Summary
The Louisiana First Circuit converted the Hecks' appeal into an application for supervisory writ because the amended trial court judgment lacked decretal language dismissing the action. The court upheld the Louisiana trial court's determination that Maryland retained jurisdiction over the child's guardianship under the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, because Maryland had not relinquished jurisdiction and Maryland contestants continued to reside there. The writ was granted for review, but the requested relief was denied, and costs were assessed to the Hecks.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Louisiana court had appellate jurisdiction over the trial court's judgment despite the judgment's failure to contain decretal language expressly dismissing the action.
- Whether the appeal should be converted into an application for supervisory writ.
- Whether the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act required Louisiana to recognize Maryland's continuing jurisdiction over the guardianship and visitation order.
- Whether Louisiana could modify the Maryland guardianship order when Maryland had initially exercised jurisdiction consistently with the PKPA and had not declined jurisdiction or made the statutory determinations necessary to terminate its continuing jurisdiction.
Holdings
- A judgment that does not name the parties against whom relief is granted and does not expressly dispose of or dismiss the claims is interlocutory and not appealable as a final judgment.
- An appellate court may convert an appeal from a nonappealable interlocutory judgment into an application for supervisory writ when the appeal would have been timely as a writ application and conversion serves judicial efficiency and fundamental fairness.
- Under the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act, Maryland retained continuing jurisdiction over the guardianship and visitation determination because Maryland had exercised jurisdiction consistently with the Act, Maryland remained the residence of contestants, and Maryland had not made the judicial determinations necessary to terminate its exclusive, continuing jurisdiction.
Key quotations
“The absence of the necessary decretal language means that the judgment is not final and appealable” (at 6)
“The proper procedural vehicle to contest an interlocutory judgment is an application for supervisory writs.” (at 7)
“Moreover, the Hecks are not precluded from seeking a modification of the Guardianship Order but must do so in Maryland.” (at 11)
“APPEAL CONVERTED TO A SUPERVISORY WRIT; WRIT GRANTED; RELIEF DENIED.” (at 12)
Factual background
G.F.G. was born in 2021 after both of her parents died. After initially living with maternal grandparents in Maryland, she was placed under the guardianship of her aunt and uncle, Samuel and Sarah Heck, who are domiciled in Louisiana, by a Maryland court's May 30, 2024 order. That order established periods for the child's residence in Louisiana and visitation with Maryland relatives and required the Hecks to submit annual guardianship reports. In January 2025, the Hecks sought in Louisiana to modify the visitation schedule, while four Maryland-resident relatives argued that Maryland retained continuing jurisdiction.
Procedural history
A Maryland court appointed the Louisiana-domiciled Hecks as guardians of G.F.G. and established a visitation schedule involving Maryland relatives. The Hecks later filed a Louisiana motion to revise that schedule. The 23rd Judicial District Court for Ascension Parish granted the appellees' jurisdictional exceptions and denied the motion, relying on the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act and the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. After the trial court issued an amended judgment that still failed to dismiss the action expressly, the Louisiana First Circuit converted the appeal to a supervisory writ and affirmed the jurisdictional ruling by denying relief.