Sams v. Boston

While I concur with the majority’s Syllabus, I would solve this issue on a different basis.

There is no question, as the majority points out in note 13 of its opinion, that at the time the wife filed for divorce and child custody in Wood County in October, 1983, the circuit court was the “home state” under W.Va.Code, 48-10-2(5) (1981),1 of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA). This was and had been the domicile of the parties and the children since at least July, 1972, when the parties were married in Wood County.

The fact that the father one month later “snatched” the children…