Terms Used In Maryland Code, FAMILY LAW 9.7-105

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • state: means :

    (1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States; or

    (2) the District of Columbia. See
(a) A petition under this title may be filed only in a court that has jurisdiction to make a child custody determination with respect to the child at issue under Title 9.5 of this article.

(b) A court in this State shall have temporary emergency jurisdiction under § 9.5-204 of this article if the court finds a credible risk of abduction of a child.