State ex rel. N.G. v. Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas

Mother filed a complaint in an Ohio court seeking to establish paternity and an allocation of parental rights. Father lived in Virginia. Father filed a petition for custody in a Virginia court and moved to dismiss Mother’s complaint in the Ohio court. The Ohio and Virginia courts decided that Virginia was the children’s “home state” under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. The Ohio court then dismissed Mother’s Ohio case. The Ohio court of appeals reversed the dismissal, and, on remand, the Ohio court found that Ohio was the home state of the parties’ children. Father filed this original action in prohibition arguing that the Ohio court lacked jurisdiction to proceed with a custody determination because the Virginia court had already taken jurisdiction and determined custody. The court of appeals granted the writ. Mother, who was not named as a party in the prohibition case, filed a motion to intervene a motion for relief from the judgment. The court of appeals denied both motions. The Supreme Court (1) reversed the denial of Mother’s motion to intervene, holding that the court of appeals erred in denying this motion; and (2) denied Father’s motions strike Mother’s notice of appeal and to dismiss the case and to impose sanctions. View "State ex rel. N.G. v. Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas" on Justia Law