Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...is subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse." § 61.517(1), Fla. Stat. (2005); N.D. Cent.Code § 14-14.1-15. Section 61.517(4) further provides, in pertinent part: A court of this state which is exercising jurisdiction under §§ 61.514-61.516, upon being informed that a child custody proceeding has been commenced in, or a child custody determination has been made by, a court of another state under a statute similar to this section shall immediately communicate with the court of tha...

...Code §§ 14-14.1-01 to -37 (2005). All provisions pertinent to this case are similarly, if not identically, worded. [2] In her brief, the former wife also argues that North Dakota had jurisdiction to modify Florida's initial custody determination under the UCCJEA. See § 61.516, Fla....

...Cent.Code § 14-14.1-14. Although the North Dakota court did not have jurisdiction to modify the existing visitation arrangement outside of a temporary emergency situation, this was an error on the part of the North Dakota court and need not be considered here. See § 61.516, Fla....

...further proceedings. The trial court had jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA). Both parents and their children moved to Florida after the New York decree issued and continue to reside in Florida. See § 61.516, Fla....

...be addressed to the court which rendered the original decree even if a second state has become the `home state' of a child," Staats v. McKinnon, 924 So.2d 82, 85 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006) (quoting Lamon v. Rewis, 592 So.2d 1223, 1225 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992), the UCCJEA, codified at section 61.516, Florida Statutes (2005), provides that a Florida court has jurisdiction to modify a foreign custody judgment where "[a] court of this state or a court of the other state determines that the child [and] the child's parents . . . do not presently reside in the other state." § 61.516(2), Fla. Stat. (2005)) (emphasis supplied). See also Morales v. Salazar, 833 So.2d 226, 228 n. 3 (Fla. 5th DCA 2002) (noting change in modification jurisdiction standard upon adoption of section 61.516, effective October 1, 2002)....

...ification judgment as void for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. He alleged that under the UCCJEA, North Carolina was the home state of the child and jurisdiction remained with the North Carolina court. The mother is a resident of North Carolina. Section 61.516, Fla. Stat. provides: 61.516....

...61.520; or (2) A court of this state or a court of the other state determines that the child, the child's parents, and any person acting as a parent do not presently reside in the other state. North Carolina has not determined that it no longer has jurisdiction, and accordingly section 61.516(1) does not apply. And, because the mother resides in North Carolina, section 61.516(2) is not applicable. Although section 61.516 also authorizes modification if Florida has initial jurisdiction under section 61.514(1)(a) or (b), they are not applicable either....

...Analysis The Florida circuit courts are vested with subject matter jurisdiction to hear child custody matters when the requirements of section 61.514, Florida Statutes (2011), are present. Under section 61.514(l)(a), a circuit court has jurisdiction if this state is the child’s home state. Under section 61.516, a court of this state has jurisdiction to modify another state’s determination if 1) the court would have jurisdiction to make an initial determination under section 61.514; and 2) the court of the other state no longer has jurisdic...

...e of Florida and no prior court action involving the minor child(ren) has addressed a putative father's rights to time-sharing or other parental rights. See sections 742.031 and 744.301, Florida Statutes. d. ____ Pursuant to the UCCJEA, specifically section 61.516, Florida Statutes, this Court has jurisdiction to modify a custody decree of another state and has consulted with the Court which took initial jurisdiction over the minor child(ren) to determine this authority....

...When the former wife decided to move to Chicago, Illinois, with the children and her husband, the former husband sought emergency relief denying the relocation. The trial court concluded that it did not have the authority to modify the Georgia judgment. On the contrary, the court did have such authority pursuant to section 61.516(2), Florida Statutes (2007), of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act....

...The Tennessee court's decision was apparently influenced by the portion of the UCCJEA pertaining to the court's jurisdiction to modify a custody determination, based on its conclusion that the child and its parents no longer resided in Florida, see section 61.516, Florida Statutes; section 36-6-216, Tennessee Code Annotated, and that Tennessee had become the child's home state because of the child's residence there for more than six months preceding the commencement of the proceeding....

