the North Dakota Legislature adopted the UCCJEA. See N.D. CENT. CODE §§
14-14.1-01 to -37 (1999), available at North Dakota Legislative Home Page (visited June 4, 1999)
<httpJllwww.state.nd.us/lr/>. This statute will become effective August 1, 1999. See N.D. CENT. CODE
§ 1-02-42 (Supp. 1997). Senate Bill 2152, the bill for an act to create chapter 14-14.1 of the North
Dakota Century Code. was introduced in the Senate on January 5. 1999; passed by the Senate on
January 14, 1999; amended and passed by the House on March 8. 1999; passed as amended by the
Senate on March 22. 1999; signed by the governor on March 30. 1999; and filed with the secretary of](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/nordak75&div=23&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most