State ex rel. Conforti v. Wilson

506 S.E.2d 58, 203 W. Va. 21, 1998 W. Va. LEXIS 92
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 6, 1998
DocketNo. 25044
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 506 S.E.2d 58 (State ex rel. Conforti v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Conforti v. Wilson, 506 S.E.2d 58, 203 W. Va. 21, 1998 W. Va. LEXIS 92 (W. Va. 1998).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:1

This case is before this Court upon a petition for writ of prohibition filed by the petitioner, Melinda Conforti, against the respondents, the Honorable Ronald Wilson, Judge of the Circuit Court of Hancock County, and Satish K. Tandon. The petitioner seeks to prohibit the respondent judge from enforcing his January 12, 1998 order finding that West Virginia is the appropriate jurisdictional forum to consider a petition for modification of [24]*24custody filed by Mr. Tandon. We issued a rule to show cause and now grant the writ.

I

The petitioner and Mr. Tandon were divorced on December 14, 1994, pursuant to a divorce decree issued by the Court of Common Pleas of Jefferson County, Ohio. The petitioner was awarded custody of the parties’ son2 and Mr. Tandon, was granted supervised visitation.3

On May 15, 1997, Mr. Tandon filed a petition to modify jurisdiction and child custody in the Circuit Court of Hancock County, West Virginia. At that time, the petitioner and child were living in Hancock County.4 On July 15, 1997, the family law master for the Circuit Court of Hancock County issued a recommended order declaring that the State of West Virginia declined to exercise jurisdiction pursuant to W.Va.Code § 48-10-7 (1981). The family law master found that the Court of Common Pleas in Jefferson County, Ohio, was the more appropriate forum due to the past extensive record and evidence which resulted in the current Ohio custody order.

A timely petition for review of the recommended order was filed by Mr. Tandon. As a result, Judge Wilson issued an opinion and order on August 11, 1997, remanding the matter to the family law master for consideration pursuant to W.Va.Code § 48-10-7(c)(3) and a determination of whether West Virginia residents would be the primary witnesses regarding the future care, custody, and control of the minor child. In September 1997, the petitioner and child moved back to Ohio.

Thereafter, the family law master issued a second recommended order concluding that West Virginia was the more appropriate jurisdiction and convenient forum for litigation of Mr. Tandon’s petition to modify custody. On January 12, 1998, Judge Wilson adopted the family law master’s recommended order. In response, the Honorable John J. Mascio, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Jefferson County, Ohio, issued an order on January 23, 1998, concluding that West Virginia was the most appropriate forum.5 Subsequently, by order dated March 20, 1998, Judge Mascio vacated his January 23, 1998 order and held the same for naught pending a hearing on the issues.

On March 26, 1998, the petitioner filed a petition for writ of prohibition with this Court seeking to prohibit the Circuit Court of Hancock1 County from exercising jurisdiction in this matter.6

II

The general rule with respect to the propriety of the extraordinary remedy of prohibition is set forth in Syllabus Point 1 of Crawford v. Taylor, 138 W.Va. 207, 75 S.E.2d 370 (1953): “Prohibition lies only to restrain inferior courts from proceeding in causes over which they have no jurisdiction, or, in which, having jurisdiction, they are exceeding their legitimate powers and may not be used as a substitute for [a petition for appeal] or certiorari.” See also W.Va.Code § 53-1-1 (1923).

In determining whether to entertain and issue the writ of prohibition for cases not involving an absence of jurisdiction but only where it is claimed that the lower tribunal exceeded its legitimate powers, this Court will examine five factors: (1) whether the party seeking the writ has no other adequate means, such as direct appeal, to obtain the desired relief; (2) whether the petitioner will be damaged or prejudiced in a way that is not correctable [25]*25on appeal; (3) whether the lower tribunal’s order is clearly erroneous as a matter of law; (4) whether the lower tribunal’s order is an oft repeated error or manifests persistent disregard for either procedural or substantive law; and (5) whether the lower tribunal’s order raises new and important problems or issues of law of first impression. These factors are general guidelines that serve as a useful starting point for determining whether a discretionary writ of prohibition should issue. Although all five factors need not be satisfied, it is clear that the third factor, the existence of clear error as a matter of law, should be given substantial weight.

Syllabus Point 4, State ex rel. Hoover v. Berger, 199 W.Va. 12, 483 S.E.2d 12 (1996).

Once again, we are confronted with an interstate custody dispute and are essentially asked to determine whether West Virginia is the appropriate jurisdictional forum for consideration of a petition to modify custody where the original custody decree was issued by the State of Ohio. On previous occasions, we have recognized that such disputes are governed by the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1980 [hereinafter' “PKPA”], 28 U.S.C. 1738A (1980), and the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act [hereinafter “UCCJA”], codified- in W.Va. Code § 48-10-1 et seq. Because this case involves mixed questions of law and fact that require consideration of legal concepts and statutory construction, our review is plenary. See Burnside v. Burnside, 194 W.Va. 263, 265, 460 S.E.2d 264, 266 (1995).

In Syllabus Point 1 of Arbogast v. Arbogast, 174 W.Va. 498, 327 S.E.2d 675 (1984) we explained that “[t]he [PKPA] extends full faith and credit principles to child custody decrees and requires every state to enforce sister state custody determinations that are consistent with the act.” Similarly, we indicated that the UCCJA “provides that foreign states’ custody decrees are to be recognized and enforced by West Virginia courts if they accord with statutory provisions substantially similar to those of the UCCJA or meet UC-CJA jurisdictional standards.” Arbogast, 174 W.Va. at 502, 327 S.E.2d at 679. Although both acts attempt to establish definite rules about which state has jurisdiction of custody disputes, the PKPA is “more rigid, allows less' judicial discretion, and has attempted to provide more certainty as to the jurisdiction of courts.” Id. Nonetheless, in this case, the petitioner contends that under both the PKPA and UCCJA, West Virginia does not have jurisdiction in this matter.

Naturally, as a federal jurisdictional statute, the PKPA preempts the UCCJA by virtue of the Supremacy Clause. Id. See also Sheila L. on Behalf of Ronald M.M. v. Ronald P.M., 195 W.Va. 210, 218, 465 S.E.2d 210, 218 (1995). Accordingly, we begin our analysis by consulting the PKPA. The petitioner asserts that because the PKPA favors continuing jurisdiction in the state which issued the valid, initial decree, Ohio is the appropriate forum for consideration of Mr. Tandon’s petition to modify custody. In Syllabus Point 2 of Ronald P.M., we recognized that:

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Bluebook (online)
506 S.E.2d 58, 203 W. Va. 21, 1998 W. Va. LEXIS 92, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-conforti-v-wilson-wva-1998.