FAMILY LAW (custody, jurisdiction, out of state): Walsh-Stender v. Walsh (COA 12/30/2009)

Walsh-Stender v. Walsh
2009-CA-000117 12/30/2009 2009 WL 5125019

Opinion by Senior Judge Harris; Judges Lambert and VanMeter concurred. The Court vacated family court orders entered related to a motion to modify custody. The Court held that the family court lacked jurisdiction to consider the matter. Because appellant still lived in Tennessee, the state having original jurisdiction over the matter, and the child regularly visited her there, Tennessee retained exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over all custody matters. The family court erroneously relied upon KRS 403.822 to confer jurisdiction, as the statute only applied to initial custody determinations. Further, KRS 403.826 prohibited the Kentucky court from entertaining a custody motion without an order from Tennessee relinquishing its jurisdiction over the proceedings.