Case Name: Galina Bolshakova McFAULL v. Roderick Michael McFAULL
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1990-05-10
Citations: 560 So. 2d 1013
Docket Number: No. 90-C-0785
Parties: Galina Bolshakova McFAULL v. Roderick Michael McFAULL.
Judges: Before SCHOTT, C.J., and BARRY and LOBRANO, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 560
Pages: 1013–1016

Head Matter:
Galina Bolshakova McFAULL v. Roderick Michael McFAULL.
No. 90-C-0785.
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.
May 10, 1990.
Joseph C. Bartels, Mark D. Kuss, New Orleans, for relator.
Evangeline G. Abriel, Catherine L. La-Fleur, New Orleans, for respondent.
Before SCHOTT, C.J., and BARRY and LOBRANO, JJ.

Opinion:
BARRY, Judge.
Mr. McFaull filed a petition for separation and custody under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act and requested temporary custody pending the hearing. He based jurisdiction under La.R.S. 13:1702(A)(4)(i) and (ii).
According to his writ application the petition for separation was filed when Mrs. McFaull left New Orleans with their child on April 5, 1990 without informing Mr. McFaull of her decision to return to the Soviet Union. On April 6, 1990 a curator was appointed to represent Mrs. McFaull and an ex parte order was issued which gave Mr. McFaull temporary custody of the child. Mr. McFaull utilized the court order to have the child removed from a Soviet airliner in New York. Mrs. McFaul, the minor, and a child from her previous marriage returned to New Orleans.
On April 10, 1990 Mrs. McFaull filed a motion to rescind the ex parte order for child custody. On April 17, 1990 a provisional custody hearing began, but the trial court recessed and asked for memoranda on the question of jurisdiction. Mrs. McFaull filed exceptions of lack of subject matter jurisdiction and forum non conve-niens under the UCCJA, and requested return of the child under the 1980 Hague Convention on the International Aspects of Child Abduction. After a hearing on April 23, 1990 the trial court decreed on April 25, 1990 that it had no jurisdiction to determine custody and vacated all prior orders.
That decision precipitated Mrs. McFaull's petition for habeas corpus filed April 26, 1990 and subsequently amended. Mr. McFaull filed exceptions of non-conformity with requirements, lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and insufficiency of service of process. Those exceptions were heard May 2, 1990 and the trial court dismissed the non-conformity exception, maintained the insufficiency of process exception, and reserved a ruling on subject matter jurisdiction. Service of process was made. On May 7, 1990 the trial court overruled Mr. McFaull's exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction as well as subsequently filed exceptions of lis pendens and vagueness. Mr. McFaull applied for writs to this Court. Although Mr. McFaull complains of the May 7, 1990 ruling, we feel that the April 25 ruling on jurisdiction which precipitated the last judgment must also be reviewed.
La.R.S. 13:1702 provides in pertinent part:
A. A court of this state which is competent to decide child custody matters has jurisdiction to make a child custody determination by initial or modification decree if:
(4)(i) It appears that no other state would have jurisdiction under prerequisites substantially in accordance with Paragraphs (1), (2), or (3), or another state has declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that this state is the more appropriate forum to determine the custody of the child, and (ii) it is in the best interest of the child that this court assume jurisdiction.
Although "state" is defined as any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia (La.R.S. 13:1701(10)), the general policies of the UCCJA (adopted by Louisiana) extend to the international area and recognition and enforcement of custody decrees are extended to other countries if there has been reasonable notice and the opportunity to be heard. La.R.S. 13:1722. We find that La. C.C.P. art. 10(A)(5) does not prohibit the exercise of jurisdiction.
We are satisfied "[i]t appears that no other state [or country] would have jurisdiction" pursuant to prerequisites in accord with the UCCJA (as adopted in Louisiana by La.R.S. 13:1702(A)(1), (2), or (3)), and it is in the best interest of the child for the trial court to assume jurisdiction. La.R.S. 13:1702(A)(4)© and (ii). The April 25, 1990 judgment is reversed. The father, mother, and child are physically within the trial court's jurisdiction. It is of paramount importance and certainly in the best interest of the child to have a court determine which parent will have custody subject to visitation. To decline jurisdiction would invite chaos.
Mrs. McFaull's petition for habeas corpus has been stayed by this Court. The habeas corpus places the child before the court for it to hear by what authority Mr. McFaull has custody. The request for custody in Mr. McFaull's separation petition does not preclude the determination of custody under the habeas corpus petition. According to the court's per curiam the judge's ruling on the vagueness exception was prompted by the court's opinion that the exception was a bad faith effort to delay the trial. The court clearly had subject matter jurisdiction for the habeas proceeding. We find no error in the trial court's judgment overruling the exceptions of lis pendens, vagueness, and subject matter jurisdiction.
Our stay order is vacated.
IT IS ORDERED that a hearing be held without delay to determine provisional custody or custody pendente lite (pursuant to La.C.C.P. Art. 3828) with visitation for the noncustodial parent. The trial court shall conduct a full custody hearing as soon as practically possible.
SCHOTT, C.J., concurs in result.