(1) A court of this state has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in this state and:

(a) The child has been abandoned;

Terms Used In Florida Statutes 61.517

  • Abandoned: means left without provision for reasonable and necessary care or supervision. See Florida Statutes 61.503
  • Child: means an individual who has not attained 18 years of age. See Florida Statutes 61.503
  • Child custody determination: means a judgment, decree, or other order of a court providing for the legal custody, physical custody, residential care, or visitation with respect to a child. See Florida Statutes 61.503
  • Child custody proceeding: means a proceeding in which legal custody, physical custody, residential care, or visitation with respect to a child is an issue. See Florida Statutes 61.503
  • Court: means an entity authorized under the laws of a state to establish, enforce, or modify a child custody determination. See Florida Statutes 61.503
  • Home state: means the state in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least 6 consecutive months immediately before the commencement of a child custody proceeding. See Florida Statutes 61.503
  • 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.
  • Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, or government; governmental subdivision, agency, instrumentality, or public corporation; or any other legal or commercial entity. 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
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(b) It is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child, or a sibling or parent of the child, is subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse; or
(c) It is necessary in an emergency to protect the child because the child has been subjected to or is threatened with being subjected to sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures, as defined in s. 456.001.
(2) If there is no previous child custody determination that is entitled to be enforced under this part, and a child custody proceeding has not been commenced in a court of a state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514–61.516, a child custody determination made under this section remains in effect until an order is obtained from a court of a state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514–61.516. If a child custody proceeding has not been or is not commenced in a court of a state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514–61.516, a child custody determination made under this section becomes a final determination if it so provides and this state becomes the home state of the child.
(3) If there is a previous child custody determination that is entitled to be enforced under this part, or a child custody proceeding has been commenced in a court of a state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514–61.516, any order issued by a court of this state under this section must specify in the order a period that the court considers adequate to allow the person seeking an order to obtain an order from the state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514–61.516. The order issued in this state remains in effect until an order is obtained from the other state within the period specified or the period expires.
(4) A court of this state which has been asked to make a child custody determination under this section, upon being informed that a child custody proceeding has been commenced in, or a child custody determination has been made by, a court of a state having jurisdiction under ss. 61.514–61.516, shall immediately communicate with the other court. A court of this state which is exercising jurisdiction under ss. 61.514–61.516, upon being informed that a child custody proceeding has been commenced in, or a child custody determination has been made by, a court of another state under a statute similar to this section shall immediately communicate with the court of that state to resolve the emergency, protect the safety of the parties and the child, and determine a period for the duration of the temporary order.
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