Terms Used In Florida Statutes 61.502

  • Child: means an individual who has not attained 18 years of age. See Florida Statutes 61.503
  • State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Florida Statutes 61.503
The general purposes of this part are to:

(1) Avoid jurisdictional competition and conflict with courts of other states in matters of child custody which have in the past resulted in the shifting of children from state to state with harmful effects on their well-being.
(2) Promote cooperation with the courts of other states to the end that a custody decree is rendered in the state that can best decide the case in the interest of the child.
(3) Discourage the use of the interstate system for continuing controversies over child custody.
(4) Deter abductions.
(5) Avoid relitigating the custody decisions of other states in this state.
(6) Facilitate the enforcement of custody decrees of other states.
(7) Promote and expand the exchange of information and other forms of mutual assistance between the courts of this state and those of other states concerned with the same child.
(8) Make uniform the law with respect to the subject of this part among the states enacting it.