TN Has Custody Jurisdiction Over Children Born in Yemen

Tennessee child custody jurisdiction case summary.

Ahmed Mote Alzamzami v. Arwa Al-Sulaihi

The husband and wife in this Shelby County, Tennessee, case were married in 2004.  The husband had resided in the United States since he was eight years old, and the wife continued to reside in Yemen even after the marriage.  They had a daughter in 2004 and a son in 2007, and the children resided in Yemen with the wife.  The husband communicated little between 2013 and 2017, but occasionally sent money.  In 2017, the wife and children came to the United States after her brother paid for the relocation.  They lived with the brother for a short time until the husband moved them to Tennessee.  The husband took the children to the doctor and enrolled them in school, but did not allow the wife to take English classes, allow her to drive, or allow her to go to the hospital.  In 2018, the husband brandished a gun, the brother called the police, and the wife and children moved to Michigan.

The husband filed for divorce in Tennessee in 2018, and he included a petition to oppose parental relocation.  The trial court ordered the husband to provide the children with their documents, enjoined the wife from taking the children out of the country, and denied the husband parenting time, pending a hearing.

A hearing was held, and the trial court initially held that it had jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), based upon Tennessee being the children’s home state.  The mother was named the primary residential parent, and the court ordered that the children were to remain in Michigan with the wife.  The husband was granted parenting time, and was ordered to pay child support.

The wife filed a counter-petition for divorce, and ultimately obtained a default judgment.  The husband appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, raising a number of issues, including whether the trial court had jurisdiction under the UCCJEA.  After addressing some of the other issues, the appeals court turned to the jurisdictional issue, first addressing whether the initial exercise of jurisdiction was appropriate.

The critical time period for “home state” jurisdiction is the six months prior to filing.  And at the start of the six month period in this case, the wife and children were still in Yemen.  They had been in Tennessee for about three months of that period, with other time spent in Egypt, Delaware, and Michigan.  Since they had not resided in Tennessee for the six months, the appeals court held that “home state” jurisdiction was not appropriate.

However, there are other means by which a court can acquire jurisdiction, including “extended home state jurisdiction,” if Tennessee was their home state at any time within the six months.  This requires a significant connection, and no other state having jurisdiction.

In this case, the court agreed that there was initial jurisdiction, since no other state had jurisdiction, and there was a significant connection with Tennessee.

The court went on to note that jurisdiction attaches as the commencement of the proceeding,  but there might be reasons why a state loses jurisdiction.  After analyzing the facts of the case, the Court of Appeals held that ongoing jurisdiction was appropriate in this case, and that there had been no reason why Tennessee lost jurisdiction.  For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the custody rulings of the lower court.

After addressing other issues in the case, the Court of Appeals affirmed most of the lower court’s judgment, reversing only an award of attorney’s fees.

No. W2020-01467-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 7,  2022).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Child Custody Laws in Tennessee and our video, How is child custody determined in Tennessee?

See also Tennessee Parenting Plans and Child Support Worksheets: Building a Constructive Future for Your Family featuring examples of parenting plans and child support worksheets from real cases available on Amazon.com.