Divorce Attorney: Jurisdiction and Relocation in Louisiana

This article concerns jurisdiction and relocation in Louisiana. Jurisdiction is a huge issue simply because a Louisiana court is far more likely to grant custody to a parent living in Louisiana then to a parent going out of state. The reason for this is that courts often are reluctant to give up control over a child. Also, a Louisiana court is required to comply with Louisiana's relocation statute which can make it very difficult for a parent to take the child out of state. Louisiana's relocation statute is designed so as to prevent one parent from moving and thereby deny the other parent access to the child through no fault of their own.

Similar to most other states, Louisiana adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act otherwise known as the UCCJEA. What this does is it provides a mechanism for determining the proper jurisdiction that a child case can be brought in. (By jurisdiction, it is meant what state is the proper state to determine child custody.) A divorce attorney is typically somewhat familiar with this act as it is frequently the case that people move out-of-state taking their children with them. In this case, it can become important to know what state laws will apply in their situation.

The key test generally is where the child has lived for the past six months. If the child has lived in Louisiana for the previous six months, there is a good chance that Louisiana will be found to have jurisdiction. However, if this is not the case, there could be problems with bringing the child custody case in Louisiana. They are sometimes a number of moves that the child has done and not been in one state continuously for six months continuously prior to bringing legal action. This means that the court will have to figure out how connected the child is to the state or make other factual determinations to determine proper jurisdiction.

Once the state has determined that it has jurisdiction and has made a ruling on child custody, the state now acquires continuing jurisdiction such that a divorce attorney or other lawyer can bring the action to court again in that state even for a child that has moved out of state for more than six months. Similar to almost everything else in law, there are exceptions to the above rules. It can be important to contact a lawyer prior to having your child spend extended periods of time away from the state.

Louisiana's relocation statute makes it difficult to move a child out of the state. The reason for this is that there is a heightened burden and a number of factors that the court is to consider in order to make sure that both parties' rights are protected to the child. Often times a divorce attorney is faced the situation where the parents split and one parent desires to leave the state and this can have applications on the amount of contact they have with their child.

Will Beaumont is a divorce attorney in New Orleans. This article is strictly informational and not legal advice.