Matter of Marriage of Greenlaw

Facts of Case

This is a child custody dispute. The mother, who is custodian of the child, challenges the subject matter jurisdiction of a Washington trial court to modify its own custody decree once the child and custodian have moved from the state of Washington and established a new "home state” under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, RCW 26.27.

Rosemary B. Greenlaw (the mother) and Daniel Smith III (the father) were married in January 1978. Their son, Alexander Geoffrey Smith (Alex), the child who is the subject of this proceeding, was born October 14, 1978. He is now 15 years old.…