Opinion
No. 04-02-00638-CV.
Delivered and Filed: December 4, 2002.
This original mandamus proceeding arises out of No. 2002-CI-11254, styled In the Matter of the Marriage of Mina Cha and Cameron J. Scheel, pending in the 408th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas. The Honorable Janet Littlejohn, presiding judge of the 150th Judicial District Court, Bexar County, Texas, heard and ruled on the plea to the jurisdiction.
Gary A. Beahm, Gary A. Beahm, P.C., San Antonio, for appellant.
Jamie L. Graham, Law Offices of Jamie L. Graham, Judith Ramsey Saldana, Law Offices of Judith Ramsey Saldana, San Antonio, for appellee.
Sitting: PHIL HARDBERGER, Chief Justice, CATHERINE STONE, Justice, SARAH B. DUNCAN, Justice.
Motion to recosider petiton for writ of mandamus denied.
At issue is whether the trial court has jurisdiction to make child custody determinations under section 152.201 of the Texas Family Code. It is undisputed that Scheel's and Cha's children lived with them in Maryland for the six months before Cha filed the underlying divorce proceeding. Therefore, Maryland, not Texas, is the children's home state. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 152.102(7) (Vernon 2002). Since the Maryland courts have not declined jurisdiction, the Texas courts do not have jurisdiction to make custody determinations. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 152.201 (Vernon 2002). I would therefore issue the requested writ.