Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

Moving On: UCCJEA, The Hague Convention, and Relocation 103
the familiarity of the court of each state with the facts and
issues in the pending litigation.
If the New York court decides it is an inconvenient forum and another
forum is more appropriate, the court can stay the proceeding on the condition
that a child custody proceeding is started promptly in another state. 15
Communication Between Courts16 The New York court may communicate with a court in another state about
jurisdiction. This is generally done through a telephone conference with the two
judges. The court may allow the parties to participate in the communication. If
not, the parties must be given the opportunity to present facts and arguments
before a decision is made. Most importantly, a record must be made of the
communication, and the parties have a right to the record.
Modification of Custody Orders17 Generally, a court order of custody or visitation from another state may only
be modified by that other state if neither the child nor the parents live there.
New York also may modify a custody order from another state if New York has
either home state or significant connection jurisdiction and the state that issued
the order decides that it no longer has jurisdiction or that New York would be a
more convenient forum.
Unclean Hands18 New York’s UCCJEA directs courts to decline jurisdiction if the parent
trying to invoke jurisdiction has “engaged in unjustifiable conduct,” but it
protects domestic violence victims who flee with a child. The statute says that a
removal of the child from the jurisdiction should not be considered as a factor
weighing against the petitioner, “if there is evidence that the taking or retention
... was to protect the petitioner from domestic violence ...” 19 This is consistent
with the model UCCJEA, which states that “domestic violence victims should
not be charged with unjustifiable conduct for conduct that occurred in the process
of fleeing domestic violence, even if their conduct is technically illegal.” 20
Information to Be Submitted to Court 21
New York law requires each party in a custody proceeding to file, under
oath, certain information, including the child’s present address and the names
and addresses of the persons with whom the child has lived within the past five
years, but domestic violence victims may ask for confidentiality. If the person
seeking custody lives or has lived in a domestic violence shelter, the address
cannot be revealed and the law provides for the designation of an agent for
service of process.