Morris v. Morris

893 So. 2d 1026, 4 La.App. 3 Cir. 1154, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 205, 2005 WL 292716
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 9, 2005
DocketNo. CW 04-1154
StatusPublished

This text of 893 So. 2d 1026 (Morris v. Morris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morris v. Morris, 893 So. 2d 1026, 4 La.App. 3 Cir. 1154, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 205, 2005 WL 292716 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

|,SAUNDERS, J.

This custody dispute comes before us on a writ application. Jimmy Morris seeks amendment of a joint custody decree rendered by a Louisiana court wherein his former spouse was named custodial parent. The children currently reside with their mother and her third husband in Texas. Mr. Morris alleges that the children have been subjected to domestic violence and neglect. The trial court ruled that it had jurisdiction over the matter and Mrs. Adams sought supervisory writs. We find that significant connection, continuing, and emergency jurisdiction all apply and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

[1027]*1027FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Jimmy Morris and Milissa Morris were married in 1994 and lived in Rapides Parish, where all three of their minor children were born. The couple obtained a judgment of divorce and a joint custody decree from the Ninth Judicial District Court in 1999. Milissa Morris then married Chris Swindler and moved to Texas in December of 2000. Mr. Morris has remarried and remains domiciled in Louisiana. In 2001, Milissa divorced Mr. Swindler and subsequently married Jason Adams.

During a recent visit from his children, Mr. Morris filed a petition to modify the custody agreement between himself and Mrs. Adams claiming that the children asked to live with him and that Mrs. Adams is an unfit mother. Mr. Morris references several incidents that he claims demonstrate the need to modify the custody agreement. Morris claims that the children are victims of domestic violence. He cites one instance where Mrs. Adams summoned the Texas authorities and gave a statement providing that Jason Adams battered her and the children, destroyed several household items in a violent rage, and bashed her windshield with a 2x4. Mrs. |2Adams now claims that she lied to the police when giving this statement and that these events never transpired. Mr. Morris also claims that the children were severely injured because they were thrown from the bed of a pickup truck driven by Mrs. Adams when she was involved in an accident. Mrs. Adams was arrested for child endangerment in relation to this accident. On another occasion, Mrs. Adams was taken by a friend to an emergency room in Texas where it was reported that she was kicked, slapped, knocked down, and beaten with a golf club and remote control by Jason Adams, who also threatened to kill her and the children and pulled the phone from the wall so that the police could not be contacted. Mrs. Adams now claims that both her friend and the deputy sheriff, falsified these reports. Mr. Morris also claims that, on one trip to pick up his daughters, both Jason and Milissa Adams had been bonded out of jail earlier that day following arrests for disorderly conduct. He further contends that the children are neglected as evidenced by the fact that he has found worms in their stool, a rotten tooth, and repeated lice infestations. Additionally, Mr. Morris alleges that the incidents of domestic violence have so impacted his daughter Kourtney, that she now often hides in fear in a closet even when she is in no apparent danger.

Mrs. Adams filed an exception of lack of jurisdiction in response to Mr. Morris’ petition. This exception was denied and Mrs. Adams sought supervisory writs from this court.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

1) The trial court erred in denying Mrs. Adams’ Exception of Jurisdiction.

| .STANDARD OF REVIEW

When reviewing questions of law, appellate courts are to determine if the trial court’s ruling was legally correct or not. Cleland v. City of Lake Charles, 02-0805 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/5/03), 840 So.2d 686, unit denied, 03-1380, 03-1385 (La.9/19/03), 853 So.2d 645.

DISCUSSION

The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act sets forth factors to be considered by courts before assuming jurisdiction over custody disputes. In the instant matter, Mrs. Adams essentially argues that the Ninth Judicial District Court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate this matter because the children currently live in Texas making it their “home state” pursuant to La.R.S. 13:1702(C). We disagree.

[1028]*1028Louisiana courts' have jurisdiction to make custody determinations if:

(1) This state (i) is the home state "of the child at the time of commencement of the proceeding, or (ii) had been the child’s home state within six months before commencement of the proceeding and the child is absent from this state because of his removal or retention by a person claiming his custody or for other reasons, and a parent or person acting as parent continues to live in this state; or
(2) It is in the best interest of the child that a court of this state assume jurisdiction because (i) the child and his parents, or the child and at least one contestant, have a significant connection with this state, and (ii) there is available in this state substantial evidence concerning the child’s present or ’future care, protection, training, and personal relationships; or
(3) The child is physically present in this state and (i) the child has been abandoned or (ii) it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because he has been subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse or is otherwise neglected or dependent; or
14(4) (I) It appears that no other state would have, jurisdiction under prerequisites substantially in accordance with Paragraphs (1), (2), or (3), or another state has declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that this state is the more appropriate forum to determine the custody of the child, and (ii) it is in the best interest of the child that this court assume jurisdiction.

La.R.S. 13:1702. While the child’s home state may be the preferred forum, the above quoted language does provide for alternative fora. In’ appropriate circumstances, a Louisiana court may exercise significant connection, continuing, or emergency jurisdiction. All apply here.

This court has recently addressed significant connection jurisdiction in affirming a trial court’s exercise of jurisdiction under similar circumstances. Lindmeier v. Lindmeier, 03-1392 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/3/04), 867 So.2d 165, writ denied, 04-0877 (La.4/21/04), 870 So.2d 280. In Lindmeier, we gave weight to the fact that the minor child spent a significant amount of her young life in Louisiana before moving to Canada with her father. Lindmeier, 867 So.2d 165. We also considered the fact that the vast majority of the child’s extended family continued to reside in Louisiana. Id.

As in Lindmeier, the minor children at issue here spent a significant portion of their lives in Louisiana. Their parents were married in 1994 and divorced in 1999. The children remained in Louisiana throughout this period and did not move to Texas until their mother relocated in 2000. We also note that Kourtney, the oldest of the three children, spent nearly all of the 2001-2002 school year in Alexandria while living with her father. Given these facts, it is apparent that the time spent by the children in Louisiana and Texas is, at a minimum, comparable.

IsThe significant amount of time spent in Louisiana is one example of the connections with this state. Further tipping the jurisdictional scales in favor of Louisiana is the fact that the overwhelming majority of the children’s extended family reside in this state. Mrs.

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Related

Holdsworth v. Holdsworth
621 So. 2d 71 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1993)
Gay v. Morrison
511 So. 2d 1173 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1987)
Cleland v. City of Lake Charles
840 So. 2d 686 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
Lindmeier v. Lindmeier
867 So. 2d 165 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)

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Bluebook (online)
893 So. 2d 1026, 4 La.App. 3 Cir. 1154, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 205, 2005 WL 292716, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morris-v-morris-lactapp-2005.