V.K. v. K.K.

Citations

• 2022 Ohio 1661

Syllabus

Child custody proceeding R.C. 3127.15(A) Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act UCCJEA R.C. 3127.01(B)(7) home state temporary absence R.C. 3127.04(A) foreign country treated as a state R.C. 3127.22 unjustified conduct. Appellant's complaint for child custody was properly dismissed based on lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Appellant and appellee, both Indian citizens, lived in Ohio when their child was born. A few months after the child's birth, appellant and appellee traveled with their child to India to attend a wedding. Appellant returned to Ohio, leaving appellee and the child in India for nearly a year. A few days after appellee and the child returned to Ohio, appellant filed for divorce and custody of the child. Because appellee lived with the child in India for more than six months immediately preceding commencement of the child custody proceeding, India has home-state jurisdiction under R.C. 3127.01(B)(7) and 3127.15(A)(1) to make the initial custody determination. The record did not support appellant's argument that appellee engaged in unjustifiable conduct under R.C. 3727.22 by deliberately delaying her and the child's return to Ohio to create jurisdiction in India.