Friedman v. Nev. Dist. Court

Father and Mother's stipulated Nevada divorce decree incorporated the parents' agreement that Nevada would have exclusive jurisdiction over future custody disputes. The parents had joint legal custody, but when Husband and Wife were not able to work out a schedule for joint physical custody, Wife applied to Nevada's district court for an order awarding her primary physical custody. At this point, both parents and their children had moved to California. Husband initiated competing custody proceedings in California, maintaining that Nevada lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the dispute. The Nevada district court, meanwhile, provisionally granted Wife primary physical custody. Husband petitioned for a writ of prohibition and/or mandamus, directing the Nevada district court to stand down from its assertion of jurisdiction. The Supreme Court granted the writ, holding that under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), which Nevada and California had both adopted, California had jurisdiction as the children's home state, and Nevada could not proceed unless California determined that Nevada was the more convenient forum.