Court Opinion

ID: 9544382
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:55:10.915525+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:12:54.290725
License: Public Domain

SCOTT, Justice
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. The majority acknowledges “California’s clear jurisdictional *63entitlement in this matter,” but yet, it orders further proceedings in a Minnesota court, thereby undermining the purpose and intent of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA), Minn.Stat. §§ 518A.01-.25 (1978 & Supp.1979).
As the majority concludes, under the UCCJA it is apparent that California has retained jurisdiction over the matter at hand. See Minn.Stat. § 518A.14 (1978). Consequently, pursuant to this legislation, any modification of the subject custody order should be pursued within the California judicial system. A contrary result is inconsistent with the UCCJA’s stated purpose of avoiding “jurisdictional competition and conflict[s] with courts of other states in matters of child custody * * *.” Minn. Stat. § 518.01(a) (1978).
The majority is well-intentioned in attempting to provide the California court with additional information. However, if the California court deems it desirable to hold an evidentiary hearing in Minnesota, which it may very well do, the UCCJA would allow the hearing on motion of the California tribunal, not at the insistence of this court. UCCJA §§ 18-19; see Minn. Stat. §§ 518.18-19. Moreover, in the event the California court requests such a hearing in Minnesota, under the UCCJA the foreign tribunal “may prescribe the manner * * and the terms upon which the testimony shall be taken.” UCCJA § 18; see Minn. Stat. § 518A.18. By not requiring the instant action to take its proper course in the California system, we would deny the California court the opportunity afforded under the UCCJA to structure the scope and focus of any evidentiary hearing conducted in Minnesota. This consideration could be significant, as the California tribunal may have specific concerns that it would like addressed at the hearing. «•
For the above reasons, I cannot join in the majority’s remand of this case for the purpose of holding an evidentiary hearing. Instead, I would require appellants to petition the California court for the relief desired; an evidentiary hearing can then be held in Minnesota upon request of the California court. UCCJA §§ 18-19.