Fletcher v. Fletcher

James R. Cooper, Judge.

The appellant in this child custody case challenges the jurisdiction of an Arkansas chancery court to grant custody of the parties’ minor child to the appellee. We agree that the chancery court lacked jurisdiction to make the child custody determination, and we reverse.

The appellant is a citizen of Great Britain and a resident alien in the United States. The parties met in England while the appellee, an enlisted man in the United States Air Force, was stationed at RAF Fairford. They were married in Blytheville, Arkansas, on August 19,1980. The day after they were…