Except as otherwise provided in section 20-204, a court of this state may not modify a child custody determination made by a court of another state unless a court of this state has jurisdiction to make an initial determination under subdivision (1) or (2), subsection (a), section 20-201 and:

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Terms Used In West Virginia Code 48-20-203

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • State: means a state of the United States, or the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See West Virginia Code 48-14-601

(1) The court of the other state determines it no longer has exclusive, continuing jurisdiction under section 20-202 or that a court of this state would be a more convenient forum under section 20-207; or

(2) A court of this state or a court of the other state determines that the child, the child's parents and any person acting as a parent do not presently reside in the other state.