Can a state court refuse to enforce another state's custody order?

What the Law Says

The Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA), codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1738A, requires all U.S. states to give full faith and credit to child custody determinations made by courts in other states — provided those courts exercised jurisdiction consistently with the PKPA’s standards.

The PKPA is a federal statute designed to prevent parental kidnapping and promote uniformity in interstate custody disputes. It establishes national rules for determining which state has jurisdiction to make or modify a custody order.

Under the PKPA, the 'home state' — where the child lived with a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the custody proceeding — has priority jurisdiction. A state court must defer to a custody order from another state’s court if that court was the child’s home state or otherwise met PKPA jurisdictional requirements.

The law also prohibits a state from modifying another state’s custody order unless the original court no longer has jurisdiction or has declined to exercise it.

Statutory Text

The appropriate authorities of every State shall enforce according to its terms, and shall not modify except as provided in subsections (f), (g), and (h) of this section, any custody determination or visitation determination made consistently with the provisions of this section by a court of another State.

— 28 U.S.C. § 1738A(a) — Enforcement and nonmodification

Statutory Text

A child custody determination made by a court of a State is consistent with the provisions of this section only if... such court has jurisdiction under the law of such State... and... such State (i) is the home State of the child on the date of the commencement of the proceeding, or (ii) was the home State of the child within six months before the date of the commencement of the proceeding...

— 28 U.S.C. § 1738A(c)(1) — Consistency requirement

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