Opinion ID: 6353695
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: In the original proceeding addressing C.N.’s complaint for custody, the trial court based its jurisdiction on D.C.Code § 11-1101(4) (2001), providing, in pertinent part, that the Family Court “has exclusive jurisdiction of actions seeking custody of minor children.” The basis for the court’s decision to award custody to the maternal aunt was set out by the trial court in a carefully written twenty-page order dated March 7, 2005, in which the court took into account a number of factors that must be considered in making a child custody decision in the context of a divorce proceeding, which the court appears to have viewed as analogous. See D.C.Code § 16-914(a)(3) (2001). We have previously held, however, that D.C.Code §§ 11-1101(4) and 16-914(a)(3) “contemplate an award of custody only as between parents who are parties to [a] divorce proceeding.” T.S. v. M.C.S., 747 A.2d 159, 163 (D.C.2000). See also W.D. v.C.S.M., 906 A.2d 317, 318 (D.C.2006) (“[T]he trial court exceeded its authority in awarding permanent custody of [a] child to unrelated third parties in [a] domestic relations case.”) 1 Accordingly, when the trial court issued its March 7, 2005, order, there was no statutory provision in effect that gave it jurisdiction to hear C.N.’s complaint for custody. In response to what the Council of the District of Columbia viewed as the “substantial uncertainty” created by W.D. v.C.S.M. about whether “persons other than parents [could] seek custody of a child when in the child’s best interest,” 2 the Council enacted the Safe and Stable Homes for Children and Youth Amendment Act of 2007, which became effective on September 20, 2007: See D.C.Code §§ 16-831.01-.13 (2008 Supp.). This Act established a “rebuttable presumption ... that custody with the parent is in the child’s best interests.” Id. § 16-831.05(a). Nonetheless, it also gave standing to file a custody action to a third party “with whom a child has established a strong emotional tie” and “who has assumed parental responsibilities.” Council Report at 4. 3 It chose the “best interest of the child” standard for determining whether custody to a third party should be awarded. See D.C.Code § 16-831.05, -831.08 (2008 Supp.). The Act did not, however, include language addressing the question of whether this law should be applied retroactively, and we conclude that we need not address that issue either, particularly since we recognize that there is some tension in our case law regarding retroactive application of statutes by an appellate court. 4 At oral argument, both sides agreed that given the lapse of time and the absence of a record informing us of whether the requirements of the D.C.Code § 16-831.02(a)(l)(2008 Supp.) have been met, we cannot know if A.R. should remain in C.N.’s custody. Accordingly, we must remand this matter for a hearing conducted pursuant to the new statute at which the trial court can determine whether the prerequisites of the statute have been satisfied and whether continued custody with C.N. 'remains in A.R.’s best interest.