Case Update (2020): Begum v. Palanisamy; the difficulty of mirroring a U.S. custody order overseas and the conflict of continuing exclusive jurisdiction under the UCCJEA
The Appellate Division of the Superior Court of NJ's case of Begum v. Palanisamy involves a multi-jurisdictional family and a NJ custody order. While the opinion itself is merely about a variety of motions filed between the parties, there are some interesting issues that arise that allow this blog to address the mirroring or domesticating of U.S. custody orders in foreign countries. Under the parents' custody agreement, incorporated into a NJ court order, they shared joint legal custody of their minor daughter, and the child was permitted to relocate to Singapore, with the child's father in NJ having access to the child in Singapore and in the United States. The order also specified that NJ would retain jurisdiction over the custody matter and the parties were permitted, but not required, to domesticate the NJ custody order in Singapore. The parties returned to the NJ court not long after when the plaintiff mother sought Singaporean citizenship for the child, Alexis....