Moser v. Davis, 78-378

Decision Date15 November 1978
Docket NumberNo. 78-378,78-378
Citation364 So.2d 521
PartiesLarry Eugene MOSER, Appellant, v. Linda B. DAVIS, Appellee.
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals

David Luther Woodward of the Law Offices of David Luther Woodward, Chartered, Tampa, for appellant.

No appearance for appellee.

GRIMES, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal from an order directing that appellant (father) deliver to appellee (mother) the physical custody of two of their children.

In 1968 the mother and father were divorced in North Carolina. The divorce decree awarded custody of their three children to the father. After the mother remarried, the parties agreed to place the children in the custody of the mother. The North Carolina court, in 1973, issued an order confirming the change of custody. The mother moved to Georgia in 1977 and took the children with her. Later that year the children ran away in order to be with their father. The father delivered the children to the Division of Youth Services of the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services, but the Division obtained a court order placing temporary custody in the father pending further proceedings. On December 22, 1977, the father filed in the Circuit Court of Hillsborough County a sworn petition for custody of the children. A hearing on the petition was set for March 20, 1978.

In the meantime, on January 23, 1978, the mother filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Hillsborough County Circuit Court. A writ of habeas corpus was issued and served upon the father the same day. The writ commanded him to bring the children before the court the following afternoon and to show cause why the children should not be released to the custody of the mother. The father appeared with the children as ordered. No testimony was taken at the hearing, but the mother agreed that, if he wished, the oldest boy could stay with his father. Having concluded that he did not have jurisdiction to modify the North Carolina custody decree, the judge ordered the father to deliver the two younger boys to the mother.

The question before us is whether the court had jurisdiction to entertain the father's petition for change of custody. If not, the North Carolina decree clearly entitles the mother to the children. Resolution of this issue requires a study of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, Sections 61.1302-61.1348, Florida Statutes (1977). The jurisdictional provisions of this act are set forth in Section 61.1308, Florida Statutes (1977), which reads as follows:

61.1308 Jurisdiction.

(1) A court of this state which is competent to decide child custody matters has jurisdiction to make a child custody determination by initial or modification decree if:

(a) This state:

1. Is the home state of the child at the time of commencement of the proceeding, or

2. Had been the child's home state within 6 months before commencement of the proceeding and the child is absent from this state because of his removal or retention by a person claiming his custody or for other reasons, and a parent or person acting as parent continues to live in this state;

(b) It is in the best interest of the child that a court of this state assume jurisdiction because:

1. The child and his parents, or the child and at least one contestant, have a significant connection with this state, and

2. There is available in this state substantial evidence concerning the child's present or future care, protection, training, and personal relationships;

(c) The child is physically present in this state and:

1. The child has been abandoned, or

2. It is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because he has been subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse or is otherwise neglected; or

(d) 1. It appears that no other state would have jurisdiction under prerequisites substantially in accordance with paragraph (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph (c), or another state has declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that this state is the more appropriate forum to determine the custody of the child, and

2. It is in the best interest of the child that a court of this state assume jurisdiction.

(2) Except under paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) of subsection (...

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4 cases
  • Nelson v. Nelson
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • June 14, 1983
    ...permanent custody does not exist. We acknowledge that in Hegler v. Hegler, 383 So.2d 1134 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980), and Moser v. Davis, 364 So.2d 521 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978), our sister courts have, without discussion of this distinction, found jurisdiction to exist under Section 61.1308(1)(c)2, unde......
  • Suarez Ortega v. Pujals de Suarez, s. 83-2765
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • March 19, 1985
    ...Costantino v. Costantino, 386 So.2d 1274 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Trujillo v. Trujillo, 378 So.2d 812 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Moser v. Davis, 364 So.2d 521 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978). An examination of these authorities discloses that they all involve conflicts between one or more of the fifty United States......
  • De La Pena v. Torrone, 83-1504
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • March 7, 1985
    ...of her argument that the New York court had jurisdiction under the "emergency provision" of the UCCJA the mother cites Moser v. Davis, 364 So.2d 521 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978), Mondy v. Mondy, 395 So.2d 193 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981), and Trujillo v. Trujillo, 378 So.2d 812 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979), which essen......
  • Ruse v. Ruse, 85-1066
    • United States
    • Florida District Court of Appeals
    • November 1, 1985
    ...substantial evidence concerning the child's present or future care, protection, training and personal relationships. Moser v. Davis, 364 So.2d 521 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978), relied upon by the father, is distinguishable. Moser involved the emergency provisions of section 61.1308(1)(c), which are a......

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