Terms Used In 7 Guam Code Ann. § 39204

  • 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.
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(a) The Superior Court of Guam has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in Guam and the child has been abandoned or 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.

(b) If there is no previous child-custody determination that is entitled to be enforced under this Act and a child-custody proceeding has not been commenced in a court of a State having jurisdiction under sections 39201 through 39203, a child-custody determination made under this section

COL11192013
7 Guam Code Ann. CIVIL PROCEDURE
CH. 39 UNIFORM CHILD-CUSTODY JURISDICTION AND ENFORCEMENT ACT

remains in effect until an order is obtained from a court of a State having jurisdiction under sections 39201 through 39203. If a child-custody proceeding has not been or is not commenced in a court of a State having jurisdiction under sections 39201 through 39203, a child-custody determination made under this section becomes a final determination, if it so provides and Guam becomes the home State of the child.

(c) If there is a previous child-custody determination that is entitled to be enforced under this Act, or a child-custody proceeding has been commenced in a court of a State having jurisdiction under sections 39201 through 39203, any order issued by a court of Guam 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 sections 39201 through 39203. The order issued in Guam remains in effect until an order is obtained from the other State within the period specified or the period expires.

(d) A court of Guam 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 sections 39201 through 39203, shall immediately communicate with the other court. A court of Guam which is exercising jurisdiction pursuant to sections 39201 through
39203, 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.