Unilateral Move to Texas and the UCCJEA
A final judgment of dissolution entered in Hillsborough County in 2021 awarded mother majority timesharing of the child, born 2016, and father alternating weekends. In June 2024 mother moved with the child from Tampa to Austin, Texas, without filing a relocation petition or obtaining father's written consent. Father did not learn of the move until August 2024, when he filed a motion for contempt and to compel return. In February 2025 mother filed a petition in Travis County, Texas, to modify custody and timesharing. The child has attended Austin schools for eight months, has a Texas pediatrician, and plays in a local league. Father remains in Tampa, has exercised summer and holiday timesharing, and the child has grandparents in Florida. No Florida judge has ruled on the contempt motion, and the child is not in danger. Mother argues Texas is now the home state; father argues the move was wrongful and Florida should decide.
1. Does Florida or Texas have subject-matter jurisdiction to modify the 2021 custody determination? Explain the UCCJEA home-state and continuing-jurisdiction rules.
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Florida, not Texas, has exclusive continuing jurisdiction to modify. The 2021 Florida judgment was a proper initial custody determination. Under section 61.515, the rendering court retains exclusive continuing jurisdiction until it finds that neither the child nor either parent has a significant connection and substantial evidence is no longer available in Florida, or that all parties have moved. Father remains in Tampa and exercises timesharing; the child has grandparents and ongoing ties. Texas is the child's home state for a new initial proceeding because the child lived there eight months, but home-state status does not override continuing jurisdiction over an existing order. Mother cannot create modification jurisdiction by moving. A Texas court may modify only if Florida relinquishes jurisdiction or finds it is no longer the appropriate forum. The wrongful move is relevant to section 61.526 unjustifiable conduct and to inconvenient-forum factors, not to divesting Florida.
2. What remedies can the Florida court impose for the move, and how does the relocation statute affect the analysis?
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Florida can enforce its judgment. Mother violated section 61.13001 by relocating without a petition, consent, or court order; the statute applies because a custody order existed. Remedies include contempt, an order to return the child, makeup timesharing, attorney's fees, and costs; the court can also modify the parenting plan if the move itself shows a substantial change. Father should seek an immediate hearing and a pick-up order. The court cannot jail mother without ability-to-pay findings, but it can order return. Texas may enforce or decline; a Florida return order is not self-executing in Texas, so father may need to register the Florida order under the UCCJEA and seek enforcement there. The court should not let the eight-month absence reward the unilateral move.
3. If the Florida court declines jurisdiction, what must Texas find before it can modify? Consider unjustifiable conduct.
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If Florida declines, Texas may modify only after finding it has jurisdiction and that Florida no longer has exclusive continuing jurisdiction or has declined. Texas must also address its analogue to section 61.526: a court may decline jurisdiction when the petitioner engaged in unjustifiable conduct, unless the other parent acquiesced, the child has no other home, or declining would be contrary to the child's welfare. Mother's unconsented move is the central fact. If Texas accepts, it must give full faith and credit to the Florida order until modified and should consider father's contact. The cleanest outcome is that Florida retains jurisdiction and Texas enforces the Florida return order.