...te because a court of this state is a more convenient forum under s. 61.520. (Emphasis added.) See also Tenn.Code Ann. § 36-6-221(a). Because the Tennessee court exercised its jurisdiction in a modification of custody proceeding brought pursuant to section 61.516, Florida Statutes (section 36-6-216, Tennessee Code Annotated), it apparently overlooked the provisions of section 61.519(1), and section 36-6-221(a) of the Tennessee Code, explicitly precluding it from assuming such authority in that...

...See § 61.542, Fla. Stat. (2002). [2] During the pendency of the New York litigation, Morales and the child moved to Florida, while Salazar continued to reside in New York. [3] Section 61.133 was repealed effective October 1, 2002, and replaced with section 61.516, Florida Statutes, which provides that a court of this state may not modify a child custody determination made by another state unless the court of this state has jurisdiction to make an initial custody determination and that court of...

...le to the process for domestication of a foreign judgment does not, however, prevent a party from being able to make a “home state” challenge in an appropriate context, such as a subsequent request for a modification of a domesticated order. See § 61.516, Fla....

...te of Florida and no prior court action involving the minor child(ren) has addressed a putative father's rights to time-sharing or other parental rights. See sections 742.031 and 744.301, Florida Statutes. d. ___ Pursuant to the UCCJEA, specifically section 61.516, Florida Statutes, this Court has jurisdiction to modify a custody decree of another state and has consulted with the Court which took initial jurisdiction over the minor child(ren) to determine this authority....

...hild Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), codified in chapter 61 of the Florida *109 Statutes. See ch. 2002-65, § 5, at 852-69, Laws of Fla. Because Mr. London sought to modify a foreign court's custody determination, we first look to section 61.516, Florida Statutes (2007), to determine the Florida court's jurisdiction. 61.516....

...61.515 or that a court of this state would be a more convenient forum under s. 61.520; or (2) A court of this state or a court of the other state determines that the child, the child's parents, and any person acting as a parent do not presently reside in the other state. The facts of this case satisfy all of section 61.516's jurisdictional requirements. Section 61.516's first requirement for jurisdiction is that "a court of this state has jurisdiction to make an initial determination under s....

...in Florida for at least six months prior to the commencement of the Florida proceedings, Florida was the child's home state at the time the Florida proceedings commenced. See § 61.503(7). Therefore, section 61.514(1)(a) is satisfied. Additionally, section 61.516(2) is satisfied because the French court previously found that the child and both parents moved their permanent residences from Saint Martin to Florida. Thus, we conclude that the Florida trial court possesses jurisdiction over the matter pursuant to section 61.516. However, our analysis does not end here. Section 61.516 must be read in pari materia with section 61.519, which applies due to the simultaneous proceedings in French Saint Martin....

...t of another state' if factors that would have given a Florida court jurisdiction to make an initial determination (under section 61.514(1)(a) or (b)) are present." Ogilvie v. Ogilvie, 954 So.2d 698, 699 (Fla. 1st DCA 2007) (emphasis added) (quoting § 61.516, Fla....

...61.515(1)(b) appears to be a typographical error because the same provision in the uniform act and in other states uses the word “parents,” not parent. See, e.g., Unif. Ch. Custody Jurisd. & Enf’t Act § 202 (2022); 750 Ill. Comp. Stat. 36/202 (2022). In addition, section 61.516 allows a Florida court to modify the custody determination of a court of another state if it determines that “the child, the child's parents, and any person acting as a parent do not presently reside in the other state.” § 61.516, Fla. Stat. (2022). Construing subsection (1)(b) literally would create irreconcilable conflict between that subsection and subsection (1)(a) and section 61.516, would undermine the purposes of the UCCJEA, and would lead to the absurd result of establishing different standards for the courts in different states to determine which court has jurisdiction. For example, if section 61.515(1)(b) app...

...We need not reach the notice issue raised by Ms. Kessinger’s appeal. B.L. THOMAS, C.J., and OSTERHAUS and BILBREY, JJ., CONCUR. 1 The record also does not support the exercise of jurisdiction for other statutory reasons. See § 61.514(1), Fla. Stat.; § 61.516, Fla....

...§ 88.6011, Fla. Stat. 3  But while UCCJEA and UIFSA broadly allow Florida courts to register and enforce foreign custody and support orders, Florida courts may modify foreign orders only in limited circumstances. Section 61.516 of UCCJEA provides for when a Florida court may modify a foreign court’s custody order....

