Question:

My ex-spouse and child moved to another state, and I was denied parenting time and FaceTime requests, in addition to ignoring the divorce decree. How can I establish my rights to parenting time?

Answer:

I have not been retained as your attorney so I cannot give you legal advice. However, I can offer some general information that may help you.

There are two possible courses of actions here, which will be dependent upon more facts about your situation.

The first issue will be to modify the current court order and where to do that. I assume that the divorce decree that determined child custody and visitation was in the original state. Because the original state made the initial custody determination of the children in the divorce and the child and one parent is now outside of the original state, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (“UCCJEA”) is likely implicated here.

The UCCJEA has been implemented in all states except for Massachusetts.

In a very brief nutshell, the UCCJEA says that the UCCJEA gives “exclusive and continuing jurisdiction (authority) for child custody matters to the court that has made an initial child custody determination until either (1) that court determines that neither the child, the child’s parents, nor any person acting as a parent has significant connection with the State that made the original order and that substantial evidence is no longer available in the State concerning the child’s care, protection, training and personal relationships or (2) that court or a court of another state determines that the child, the child’s parent, or any person acting as a parent do not reside in the State that initially made the child custody order.

Because your child and your ex-spouse now live in another state, you may have to have this matter moved to the other state’s courts since the original state may have lost its jurisdiction to hear this matter.

Second, if you wish to change the visitation or the custody terms of the prior order—if these states are the same as Arkansas, the state that I am licensed to practice in,—then you have the burden of showing the court that a “material change of circumstances” has occurred since the last order on custody or visitation and that the change you are asking for will be in the best interests of the children.

In my state, the court will focus only on events that have happened since the last court that you feel illustrate why there have been a material change in circumstances. The court will not listen to any matters that the court who made the initial determination already heard.

In Arkansas, the primary consideration in all cases involving children are welfare and best interests of the children; all other considerations are secondary.

To arrange an initial consultation to discuss divorce rights for men with a Cordell & Cordell attorney, including Arkansas divorce lawyer Giana M. Messore, contact Cordell & Cordell.