Opinion ID: 1649440
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Purpose of the UCCJA

Text: The purpose of the UCCJA serves to limit the potential for multiple custody decrees in various states. As stated by this Court in Revere v. Revere, 389 So.2d 1277 (La.1980): The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Law was proposed in an effort to have states impose uniform legislative rules on themselves regarding jurisdiction in child custody cases. A custody decree in one state is subject to modification not only by the courts of that state, but also by the courts of another state, since the Full Faith and Credit clause has limited application in custody cases. New York ex rel. Halvey v. Halvey, 330 U.S. 610, 67 S.Ct. 903, 91 L.Ed. 1133 (1947). In an age of fluid population trends many cases are presented in which jurisdiction may be concurrent in several states. In order to provide some stability to reasoned custody decrees by discouraging relitigation, to deter custody determinations by physical abduction, to avoid jurisdictional competition and conflicting custody decrees in several states, and primarily to attain the security of home environment necessary for a child's well being, the National Conference of Commissioners proposed the uniform law adopted in Louisiana by Act 513 of 1978. Id. at 1278-79. In adhering to the purpose of the UCCJA, some of our lower courts have reasoned that the jurisdictional rules of § 13:1702(A) are listed in the statute in descending preferential order. Renno, 580 So.2d at 948; Snider v. Snider, 474 So.2d 1374 (La.App. 2d Cir.1985). While this Court stated that deference should be given to the home state in general as the state in the best position for evidence gathering and for exercising continuity of control, we have recognized that concurrent jurisdiction under two or more statutory standards for jurisdiction can exist in different states without requiring deference between them. Revere, 389 So.2d at 1279-80. Equally clear, however, is that § 13:1702(A) serves to limit jurisdiction rather than proliferate it. See La.Rev. Stat. 13:1700(A); Broadway v. Broadway, 623 So.2d 185 (La.App. 2 Cir.1993). When two states can legitimately claim a basis to assert jurisdiction under § 13:1702(A), the law requires a comparative determination regarding which jurisdiction will serve the best interests of the child. See, e.g., La Rev. Stat. § 13:1700(A)(2) (listing purpose to decide custody by state which can best decide the case in the interest of the child); La.Rev.Stat. § 13:1706(C) (providing that determination of inconvenient forum requires consideration whether it is in the interest of the child that another state assume jurisdiction); La.Rev.Stat. § 13:1707(B) (allowing a court to decline jurisdiction based on improper conduct if just and proper under the circumstances).