Articles

Interstate custody battle creates UCCJEA precedent: Photos and recordings kept by woman convinced Indiana court to decline jurisdiction

In March of 2021, Aubrey Shoemaker grabbed her child and fled from Indiana to the safety of her family in Alabama. The next day, she walked into an Alabama courthouse and filed a petition for an order of protection against her husband, Austin Shoemaker. Three days later, Austin filed for divorce and emergency custody of his child in Henry Circuit Court. Thus started a fight that initially involved two trial courts in different states issuing conflicting orders.

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Unchanged situation justifies custody reversal, COA rules

Divorced parents who feuded so much they were described as having “drawn their swords” battled over custody of their child such that two trial court judges differed on which parent should have primary custody, but the Court of Appeals of Indiana determined the considerations of the case “make it rather straightforward” that the father should be the primary custodial parent.

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