The Oklahoma Bar Journal January 2026

F amily L aw

The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act and In Re N.A. : Some Thoughts on Subject Matter Jurisdiction By Robert G. Spector T HE OKLAHOMA SUPREME COURT RECENTLY DECIDED a case concerning the jurisdictional underpinning of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (hereinafter UCCJEA), which raises questions regarding the role of the act. The case is In re N.A. , 1 a proceeding under the Children and Juvenile Code (the chil dren’s code) to declare the children deprived. The children lived in Oklahoma, Kansas and Mexico. There was an issue as to whether Oklahoma was the children’s home state, a neces sary determination under the UCCJEA in order for the state to make a determination as to their deprived status.

be governed by the UCCJEA, as the Legislature cannot limit the juris diction of the courts granted by the Oklahoma Constitution. It was then left with the question of what is the UCCJEA. The court decided that the UCCJEA is an act that simply determines which of two competing states with jurisdiction should make a custody determination. It noted that among its stated purposes, the UCCJEA is intended to avoid jurisdictional competition and conflict with courts of other states, promote cooperation with the courts of other states and avoid relitigation of custody decisions made by other states. 3 The court

then said the UCCJEA does not confer subject matter jurisdiction on a state court, nor does it abro gate an Oklahoma district court’s expansive, constitutionally con ferred subject matter jurisdiction. The UCCJEA merely instructs the district court as to when it should and should not exercise its subject matter jurisdiction. The court noted that prior UCCJEA cases have “loosely used the language of subject matter jurisdiction.” 4 It then held, “Let us be clear today, jurisdiction under the UCCJEA is a statutory, proce dural limitation that prescribes circumstances under which the

After batting down prelimi nary questions, 2 the court turned to the issue of jurisdiction under the UCCJEA. The jurisdiction of Oklahoma trial courts is set out in the Oklahoma Constitution in Article 7, Section 7. That section provides, “[T]he District Court shall have unlimited original jurisdiction of all justiciable mat ter.” Since deprived cases clearly fall within the normal standard of court cases, it follows that the court had subject matter jurisdiction. The Supreme Court reasoned that since subject matter jurisdic tion is controlled by the Oklahoma Constitution, it therefore could not

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL