Legal Question in Family Law in Minnesota

Thank you for your inquiry. Additional information would be needed to fully respond to your question.

In general, if none of the parties nor the child continue to live in the decree-issuing state (in this case IA), the decree-issuing state would lose jurisdiction over future modifications of the original child custody decree. If the child is now residing in MN, and has resided in MN for six months or more with a parent, MN could exercise home state jurisdiction to modify the custody decree. Further clarification is needed,however, to understand the father's status in NC. Typically, child custody jurisdiction is based upon where the parents or child live (as opposed to reside). However, given that the father appears to be in the military, additional information would be needed to evaluate whether the father would be considered to have left IA within the meaning of the child custody statute.

If it appeared that IA continued to have modification jurisdiction, it is possible to request that IA decline modification jurisdiction in favor of the child's new home state (MN?). There is case law from the IA Supreme Court, which holds that it can be reversible error for the IA court to fail to decline jurisdiction in favor of the new home state.

I hope this information is helpful.