Welch-Doden v. Roberts

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• stating that when another state is a child’s “home state,” that state has initial jurisdiction “regardless of any significant connections” to the forum state
• concluding that the provision allowing for the exercise of jurisdiction if the state qualified as the child’s home state at any time during the six months preceding the filing of the custody proceedings was intended to enlarge, not narrow, the assertion of “home state” jurisdiction
• interpreting Section 25-1031(A), such as in cases of abandonment or when “it is necessary in an emergency to protect the child . . . subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or abuse.” A.R.S. § 25-1034(A)
• “The drafters made it clear that the [UCCJEA] was to give priority to a finding of home state jurisdiction over any other jurisdictional provisions.”
• “If possible, each word or phrase [of a statute] must be given meaning so that no part is rendered void, superfluous, contradictory or insignificant.”
• “In construing statutes, we have a duty to interpret them in a way that promotes consistency, harmony, and function.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).