In the Interest of Bellamy

67 S.W.3d 482, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 411, 2002 WL 84273
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 23, 2002
Docket06-01-00054-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 67 S.W.3d 482 (In the Interest of Bellamy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In the Interest of Bellamy, 67 S.W.3d 482, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 411, 2002 WL 84273 (Tex. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by Justice ROSS.

Cindy Bellamy appeals the trial court’s order continuing her and Dan Bellamy as joint managing conservators of their minor child, Shannon Danielle Bellamy (Danielle), and ordering Dan to have primary possession of Danielle and the sole right to establish her residence.

Cindy raises three points of error. She first contends Texas courts lack subject matter jurisdiction over this case because she and Danielle are residents of Louisiana, and under Family Code Section *483 155.003(b)(1), 1 Texas may no longer exercise its exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over the case, and that Section 155.003 was not repealed by or is not in conflict with Family Code Section 152.202. 2 In her second point, Cindy contends that, if Section 152.202 of the Texas Family Code applies, then under this section, Texas no longer maintains exclusive, continuing jurisdiction because substantial evidence is no longer available in Texas concerning Danielle’s care, protection, training, and personal relationships. Finally, Cindy contends the trial court lacked jurisdiction because Dan failed to adequately show jurisdiction in his pleadings.

The evidence showed that, at the time Dan and Cindy Bellamy divorced in 1988 or 1989, Dan was unaware of Cindy’s pregnancy. After the divorce, Dan learned of the pregnancy and has been a part of Danielle’s life since birth. In 1996, the Texas Attorney General filed suit in Cass County to establish Dan as Danielle’s father. The 1996 order determined Dan is the father and appointed both Cindy and Dan as joint managing conservators, but ordered that Cindy have primary possession of Danielle and the sole right to establish her residence. On March 21, 2000, the Texas Attorney General’s office filed a motion to modify support on Cindy’s behalf in Cass County. In response, Dan filed a counter-petition to modify, asking the court to give him primary possession of Danielle and the sole right to establish her residence. The Attorney General’s office nonsuited the motion to modify support. The only issue left before the trial court was Dan’s counter-petition. The court modified the 1996 order by granting Dan primary possession of Danielle and the sole right to determine her residence, but continuing Cindy and Dan as joint managing conservators.

Cindy and Danielle are residents of Louisiana, and it is uncontested that under the Texas Family Code their home state is Louisiana. See Tex. Fam.Code ANN. § 152.102(7) (Vernon Supp.2002).

At the hearing on Dan’s counter-petition, Cindy contended the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear this case because Texas is no longer Danielle’s home state. Because the question raised is a legal one regarding subject matter jurisdiction, we apply a de novo standard of review. Mayhew v. Town of Sunnyvale, 964 S.W.2d 922, 928 (Tex.1998).

Cindy contends Texas no longer retains jurisdiction because Danielle’s home state is Louisiana, not Texas, relying on Tex. Fam.Code ÁNN. § 155.003(b)(1) (Vernon 1996). However, we find Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 152.202 (Vernon Supp.2002) controls in this case and grants Texas exclusive, continuing jurisdiction.

In 1999, the Texas Legislature amended the Family Code and replaced the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA) with the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdic *484 tion and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA). 3 Under the UCCJA, a court could not exercise its continuing jurisdiction to modify custody if the child and the party with custody had established another home state, unless the action was filed before the new home state was established or all parties acquiesced in writing. 4 But the 1999 adoption of the UCCJEA changed the law, and Section 152.202 grants Texas exclusive, continuing jurisdiction in this case. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 152.202.

Under Section 152.202, Texas retains jurisdiction if a parent remains in Texas, regardless of the child’s home state, so long as there is still a significant connection with Texas and substantial evidence is still available in Texas. Jurisdiction terminates if the relationship between the child and the parent remaining in the state with exclusive, continuing jurisdiction becomes so attenuated that the court can no longer find significant connections and substantial evidence. Unif. Child Custody JurisdicTION & ENFORCEMENT ACT § 202 Cmt. 1, 9 U.L.A. 674 (1999). According to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, who promulgated the UCCJEA:

The new act further provides that a state which makes the initial custody determination has continuing exclusive jurisdiction, so long as a party to the original custody determination remains in that state.... Under the new act, a state with continuing exclusive jurisdiction is the only state in which a custody order can be modified. If that state determines that another state has a more significant connection to the child, it may relinquish its authority.

Important New Child Custody Legislation Enacted in 21st State, Nat’l Conf. of Comm’RS on Unif. State Laws (June 15, 2000), at <http://www.nccusl.org/nccusl/ pressreleases/pr6-15-00.asp >.

Under Section 155.003(b), the Texas court is prohibited from exercising jurisdiction in this case. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 155 .003 (Vernon 1996); Phillips v. Beaber, 995 S.W.2d 655, 660 (Tex.1999). Cindy contends this section is determinative and that, since Danielle’s home state is now Louisiana, Texas no longer has jurisdiction. However, we find that Sections 152.202 and 155.003(b)(1) conflict in this case. See In re B.O.G., 48 S.W.3d 312, 318 (Tex.App.-Waco 2001, pet. denied). When a provision of Chapter 152 conflicts with another provision of the Family Code or another statute or rule of Texas and the conflict cannot be reconciled, Chapter 152 prevails. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 152.002 (Vernon Supp.2002). Under the UCCJEA, Texas retains jurisdiction even if Texas is no longer the home state of the child or of the custodial parent, so long as there is a significant connection with this state.

We find the trial court properly exercised its jurisdiction in determining the domicile of Danielle. In fact, the UC-CJEA requires the original decree state to determine whether jurisdiction continues. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 152.202(a)(1).

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67 S.W.3d 482, 2002 Tex. App. LEXIS 411, 2002 WL 84273, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-bellamy-texapp-2002.