Lucado v. Coherd

• Decision Date: 11 March 2013
• Docket Number: No. A12A2065.,A12A2065.
• Citation: Lucado v. Coherd, 320 Ga. App. 241, 739 S.E.2d 749 (Ga. App. 2013)
• Parties: LUCADO v. COHERD.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

320 Ga.App. 241

739 S.E.2d 749

LUCADO

v.COHERD.

No. A12A2065.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

March 11, 2013.

Krystal Lucado, pro se.

M. Katherine Durant, for Appellant.

Altman & Schneider, Jessie Robertson Altman, James S. Altman, Atlanta, Anna Deane Schneider, for Appellee.

McFADDEN, Judge.

This appeal is from a trial court order transferring a child custody case to a court in another state. Because the trial court did not make specific statutorily-required findings on the record, we vacate the transfer order and remand the case to the trial court.

The record shows that Krystal Lucado and Hugh Coherd were divorced in 2000 in the State of Georgia, with the final divorce decree awarding physical custody of their minor children to Lucado and granting liberal visitation to Coherd. In 2004, the Fulton County Superior Court modified the divorce decree by entering a final order on custody and visitation. In 2011, Lucado filed the instant petition for modification of visitation in Fulton County Superior Court. Coherd moved to dismiss the action, claiming that Georgia no longer had jurisdiction because the parties resided in Maryland. Lucado filed a motion for a hearing on the matter. But the trial court, after a brief telephone conversation with a judge in Maryland, entered an order denying Lucado's motion for a hearing and transferring the action to a circuit court in Maryland. Lucado appeals.

The parties agree that the instant modification action is governed by OCGA § 19–9–67. Pursuant to OCGA § 19–9–67(a), a court with jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (OCGA § 19–9–40 et seq.) “may decline to exercise its jurisdiction at any time if it determines that it is an inconvenient forum under the circumstances and that a court of another state is a more appropriate forum.” However, OCGA § 19–9–67(b) further provides:

Before determining whether it is an inconvenient forum, a court of this state shall consider whether it is appropriate for a court of another state to exercise jurisdiction. For this purpose, the court shall allow the parties to submit information and shall consider all relevant factors, including: (1) Whether family violence has occurred and is likely to continue in the future and which state could best protect the parties and the child; (2) The length of time the child has resided outside this state; (3) The distance between the court in this state and the court in the state that would assume jurisdiction; (4) The relative financial circumstances of the parties; (5) Any agreement of the parties as to which state should assume jurisdiction; (6) The nature and location of the evidence required to resolve the pending litigation, including testimony of the child; (7) The ability of the court of each state to decide the issue expeditiously and the procedures necessary to present the evidence; and (8) The familiarity of the court of each state with the facts and issues in the pending litigation.

(Emphasis supplied.)

Lucado...