In re Marriage of Myrland
Supreme Court of Montana
248 P.3d 290 (Mont. 2010)
Carl Myrland (plaintiff) and Heather Myrland (defendant) married in Montana and had one child, ANM; the family moved to North Carolina, where the couple separated and Heather left, after which Carl returned to Montana with ANM. Heather had no contact with them for four years, then briefly took ANM out for a birthday visit and never returned the child. About a month later, on May 26, 2006, Heather — by then living in Texas — filed for divorce and custody there. Carl filed his own divorce and custody petition in Montana on October 2, 2006. Both states had adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA). The Montana trial court had granted a divorce decree, but later set it aside on Heather's motion for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, finding Texas was ANM's home state for custody purposes. Carl appealed.
Whether, under the UCCJEA, when one parent removes a child from the child's home state and seeks an original custody determination elsewhere, the home-state parent has six months to file a custody petition in the home state to keep the case there.