In Re the Guardianship of T.H.

HARRIS, Justice.

The question here is whether Iowa can claim jurisdiction to open guardianships for two minor children, or must yield to initial jurisdiction of Colorado. The rules incumbent on us demand that this jurisdictional issue must be first addressed before we can consider the best interests of the children. This requirement, though far from rare, is particularly distressing because, if we could reach them, the underlying merits strongly favor the order opening Iowa guardianships, which was based on a finding of Iowa jurisdiction. Under the clear rules though, because Colorado claimed…