(a)  Except as otherwise provided, a court of this state which has made a child custody determination consistent with this chapter has exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over the determination until:

(1)  A court of this state determines that neither the child, the child’s parents, and any person acting as a parent do not have a significant connection with this state and that substantial evidence is no longer available in this state concerning the child’s care, protection, training, and personal relationships; or

(2)  A court of this state or a court of another state determines that the child, the child’s parents, and any person acting as a parent do not presently reside in this state.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 15-14.1-14

  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Initial determination: means the first child custody determination concerning a particular child;

    (9)  "Issuing court" means the court that makes a child custody determination for which enforcement is sought under this chapter;

    (10)  "Issuing state" means the state in which a child custody determination is made;

    (11)  "Modification" means a child custody determination that changes, replaces, supercedes, or is otherwise made after a previous determination concerning the same child, whether or not it is made by the court that made the previous determination;

    (12)  "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity;

    (13)  "Person acting as a parent" means a person, other than a parent, who:

    (i)  Has physical custody of the child or has had physical custody for a period of six (6) consecutive months, including any temporary absence, within one year immediately before the commencement of a child custody proceeding; and

    (ii)  Has been awarded legal custody by a court or claims a right to legal custody under the law of this state. See Rhode Island General Laws 15-14.1-2

  • 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: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6

(b)  A court of this state which has made a child custody determination and does not have exclusive, continuing jurisdiction under this section may modify that determination only if it has jurisdiction to make an initial determination pursuant to this chapter.

History of Section.
P.L. 2003, ch. 307, § 2; P.L. 2003, ch. 322, § 2.