Orlando, FL asked in Family Law for Florida

Q: Is the My issue is child visitation. How does state jurisdictions apply?

We have gone to Mediation and we have a approved parenting plan and I have 100% physical custody of my daughter while her gets visitation. I live in Florida, he lives in DC, my daughter went to see him for Spring Braek, Covid19 hit and she got stuck up there and now he wont send her back and says he wants to keep her for the rest of the year and that Maryland/DC is now her home state anyway, so I have no say. I'm not opposed to letting her stay a few months longer per se, but if decide to let her stay, is that considered abandoning my daughter therefore giving up my rights? Is the parenting plan we have null and void? Because she has been up there for almost 6 months, does DC now have jurisdiction over her now like says? How does this work?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Terrence H Thorgaard
Terrence H Thorgaard
Answered
  • Freeeport, FL
  • Licensed in Florida

A: No. I suspect that the District of Columbia has adopted the Uniform Child Custody and Enforcement Act, as Florida and just about all of the other states have. If so, the way it works is that, once the courts of one state have ruled on custody, the courts of the other states would abide by that ruling, The six month rule determines which state has custody for an initial determination, not as in your case enforcement of a custody decree that has already been decided.

So what you need to do is find an attorney in D.C. to get the Florida custody order enforced there.

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