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in conformity with the provisions of the PKPA. The PKPA provisions | | regarding bases for jurisdiction, restrictions on modifications, | | preclusion of simultaneous proceedings, and notice requirements are | | similar to those in the UCCJA. There are, however, some | | significant differences. For example, the PKPA authorizes | | continuing exclusive jurisdiction in the original decree State so | | long as one parent or the child remains there and that State has | | continuing jurisdiction under its own law. The UCCJA did not | | directly address this issue. To further complicate the process, | | the PKPA partially incorporates state UCCJA law in its language. | | The relationship between these two statutes became "technical | | enough to delight a medieval property lawyer." Homer H. Clark, | | Domestic Relations § 12.5 at 494 (2d ed. 1988). |
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| | | As documented in an extensive study by the American Bar | | Association's Center on Children and the Law, Obstacles to the | | Recovery and Return of Parentally Abducted Children (1993) | | (Obstacles Study), inconsistency of interpretation of the UCCJA | | and the technicalities of applying the PKPA, resulted in a loss | | of uniformity among the States. The Obstacles Study suggested a | | number of amendments which would eliminate the inconsistent state | | interpretations and harmonize the UCCJA with the PKPA. |
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| | | The revisions of the jurisdictional aspects of the UCCJA | | eliminate the inconsistent state interpretations and can be | | summarized as follows: |
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| | | 1. Home state priority. The PKPA prioritizes "home state" | | jurisdiction by requiring that full faith and credit cannot be | | given to a child custody determination by a State that exercises | | initial jurisdiction as a "significant connection state" when | | there is a "home State." Initial custody determinations based on | | "significant connections" are not entitled to PKPA enforcement | | unless there is no home State. The UCCJA, however, specifically | | authorizes four independent bases of jurisdiction without | | prioritization. Under the UCCJA, a significant connection | | custody determination may have to be enforced even if it would be | | denied enforcement under the PKPA. The UCCJEA prioritizes home | | state jurisdiction in Section 201 [Me. cite section 1745]. |
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| | | 2. Clarification of emergency jurisdiction. There are | | several problems with the current emergency jurisdiction | | provision of the UCCJA § 3(a)(3). First, the language of the | | UCCJA does not specify that emergency jurisdiction may be | | exercised only to protect the child on a temporary basis until | | the court with appropriate jurisdiction issues a permanent order. | | Some courts have interpreted the UCCJA language to so provide. | | Other courts, however, have held that there is no time limit on a | | custody determination based on emergency |
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