As discussed in a previous post, Guam law allows for people to obtain a “consent divorce” if one of them has been physically on Guam for at least seven (7) days. While this may be true for distributing property and debt, Guam law governing awarding child custody has different legal requirements.
Guam has enacted the “Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act” which is known as the “UCCJEA” for short. The UCCJEA, amongst other things, spells out what under what circumstances Guam courts can award custody over children. A party can file an action on Guam dealing with child custody under four (4) circumstances, but I want to focus on the first which is when Guam is the “home state” of the child within six (6) months of filing the case. “Home State” means the State or Territory in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least six (6) consecutive months immediately before the commencement of a childcustody proceeding. This means that, under this prong of the UCCJEA, Guam courts can only make a decision on child custody if the minor has lived on Guam for at least six (6) months before the case was filed.
Some people have obtained a divorce by default on Guam after being physically on the island for at least ninety (90) days that includes an award of custody. What if there is an award of custody but the children do not live on Guam? I would argue that, under the UCCJEA, a Guam court would not have jurisdiction to award a party custody over children who do not live on Guam or who have not lived on Guam for six (6) months unless one of the other three (3) grounds for jurisdiction exist.
Resources
You can read the UCCJEA here (Guam Compiler of Laws link).
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