Custody Enforcement

Expedited Enforcement of Out-of-State Custody Determinations

Expedited Enforcement of Out-of-State Custody Determinations

We may be able to petition the court for an expedited enforcement of your out-of-state custody determination. If the petition is granted, you will be entitled to immediate physical custody of your child(ren). You may also be entitled to attorney's fees and the costs of coming to Minnesota for the hearing and to take your children back home.

  • Is there a divorce decree or child custody determination from your state giving you custody of the child(ren)?
  • Was your child taken into MN without your consent in violation of that determination?
  • Did the court that issued the determination have jurisdiction over the children and did it identify it in the order?
  • Has the determination been vacated, stayed, or modified?
  • Do you know the address that your child(ren) were taken?

Additional Remedies

In very limited circumstances, we may request the court issue a warrant to take physical custody of the child(ren). Our office can only ethically file these petitions if you have strong evidence to show they are absolutely necessary. In addition to showing the conditions above, you must also show either of the following:

  • Your child(ren) are immediately likely to suffer serious physical harm, OR
  • Your child(ren) are immediately likely to be removed from the state of Minnesota

UCCJEA:

Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act

Initial Child Custody / Visitation Determinations

The UCCJEA provides standards that all states use to ensure that courts have "original jurisdiction" over the children before making the initial child custody/visitation determination

Modifications of Child / Visitation Determinations

when one or both of the parents have moved out of the original jurisdiction state

  1. The UCCJEA makes the state where the initial custody/visitation order is entered the "home state" and grants it "continuing jurisdiction" for as long as the necessary conditions are met.
  2. The UCCJEA also allows people who have moved to other states to "register" the out of state determination in the new state as long as certain conditions are met.

Enforcement of Child Custody Determinations

on an expedited or emergency basis

  1. The UCCJEA contains information about the requirements for disclosing information about the child's whereabouts and prior custody proceedings, the court's authority to order parties to appear in person with the child, the process for enforcing child custody determinations from other states, and the process for expedited enforcement.
  2. It outlines the circumstances in which a state can assume temporary emergency jurisdiction and makes it possible to request an "extraordinary remedy" in the form of a warrant to take physical possession of a child in limited emergency situations.

 Lilie McRoberts contributes to a Politifact article dealing with Minnesota’s UCCJEA statute

To Read Article Click Here
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