GCA Title 7, Chapter 39
7 GCA CIVIL PROCEDURE CH. 39 UNIFORM CHILD-CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT
CHAPTER 39 UNIFORM CHILD-CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT
SOURCE : Entire Chapter added by P.L. 28-037:2 (Apr. 22, 2005). Sections renumbered by Compiler to fit this Chapter. Article 1. General Provisions. Article 2. Jurisdiction. Article 3. Enforcement. Article 4. Miscellaneous Provisions.
ARTICLE 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 39101. Short Title.
- § 39102. Definitions. § 39103. Proceedings Governed by other Law.
- § 39104. Application to Indian Tribes.
- § 39105. International Application of Act.
- § 39106. Effect of Child-Custody Determination.
- § 39107. Priority.
- § 39108. Notice to Persons Outside Guam.
- § 39109. Appearance and Limited Immunity.
- § 39110. Communication Between Courts.
- § 39111. Taking Testimony in Another State.
- § 39112. Cooperation Between Courts; Preservation of Records.
§ 39101. Short Title.
This Act may be cited as the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.
§ 39102. Definitions.
As used in this Act: (a) ‘Abandoned’ means left without provision for reasonable and necessary care or supervision. (b) ‘Child’ means an individual who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. (c) ‘Child-custody determination’ means a judgment, decree, or other order of a court providing for the legal custody, physical custody, or visitation with respect to a child. The term includes a permanent, temporary, initial, and modification order. The term does not include an order relating to child support or other monetary obligation of an individual. (d) ‘Child-custody proceeding’ means a proceeding in which legal custody, physical custody, or visitation with respect to a child is an issue. The term includes a proceeding for divorce, separation, neglect, abuse, dependency, guardianship, paternity, termination of parental rights, and protection from domestic violence, in which the issue may appear. The term does not include a proceeding involving juvenile delinquency, contractual emancipation, or enforcement under Article 3. (e) ‘Commencement’ means the filing of the first pleading in a proceeding. (f) ‘Court’ means an entity authorized under the law of a State or Territory to establish, enforce, or modify a child-custody determination. (g) ‘Home State’ means the State or Territory in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least six (6) consecutive months immediately before the commencement of a childcustody proceeding. In the case of a child less than six (6) months of age, the term means the State or Territory in which the child lived from birth with any of the persons mentioned. A period of temporary absence of any of the mentioned persons is part of the period. (h) ‘Initial determination’ means the first child-custody determination concerning a particular child. (i) ‘Issuing court’ means the court that makes a child-custody determination for which enforcement is sought under this Act. (j) ‘Issuing State’ means the State or Territory in which a childcustody determination is made. (k) ‘Modification’ means a child-custody determination that changes, replaces, supersedes, or is otherwise made after a previous determination concerning the same child, whether or not it is made by the court that made the previous determination. (l) ‘Person’ means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government; governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; public corporation; or any other legal or commercial entity. (m) ‘Person acting as a parent’ means a person, other than a parent, who: (1 has physical custody of the child or has had physical custody for a period of six (6) consecutive months, including any temporary absence, within one (1) year immediately before the commencement of a child-custody proceeding; and (2) has been awarded legal custody by a court or claims a right to legal custody under the laws of Guam. (n) ‘physical custody’ means the physical care and supervision of a child. (o) ‘State’ means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. (p) ‘Warrant’ means an order issued by a court authorizing law enforcement officers to take physical custody of a child. 2013 NOTE: Numbers and/or letters were altered to adhere to the Compiler’s alphanumeric scheme in accordance to 1 GCA § 1606.
§ 39103. Proceedings Governed by Other Law.
This Act does not govern an adoption proceeding or a proceeding pertaining to the authorization of emergency medical care for a child.
§ 39104. Application to Indian Tribes.
A child-custody proceeding that pertains to an Indian child as defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq., is not subject to this Act to the extent that it is governed by the Indian Child Welfare Act.
§ 39105. International Application of Act.
(a) The Superior Court of Guam shall treat a foreign country as if it were a State of the United States for the purpose of applying Articles 1 and 2. (b) Except as otherwise provided in Subsection (c), a child-custody determination made in a foreign country under factual circumstances in substantial conformity with the jurisdictional standards of this Act must be recognized and enforced under Article 3. (c) The Superior Court of Guam need not apply this Act if the child custody law of a foreign country violates fundamental principles of human rights.
§ 39106. Effect of Child-Custody Determination.
A child-custody determination made by a court of Guam that had jurisdiction under this Act binds all persons who have been served in accordance with the laws of Guam or notified in accordance with subsection 108 or who have submitted to the jurisdiction of the court, and who have been given an opportunity to be heard. As to those persons, the determination is conclusive as to all decided issues of law and fact, except to the extent the determination is modified.
§ 39107. Priority.
If a question of existence or exercise of jurisdiction under this Act is raised in a child-custody proceeding, the question, upon request of a party, must be given priority on the calendar and handled expeditiously.
§ 39108. Notice to Persons Outside Guam.
(a) Notice required for the exercise of jurisdiction when a person is outside Guam may be given in a manner prescribed by the laws of Guam for service of process or by the laws of the State in which the service is made. Notice must be given in a manner reasonably calculated to give actual notice but may be by publication if other means are not effective. (b) Proof of service may be made in the manner prescribed by the laws of Guam or by the laws of the State in which the service is made. (c) Notice is not required for the exercise of jurisdiction with respect to a person who submits to the jurisdiction of the court.
§ 39109. Appearance and Limited Immunity.
