Opinion ID: 1871970
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: is nebraska precluded from exercising jurisdiction?

Text: In her third assignment of error, Becky assigns that pursuant to § 43-1206(1), Verlyn's pending appeal in the Kansas Supreme Court precluded Nebraska courts from exercising jurisdiction over this custody matter. The record indicates that on December 5, 2003, the Kansas Court of Appeals issued its opinion finding that the Kansas district court lacked jurisdiction. On December 11, Verlyn filed his petition for modification in Platte County District Court. Thereafter, on or about December 24, Verlyn filed a petition for review of the Kansas Court of Appeals' decision with the Kansas Supreme Court. That petition was denied by the Kansas Supreme Court on February 10, 2004. Becky argues that given these undisputed filing dates, at the time Verlyn filed his petition for modification in Nebraska, the time period for filing an appeal from the Kansas Court of Appeals' decision had not expired, as evidenced by Verlyn's December 24, 2003, filing in the Kansas Supreme Court. From this, Becky contends that § 43-1206(1) precluded the Platte County District Court from exercising its jurisdiction because the custody issue had not reached a final determination in Kansas. The matter was therefore pending in Kansas when Verlyn filed his petition for modification in Nebraska. We do not believe § 43-1206(1) supports Becky's argument. The plain language of § 43-1206(1) provides that [a] court of this state shall not exercise its jurisdiction under [the NCCJA] if, at the time of filing the petition, a proceeding concerning the custody of the child was pending in a court of another state exercising jurisdiction substantially in conformity with [the NCCJA].  (Emphasis supplied.) The undisputed record demonstrates that Kansas was not exercising jurisdiction substantially in conformity with the NCCJA at the time Verlyn filed his petition in the Platte County District Court. To the contrary, the decision of the Kansas Court of Appeals, specifically determining that Kansas did not have jurisdiction over this custody proceeding, had been rendered 6 days prior to Verlyn's filing in Nebraska. Assuming without deciding that a proceeding. . . was pending in Kansas on the date Verlyn filed his petition for modification in Nebraska, it is undisputed that Kansas had no jurisdiction to exercise under the NCCJA. As such, § 43-1206(1) does not preclude the Platte County District Court's exercise of jurisdiction. See, also, Swire v. Swire, 202 N.J.Super. 289, 494 A.2d 1035 (1985) (New Jersey courts could exercise jurisdiction despite mother's pending New York appeal, as New York lacked jurisdiction at time it entered its order). Becky's third assignment of error is without merit.