Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Custody
When a child custody case has been filed in two different states concerning the same child, we look to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act to guide us on how to proceed. Most times, the courts of each state are required to communicate with each other and include the parties in the communication. This was an issue in the case Justice v. Guerrero-Justice, 3D24-1248 (Fla. 3d DCA February 5, 2025).
The parties in this case were married in Tennessee. Eventually, the husband moved to Key West, Florida where the parties’ child would visit with him. Later, the wife filed for divorce in Tennessee, alleging Tennessee was the child’s home state. The husband filed a competing petition in Florida citing Florida as the child’s home state. Both parties moved to dismiss the other party’s petition. The appellate opinion cites that while the parties were scheduled to have a hearing in Florida, it was cancelled the day before it was to occur and Tennessee had a hearing at which “The court noted that it had not yet conducted the UCCJEA meeting, but it would be forthcoming. After the hearing, the Tennessee court issued an order denying the motion to dismiss and found that Tennessee was the child’s home state.” Thereafter, the Florida court entered an order dismissing the Florida case, stating that it conducted a UCCJEA conference with the court in Tennessee and determined Tennessee was the child’s home state. The husband appealed after his motion for rehearing was denied.
The appellate court noted that Section 61.511 of the Florida Statutes requires the courts in each state to communicate on the record with the parties present. The wife argued this section only requires the courts to do so if the parties elect to participate. The appellate court rejected this interpretation, holding “When read as a whole and in context, the statute obligates the trial court to perform certain actions to protect the due process rights of the parties. First, the trial court has a duty to allow the parties to participate in the communications with a court of another state. This means that the trial court must provide notice before the communication occurs to allow them to be present.” The court concluded “The trial court failed to comply with these obligations. As a result, Justice’s due process rights were violated. We reverse and remand for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.”
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