The changes that adults make after a divorce can often involve moving. For people who live in Shelby County, even a short move can lead them over state lines. Moving to West Memphis or Jonesboro would land you in Arkansas. Moving to Olive Branch would land you in Mississippi. That’s not really a big deal — unless you have children.
After you have gone through the child custody process, you probably don’t want to have to rehash everything just because of a move. Fortunately, the Full Faith and Credit Law means that you won’t have to. The state that you move to would have to abide by the orders of the court that issued the child custody order.
The Full Faith and Credit Law is a federal law that applies to children who aren’t yet 18 years old. For the purpose of this law, you must understand what the home state is. The home state is the state in which the child has lived for the previous six months.
On top of that law, the child custody case might also fall under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. That act determines what court has jurisdiction if there is a question about jurisdiction. This act sets criteria for jurisdiction and allows states to decline jurisdiction if it wants to hand jurisdiction over to another state.
Child custody matters can sometimes require modifications. Determining what court has jurisdiction over the case might be necessary if you have moved from one state to another. This is something that must be figured out before the next steps in getting the matter resolved can be taken.
Source: FindLaw, “Interstate “Full Faith and Credit” Custody Law,” accessed Oct. 13, 2016