Foster v. Wolkowitz
Michigan Supreme Court
785 N.W.2d 59 (2010)
Foster (plaintiff) and Wolkowitz (defendant) had a child in Michigan while unmarried and signed a Michigan acknowledgment of parentage (AOP) establishing Wolkowitz's paternity, then moved to Illinois together. After the couple split, Foster returned to Michigan with the child and filed a paternity action days later; Wolkowitz then filed a custody action in Illinois. Michigan courts found Michigan had jurisdiction, reasoning the AOP was itself an "initial custody determination" under the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), so signing it had already invoked Michigan jurisdiction, making the UCCJEA's separate framework inapplicable. Michigan awarded Foster physical custody, and the appellate court affirmed; Wolkowitz appealed.
Whether the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act provides the exclusive basis for determining state jurisdiction over child-custody cases, notwithstanding a state acknowledgment-of-parentage statute purporting to establish jurisdiction on its own.