GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
When parents live in different states, the first question is not what should happen with the children. It is which court gets to decide.
Connecticut’s version of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act is at C.G.S. Chapter 815p, §§46b-115 through 46b-115jj.
Under C.G.S. §46b-115k, jurisdiction to make an initial custody determination generally belongs to the child’s home state — broadly, where the child has lived for the six months before the case is filed, or since birth for an infant.
That is a factual question, and it does not change because a parent prefers a different forum.
Once a state has made a custody determination, it generally keeps jurisdiction to modify it while a party or the child retains a connection to that state. Another state cannot simply take over because a parent moved.
This means Connecticut may be unable to modify another state’s custody order even when the children now live here — and equally, Connecticut may retain authority over its own orders after a family has left.
Continuing jurisdiction over Connecticut’s own determinations is governed by C.G.S. §46b-115l, and the limits on modifying another state’s custody determination by §46b-115m.
Under C.G.S. §46b-115n, a court can act on a temporary, emergency basis where a child is present in the state and has been abandoned, or where emergency protection is necessary because the child, a sibling, or a parent is threatened with or subjected to mistreatment or abuse.
Emergency jurisdiction is narrow and temporary. It is not a route to permanent jurisdiction.
Under C.G.S. §§46b-115w through 46b-115gg, a custody determination from another state can be registered in Connecticut and enforced here, with expedited procedures available. Enforcement and modification are separate questions — Connecticut can often enforce an order it has no authority to change.
Section 46b-115h contemplates direct communication between judges in different states about jurisdiction. Where two cases are filed in two states, that conversation frequently resolves which one proceeds.
Chapter 815p also addresses custody matters that cross national borders. Section 46b-115d governs the international application of the Act; §46b-115ii addresses recognition of foreign child-custody determinations; §46b-115v authorizes Connecticut courts to enforce Hague Convention return orders; and §46b-115jj governs enforcement of foreign custody determinations and of federal or sister-state return orders entered under the Hague Convention.
Moving a child to establish jurisdiction elsewhere is a bad plan. Courts recognise it, the statute is designed to prevent it, and in some circumstances the conduct is also criminal.
When a child is wrongfully removed to or retained in another country. How Hague return proceedings work, and what they do not decide.
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When a parenting-time dispute becomes a criminal charge. Connecticut custodial interference under §§53a-97 and 53a-98, and what to do if you are charged.
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Connecticut’s relocation standard depends on whether your case is finished. What §46b-56d requires after judgment, and what applies before it.
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What joint custody actually means in Connecticut, how legal and physical custody differ, and why joint custody does not mean equal time.
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What goes into a Connecticut parenting plan, how schedules are built, and why vague language causes problems years later.
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Connecticut custody attorney Daniel M. Morton on legal and physical custody, parenting plans, relocation, and how judges decide. Glastonbury office.
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Every case starts with a conversation about what you’re facing and what it would take to handle it.