...Stat. There are two exceptions to this prohibition: when “the proceeding has been terminated” and when the proceeding “is stayed by the court of the other state because a court of this state is a more convenient forum under s. 61.520.” Id.; cf. § 61.516, Fla....

...court action involving the minor child(ren) has addressed a putative father’s rights to time-sharing or other parental rights. See sections 742.031 and 744.301, Florida Statutes. d. ____ Pursuant to the UCCJEA, specifically section 61.516, Florida Statutes, this Court has jurisdiction to modify a custody decree of another state and has consulted with the Court which took initial jurisdiction over the minor child(ren) to determine this authority. e....

...errors the trial court may have committed, we cannot address the parents’ claims because the court had no authority to modify the order. As such, we cannot say that the court erred in dismissing the parents’ petition. 7  Section 61.516, Florida Statutes, reads as follows: Except as otherwise provided in s....

...61.520; or (2) A court of this state or a court of the other state determines that the child, the child’s parents, and any person acting as a parent do not presently reside in the other state. A “child custody determination,” for the purpose of section 61.516, is defined in section 61.503(3), Florida Statutes, as follows: “Child custody determination” means a judgment, decree, or other order of a court providing for the legal custody, physical custody, residential care, or visitation with respect to a child....

...The term includes a permanent, temporary, initial, and modification order. . . . Because they provide for visitation with respect to a child, the Kentucky orders granting the Grandmother visitation constitute a “child custody determination” under section 61.516, which a court of this state may not modify without a statutory exception applying....

...rded a child-custody determination by a court.” § 61.503(13)(b), Fla. Stat. Because the Kentucky order granting the Grandmother visitation constitutes a “child custody determination,” the Grandmother is a “person acting as a parent” under section 61.516(2). And because the Grandmother lives in Kentucky, the subsection (2) exception does not apply. Because no exception to section 61.516’s preclusion of modification exists, the Florida trial court here had no authority to grant the parents relief under their current petition in any event. 3 We in turn also reject the trial court’s conclusion to the contrary in its “Order on Motion for Exclusive Jurisdiction.” That order indicated that “there is no person ‘acting as a parent’ in Kentucky as per Chapter 61.516(2) Fl....

...Grandmother is a person “acting as a parent,” as section 61.503(13) defines that term. We note that, despite this error, the Order only grants Florida courts the right to enforce the Kentucky order, not to modify it (or in this case, to rescind it). 4 In short, under section 61.516, the court was prohibited from modifying the Kentucky visitation order....

...4 We further note that the court’s statement in the Amended Final Judgment of Dissolution that it had authority to modify the grandparent visitation rights if the parents requested modification, was also inaccurate, as it likewise conflicts with section 61.516. 9 TANENBAUM, J., concurs; ROBERTS, J., dissents without opinion. _____________________________ Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla....

...Both parties filed memoranda on jurisdiction. In open court with all counsel present, the trial court communicated by telephone with the Georgia trial judge who presided over the custody case. Subsequently, the trial court issued an order declining to exercise modification jurisdiction under section 61.516, Florida Statutes (2005)....

...ch communication was held in open Court, with all counsel present, and this Court being otherwise fully advised in the premises, IT IS ORDERED that this Court hereby declines, at this time, to exercise modification jurisdiction under Florida Statute § 61.516; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the parties may file appropriate motions with the Georgia Superior Court requesting the Georgia Court to modify the Final Judgment or, alternatively, requesting the Georgia Court to determine whether Florida or s...

...te of Florida and no prior court action involving the minor child(ren) has addressed a putative father's rights to time-sharing or other parental rights. See sections 742.031 and 744.301, Florida Statutes. d. ___ Pursuant to the UCCJEA, specifically section 61.516, Florida Statutes, this Court has jurisdiction to modify a custody decree of another state and has consulted with the Court which took initial jurisdiction over the minor child(ren) to determine this authority....

...Under these facts, Panama had jurisdiction, and the Florida court could not invoke jurisdiction of the matter unless the Panamanian court determined that it no longer had continuing jurisdiction of the matter or that Florida would be a more convenient forum. See § 61.516(1), Fla....