Court Opinion

ID: 9771775
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 16:53:00.359186+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:36.058030
License: Public Domain

PREWITT, Presiding Judge,
concurring.
I concur fully with the majority opinion. I write only to state that I do not agree with the cases cited there saying that authority under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act to hear a particular dispute relates to jurisdiction of the subject matter.
Subject matter jurisdiction does not turn upon a specific case. It is authority to determine the general question involved; if a petition states a case belonging to a general class over which the authority of the court extends, that court has “subject matter jurisdiction”. In re Marriage of Neal, 699 S.W.2d 92, 94 (Mo.App.1985). See also In re Marriage of Panich, 672 S.W.2d 718, 720 (Mo.App.1984) (questioning whether an agreement that a court determine a dispute under the UCCJA is conferring subject matter jurisdiction).