Wood v. Graham, 82-SC-169-MR

Citation633 S.W.2d 404
Decision Date25 May 1982
Docket NumberNo. 82-SC-169-MR,82-SC-169-MR
PartiesCharlotte WOOD, Appellant, v. Honorable J. Douglas GRAHAM, Judge, Breathitt Circuit Court, Appellee.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court (Kentucky)
OPINION AND ORDER

The question presented is whether a writ of prohibition should issue against a circuit judge to prevent him from proceeding to determine custody of an infant child in a dissolution of marriage action. The Court of Appeals denied the writ. We reverse.

Appellant is the mother of Louis Gordon Wood, Jr., who was born in Dayton, Ohio, on October 25, 1980. On October 31, 1980, the Montgomery County, Ohio, juvenile court entered an order awarding temporary custody of the child to the County Childrens Services Board. This organization placed the child with appellant's sister, Wanda Roper, who also resided in Dayton. Between October 31, 1980, and April 25, 1981, the child's father, the estranged husband of appellant, visited with the child six times.

On April 25, 1981, the father, as was his custom, picked up the child at the Roper residence. Instead of returning the child, he took him to his home in Breathitt County, Kentucky. The child's paternal grandfather phoned Wanda Roper and informed her that the child was in Kentucky and would not be returned. Two days later, the father filed, in Breathitt Circuit Court, a petition for the dissolution of his marriage with appellant and sought custody of the child. On May 2, 1981, the Ohio custodian of the child filed a formal request in the Breathitt Circuit Court to return the child to Ohio. This request was made pursuant to the Interstate Compact on Juveniles, KRS 208.600. On May 9, 1981, the request was denied by the circuit judge, and in that order, the court, ex parte, granted temporary custody of the infant to the father.

Appellant, on July 7, 1981, moved the Breathitt Circuit Court to dismiss the custody matter in the dissolution action and also moved the court to vacate the temporary custody order. This motion was denied by the circuit court on December 12, 1981. Appellant filed an original action in the Court of Appeals on January 6, 1982, seeking a writ of prohibition to prevent appellee from proceeding in the custody matter. The petition was denied on February 2, 1982. This appeal results.

The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act was adopted, in its present form, in 1980. KRS 403.400 et seq. Its purposes are set out in the statutes:

"(1) The general purposes of (this act) are to:

(a) Avoid jurisdictional competition and conflict with courts of other states in matters of child custody which have in the past resulted in the shifting of children from state to state with harmful effects on their well-being;

(c) Assure that litigation concerning the custody of a child takes place ordinarily in the state with which the child and his family have the closest connection and where significant evidence concerning his care, protection, training, and personal relationships is most readily available, and that courts of this state decline the exercise of jurisdiction when the child and his family have a closer connection with another state;

(e) Deter abductions and other unilateral removals of children undertaken to obtain custody awards;

(g) Facilitate the enforcement of custody decrees of other states;" KRS 403.400 (1980)

Moreover, the act establishes certain legal prerequisites necessary for courts of this state to have jurisdiction in child custody cases. They are as follows:

"(a) This state is the home state of the child at the time of commencement of the proceeding, or had been the child's home state within six (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; or

(b) It is in the best interest of the child that a court of this state assume jurisdiction because the child and his parents, or the child and at least one (1) contestant, have a significant connection with this state, and there is available in this state substantial evidence concerning the child's present or future care, protection, training, and personal relationships; or

(c) The child is physically present in this state and the child has been abandoned or 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 dependent; or

(d) It appears that no other state would have jurisdiction under prerequisites substantially in accordance with paragraphs (a), (b), or (c), or another state has declined...

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8 cases
  • Hoskins v. Maricle, No. 2002-SC-0579-MR.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court (Kentucky)
    • 26 Agosto 2004
    ...Petrey v. Cain, Ky., 987 S.W.2d 786, 788 (1999), Coms v. Transp. Cabinet, Ky., 814 S.W.2d 574, 578 (1991), and Wood v. Graham, Ky., 633 S.W.2d 404, 406 (1982), none of which imposed or recited the "inadequate remedy" requirement, with Lewis LP Gas, Inc. v. Lambert, Ky., 113 S.W.3d 171, 175 ......
  • Hoskins v. Maricle, No. 2002-SC-0579-MR (KY 12/16/2004), 2002-SC-0579-MR.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court (Kentucky)
    • 16 Diciembre 2004
    ...Petrey v. Cain, Ky., 987 S.W.2d 786, 788 (1999), Corns v. Transp. Cabinet, Ky., 814 S.W.2d 574, 578 (1991), and Wood v. Graham, Ky., 633 S.W.2d 404, 406 (1982), none of which imposed or recited the "inadequate remedy" requirement, with Lewis LP Gas, Inc. v. Lambert, Ky., 113 S.W.3d 171, 175......
  • v. A.H., 2014-CA-001240-ME
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Kentucky
    • 17 Abril 2015
    ...Act" when, in fact, the UCCJA was comprised of KRS 403.400 et seq. B.F. v. T.D., 194 S.W.3d 310, 311 fn1 (Ky. 2006); Wood v. Graham, 633 S.W.2d 404, 405 (Ky. 1982) ("The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act was adopted, in its present form, in 1980. KRS 403.400 et seq."). 5. Troxel v. Gra......
  • Goff v. Goff, 2003-SC-000477-DG.
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court (Kentucky)
    • 22 Septiembre 2005
    ...508 S.W.2d 764, 766 (Ky.1974) (adopting that Kentucky must have "maximum contacts" to exercise continuing jurisdiction); Wood v. Graham, 633 S.W.2d 404 (Ky.1982) (holding that where a child had never lived outside of Ohio, was brought by the father to Kentucky prior to a filing for dissolut......
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