CALIFORNIA FAMILY LAW
...Interstate Custody/UCCJEA
......Jurisdictional Issues
.........Emergency Jurisdiction
 15 Cards On This Topic:
  • Temporary emergency UCCJEA jurisdiction.
  • Temporary emergency jurisdiction authorized for child seeking gender-affirming care.
  • UCCJEA not applicable to authorization of emergency medical care for a child.
  • Before finding grave risk, court must consider whether alternative remedies are available to protect the child on return.
  • COVID-19 does not satisfy the requirement of showing "grave risk" on return absent specific evidence reasonable and necessary precautions will not be taken to protect the child.
  • Child abducted by H to U.S. must be returned to mother and habitual residence in Panama where there was no exception of grave risk of harm to C.
  • Juvenile ct. erred in assuming permanent jurisdiction over Cs without first contacting Mex. to allow it to decide whether or not to exercise home state jurisdiction.
  • Juvenile court properly took emergency jurisdiction of Cs whose mother was smuggling heroin from Mex., and orders remain in effect until Mex. is notified and a custody proceeding has began there.
  • When faced with “grave risk” exception, courts must fashion undertakings to ensure safety and quick return of child to habitual residence which do not require the cooperation of abducting parent.
  • Where no jurisdictional competition or conflict, juvenile court properly exercised emergency jurisdiction and CA was proper forum under UCCJEA when it declared C dependent and removed him from parental custody.
  • Court erred in awarding emergency custody to W and ordering Cs' return to Germany while failing to make factual findings on whether return would expose them to substantial risk of harm under Hague Convention exceptions.
  • Child who is a foreign national cannot be made the subject of the Cal. juvenile dependency law simply because Cal. offers better medical care than child's home state.
  • Cal. court's finding C abused by F, though not authorized by UCCJEA, included finding under UCCJEA that emergency existed; this sufficient to invoke emergency jurisdiction under UCCJEA.
  • Cal. court properly placed C with mother and terminated jurisdiction where no continuing emergency existed.
  • Although emergency jurisdiction is short-term and limited, it may continue past the plenary hearing so long as the reasons underlying the dependency continue to exist.


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