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Matthew James Brendev.Qynne Marie Brende

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A14A2262
DecidedJanuary 27, 2015
Reporter330 Ga. App. 556; 768 S.E.2d 531
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia; Presiding Judge Andrews, Judge McFadden, and Judge Ray
Tags
CivilFamily LawChild CustodyCivil ProcedureStatutory InterpretationDeclaratory JudgmentVacaturRemand
Case Summary

Matthew Brende sought custody of his unborn child in a Georgia divorce proceeding after the child’s mother moved to Oregon. Before the birth, the trial court assumed the child would be born in Oregon and ruled that Oregon would have exclusive jurisdiction under the UCCJEA. The Court of Appeals held that this anticipatory ruling was advisory and declined to decide how the Act applied to a child based on future circumstances; it directed the trial court to reconsider jurisdiction in light of the child’s birth and other relevant events, including the UCCJEA’s home-state and temporary-emergency provisions. The court vacated only the jurisdictional ruling and did not address another unchallenged ruling in the divorce order. Judge Ray concurred in the judgment only.

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