Opinion ID: 1649440
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Personal Jurisdiction over Child Custody

Text: Dr. Bakhaty contends that the trial court never obtained personal jurisdiction over him because he was never served personally with any documents and personal jurisdiction had never been waived. Dr. Bakhaty further argues that the trial court erred in finding his filing of a civil warrant creates minimum contact sufficient for personal jurisdiction. A Louisiana court may adjudicate custody under the UCCJA without acquiring personal jurisdiction over an absent party. Once the subject matter jurisdiction of the Louisiana Court has been established, the resulting custody decree is binding if the absent party has been given notice and an opportunity to be heard. See La.Rev.Stat. § 13:1704. [20] Based on the actions that Dr. Bakhaty performed to initiate and defend this custody suit, the Court is satisfied that Dr. Bakhaty received adequate notice of the pending custody proceedings. Further, notice is not required in a custody dispute when a party submits to the jurisdiction of the court. See La.Rev.Stat. § 13:1704(D). For the reasons discussed in Section II, infra, involving personal jurisdiction to determine child support, we find that Dr. Bakhaty submitted to the court when he filed his Petition for Civil Warrant, and thus, notice was not required. For the same reasons, we find Dr. Bakhaty's argument regarding insufficient service of process to be without merit.