(a) A party to a child-custody proceeding, including a modification proceeding, or a petitioner or respondent in a proceeding to enforce or register a child-custody determination, is not subject to personal jurisdiction in Guam for another proceeding or purpose solely by reason of having participated, or of having been physically present for the purpose of participating, in the proceeding. (b) A person who is subject to personal jurisdiction in Guam on a basis other than physical presence is not immune from service of process in Guam. A party present in Guam who is subject to the jurisdiction of another State is not immune from service of process allowable under the laws of that State. (c) The immunity granted by Subsection (a) does not extend to civil litigation based on acts unrelated to the participation in a proceeding under this Act committed by an individual while present in Guam.
§ 39110. Communication Between Courts.
(a) A court of Guam may communicate with a court in another State concerning a proceeding arising under this Act. (b) The court may allow the parties to participate in the communication. If the parties are not able to participate in the communication, they must be given the opportunity to present facts and legal arguments before a decision on jurisdiction is made. (c) Communication between courts on schedules, calendars, court records, and similar matters may occur without informing the parties. A record need not be made of the communication. (d) Except as otherwise provided in Subsection (c), a record must be made of a communication under this section. The parties must be informed promptly of the communication and granted access to the record. (e) For the purposes of this section, ‘record’ means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
§ 39111. Taking Testimony in Another State.
(a) In addition to other procedures available to a party, a party to a child-custody proceeding may offer testimony of witnesses who are located in another State, including testimony of the parties and the child, by deposition or other means allowable in Guam for testimony taken in another State. The court on its own motion may order that the testimony of a person be taken in another State and may prescribe the manner in which and the terms upon which the testimony is taken. (b) A court of Guam may permit an individual residing in another State to be deposed or to testify by telephone, audiovisual means, or other electronic means before a designated court or at another location in that State. A court of Guam shall cooperate with courts of other States in designating an appropriate location for the deposition or testimony. (c) Documentary evidence transmitted from another State to a court of Guam by technological means that do not produce an original writing may not be excluded from evidence on an objection based on the means of transmission.
§ 39112. Cooperation Between Courts; Preservation of Records.
(a) A court of Guam may request the appropriate court of another State to:
- hold an evidentiary hearing; (2) order a person to produce or give evidence pursuant to procedures of that State; (3) order that an evaluation be made with respect to the custody of a child involved in a pending proceeding; (4) forward to the court of Guam a certified copy of the transcript of the record of the hearing, the evidence otherwise presented, and any evaluation prepared in compliance with the request; and (5) order a party to a child-custody proceeding or any person having physical custody of the child to appear in the proceeding with or without the child. (b) Upon request of a court of another State, a court of Guam may hold a hearing or enter an order described in Subsection (a). (c) Travel and other necessary and reasonable expenses incurred under Subsections (a) and (b) may be assessed against the parties according to the laws of Guam. (d) The Superior Court of Guam shall preserve the pleadings, orders, decrees, records of hearings, evaluations, and other pertinent records with respect to a child-custody proceeding until the child attains eighteen (18) years of age. Upon appropriate request by a court or law enforcement official of another State, the court shall forward a certified copy of those records.
ARTICLE 2 JURISDICTION
§ 39201. Initial Child-Custody Jurisdiction.
- § 39202. Exclusive, Continuing Jurisdiction.
- § 39203. Jurisdiction to Modify Determination.
- § 39204. Temporary Emergency Jurisdiction.
- § 39205. Notice; Opportunity to be Heard; Joinder.
- § 39206. Simultaneous Proceedings.
- § 39207. Inconvenient Forum. § 39208. Jurisdiction Declined by Reason of Conduct. § 39209. Information to Be Submitted to Court. § 39210. Appearance of Parties And Child.
§ 39201. Initial Child-Custody Jurisdiction.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in section 39204, the Superior Court of Guam has jurisdiction to make an initial child-custody determination only if: (1) Guam is the home State of the child on the date of the commencement of the proceeding, or was the home State of the child within six (6) months before the commencement of the proceeding and the child is absent from Guam but a parent or person acting as a parent continues to live in Guam; (2) a court of another State does not have jurisdiction under paragraph (1), or a court of the home State of the child has declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that Guam is the more appropriate forum under section 39207 or 39208, and: (A) the child and the child’s parents, or the child and at least one (1) parent or a person acting as a parent, have a significant connection with Guam other than mere physical presence; and (B) substantial evidence is available in Guam concerning the child’s care, protection, training, and personal relationships; (3) all courts having jurisdiction under paragraph (1) or (2) have declined to exercise jurisdiction on the ground that the Superior Court of Guam is the more appropriate forum to determine the custody of the child under section 39207 or 39208; or (4) no court of any other State would have jurisdiction under the criteria specified in paragraph (1), (2), or (3). (b) Subsection (a) is the exclusive jurisdictional basis for making a child-custody determination by the Superior Court of Guam. (c) Physical presence of, or personal jurisdiction over, a party or a child is not necessary or sufficient to make a child-custody determination.
§ 39202. Exclusive, Continuing Jurisdiction.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in section 39204, a court of Guam which has made a child-custody determination consistent with sections 39201 or 39203 has exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over the determination until: (1) a court of Guam determines that neither the child, the child’s parents, and any person acting as a parent do not have a significant connection with Guam and that substantial evidence is no longer available in Guam concerning the child’s care, protection, training, and personal relationships; or (2) a court of Guam or a court of another State determines that the child, the child’s parents, and any person acting as a parent do not presently reside in Guam. (b) A court of Guam which has made a child-custody determination and does not have exclusive, continuing jurisdiction under this section may modify that determination only if it has jurisdiction to make an initial determination under section 39201.
§ 39203. Jurisdiction to Modify Determination.
Except as otherwise prov