Parental Kidnapping

Generally, the custody of your child will be decided by a court in your child’s “home state”. A state is generally considered the child’s “home state” if all of the following factors are true:

1. It’s where the child has lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent;
2. They lived there for at least six months in a row (consecutively); and
3. The six-month period took place right before a child custody case was filed.¹

For a child less than six months old, the home state is where s/he has lived since birth with a parent or a person acting as a parent.¹

However, if you already have a custody order, then the state that issued that order might still have the power to make decisions about your child. This can be the case if at least one parent still lives there, even if the child no longer does.

The reason the child’s home state matters is that it determines which state’s court has the power to decide about custody. When a court or judge has the power to make decisions in a case, this is called having jurisdiction.

Note: Every situation is different. There may be exceptions to these general rules, or other reasons a different state might still have the power to make decisions about your child. Please see If I plan to move to another state, does it matter whether or not we have a custody order in place?

¹ UCCJEA § 102(7)