In Re Forlenza

140 S.W.3d 373 (Tex. 2004)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Ann Marie (W) and Robert Joseph Forlenza (H) were divorced in Collin County, Texas, on March 1, 1996. On July 23, 1997, the trial court signed an agreed modification order, modifying the original divorce decree, that granted H primary custody of their two children, now ten and fourteen years old, and the exclusive right to establish their primary physical residence. That same month, the children moved with H to Issaquah, Washington. Over the next five years, H moved with the children three more times - on August 30, 1998, they moved to Ohio, on February 19, 1999, they moved to Virginia, and on August 27, 2002, they moved to Colorado where they now reside. H lost his job in Virginia and was offered a two-year contract job in Taipei, Taiwan. W filed this suit on September 10, 2001, seeking to modify the prior agreed possession order. She also requested a restraining order prohibiting H from relocating the children outside the United States, which the trial court granted. H eventually filed a motion to dismiss alleging that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to issue an initial child-custody order, and alternatively requesting the trial court to decline jurisdiction in favor of Virginia, where the children then resided with their father and his new wife. The court denied H's motion and the parties proceeded to prepare the case for trial, which was ultimately set for February 3, 2003. H filed a second motion to dismiss alleging that the court did not have exclusive continuing jurisdiction under Texas Family Code section 152.202(a) to modify its previous child-custody order. The trial court conducted another evidentiary hearing and denied the motion. The court of appeals concluded that the trial court had abused its discretion and granted H's petition for writ of mandamus, ordering the trial court to vacate its prior order and dismiss the case. The Texas Supreme Court granted W's petition to determine whether the trial court retained exclusive continuing jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA).