Also known as: child custody proceedings · custody proceeding
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal action in which a court determines custody, visitation, or guardianship of a minor child. The proceeding may seek an initial custody decree, modification of an existing order, or temporary relief during pending litigation. Courts apply the best-interests standard after considering affidavits or holding a hearing when a motion for temporary custody is contested.
Carmen Choi files for dissolution and simultaneously moves for temporary custody of the couple's two children. She supports the motion with an affidavit detailing her primary role in school and medical matters. Her spouse Carlos Castillo files an opposing affidavit claiming greater daily involvement. Because an objection exists, the court schedules a prompt hearing and applies the best-interests standard to decide the temporary order.
Chloe Chen sues her former partner Cody Callahan in federal court for tort damages arising from alleged interference with her parenting time. The federal judge dismisses the action, concluding that the dispute is inextricably tied to an ongoing state child custody proceeding and therefore falls within the domestic-relations exception.
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Curtis Cannon, living in State A, files a custody petition after his former spouse Cameron Cruz moves with their child to State B. State A enters a custody order without obtaining personal jurisdiction over Cruz. When Cruz later challenges enforcement in State B, the court refuses to recognize the order because personal jurisdiction over the absent parent was never secured.
Cascade Manufacturing's employee, a single mother, faces a state petition to terminate her parental rights. The court appoints counsel only for the child and proceeds without providing counsel to the mother. On appeal the mother argues that the absence of appointed counsel violated due process in the child custody proceeding that resulted in termination.
A party may move for a temporary custody order supported by an affidavit. If no objection is filed, the court may decide the motion on the affidavits alone. When an objection is filed, the court must hold a hearing and apply the best-interests standard before issuing the order.
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A custody proceeding is captioned "In re the Custody of [child's name]." A dissolution proceeding receives the separate caption "In re the Marriage of [spouses]." Consolidation for management does not erase these distinct caption requirements.
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The temporary order is vacated unless a parent or custodian moves that the proceeding continue as a custody action and the court finds after a hearing that the circumstances require entry of a custody decree in the child's best interests.
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A child-custody proceeding that pertains to an Indian child as defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act is not subject to the UCCJEA to the extent it is governed by that federal statute.
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…choice, unless it is found in the remark that for the wife “rights far more precious . . . than property will be cut off” in the custody proceeding. The force of this cardiac consideration is self-evident, but it seems to me to reflect a misapprehension as to the nature of a custody proceeding or a revision of the views that have…