Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes

23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5422 (2026)

Exclusive, continuing jurisdiction.

✓ current as of May 2026

Coverage note: this corpus holds the consolidated Pa.C.S. titles only. Unconsolidated P.S. statutes (UTPCPL 73 P.S. § 201-1, Liquor Code, wage payment laws) are not included; a miss here does not mean the statute does not exist. Check palegis.us.

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section PA-LEGpalegis.us JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

§ 5422. Exclusive, continuing jurisdiction.

(a) General rule.--Except as otherwise provided in section 5424 (relating to temporary emergency jurisdiction), a court of this Commonwealth which has made a child custody determination consistent with section 5421 (relating to initial child custody jurisdiction) or 5423 (relating to jurisdiction to modify determination) has exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over the determination until:

(1) a court of this Commonwealth determines that neither the child, nor the child and one parent, nor the child and a person acting as a parent have a significant connection with this Commonwealth and that substantial evidence is no longer available in this Commonwealth concerning the child's care, protection, training and personal relationships; or

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

(b) Modification where court does not have exclusive, continuing jurisdiction.--A court of this Commonwealth which has made a child custody determination and does not have exclusive, continuing jurisdiction under this section may modify that determination only if it has jurisdiction to make an initial determination under section 5421.

Cross References. Section 5422 is referred to in sections 5210, 5423, 5424, 5428 of this title.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 46 cases (10 in the last 5 years), 2009–2026 · leading case: B.A.B. v. J.J.B., 166 A.3d 395 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2017).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

B.A.B. v. J.J.B., 166 A.3d 395 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2017). · cites it 2× “12 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422(a). Under Section 5423, however, a court with “exclusive, continuing jurisdiction” may determine “that a court of [another county] would be a more convenient forum under section 5427.”

Boback, T. v. Pershing, C. v. Boback, M., 311 A.3d 1126 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2024). · cites it 3× “” 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422 cmt. Section 5402 of the UCCJEA defines “person acting as a parent” as “[a] person, other than a parent, who: (1) has physical custody of the child or has had physical custody for a period of six consecutive months, including any temporary absence, within one…”

Gates v. Gates, 967 A.2d 1024 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2009). “See 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422(a). . The order also addressed the parties' conduct during their respective periods of physical custody and during custody exchanges.”

Plummer v. Plummer, 823 S.E.2d 258 (Ga. 2019). “§ 50A-202 ; 23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5422 ; Tenn. Code Ann.”

J.K. v. W.L.K., 102 A.3d 511 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2014). “2011) ("An order to transfer custody jurisdiction is not a modification of a custody order pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422(b)."). . § 5427. Inconvenient forum (a) General rule.”

B.L. v. T.B., 152 A.3d 1014 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2016). “See 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422; Tex. Fam. Code Ann. §§ 152.”

A.D. v. M.A.B., 989 A.2d 32 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2010). “s exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over the determination until: (1) a court of this Commonwealth determines that neither the child, nor the child and one parent, nor the child and a person acting as a parent have a significant connection with this Commonwealth and that…”

Matter of Duran v. Mercado, 2017 NY Slip Op 7725 (N.Y. App. Div. 2017). “Here, the record is clear that Pennsylvania had exclusive, continuing jurisdiction over the custody dispute, as the father continued to reside in Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania court had not determined that New York would be a more appropriate forum (see Domestic Relations…”

Boback, T. v. Pershing, C. v. Boback, M., 2024 Pa. Super. 30 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2024). · cites it 3× “” 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422 cmt. Section 5402 of the UCCJEA defines “person acting as a parent” as “[a] person, other than a parent, who: (1) has physical custody of the child or has had physical custody for a period of six consecutive months, including any temporary absence, within one…”

B.J.D. v. D.L.C., 19 A.3d 1081 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2011). “An order to transfer custody jurisdiction is not a modification of a custody order pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422(b). However, even if it were, our result would be the same.”

Oleski, J. & S. v. Hathaway, C. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2021). · cites it 7× “Whether the [trial] court committed an error of law in granting [grandparents’] request for modification when it lacked exclusive ongoing jurisdiction under 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422? 2. Whether the [trial] court committed an error of law in modifying the status quo custody order…”

A.J.Z. v. J.A.J. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2017). · cites it 3× “at 516, quoting 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422. Pursuant to the dictates of Section 5422, the panel concluded Chester County “ha[d] lost the exclusive, continuing authority to exercise its venue over [the] matter,” as neither the parties’ nor their children had resided in Chester County…”

Show all 46 citing cases →

— 23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5422(a) — 19 cases

B.A.B. v. J.J.B., 166 A.3d 395 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2017). “12 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422(a). Under Section 5423, however, a court with “exclusive, continuing jurisdiction” may determine “that a court of [another county] would be a more convenient forum under section 5427.”

Boback, T. v. Pershing, C. v. Boback, M., 311 A.3d 1126 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2024). “” 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422 cmt. Section 5402 of the UCCJEA defines “person acting as a parent” as “[a] person, other than a parent, who: (1) has physical custody of the child or has had physical custody for a period of six consecutive months, including any temporary absence, within one…”

Boback, T. v. Pershing, C. v. Boback, M., 2024 Pa. Super. 30 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2024). “” 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422 cmt. Section 5402 of the UCCJEA defines “person acting as a parent” as “[a] person, other than a parent, who: (1) has physical custody of the child or has had physical custody for a period of six consecutive months, including any temporary absence, within one…”

— 23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5422(a)(1) — 6 cases

Oleski, J. & S. v. Hathaway, C. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2021). “Whether the [trial] court committed an error of law in granting [grandparents’] request for modification when it lacked exclusive ongoing jurisdiction under 23 Pa.C.S. § 5422? 2. Whether the [trial] court committed an error of law in modifying the status quo custody order…”

A.F. v. A.S., Appeal of: D.M & P.M. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2020).

S.D.G. v. C.A.B. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2021).

Jacobs, D. v. Loughery, N. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2025).

Chaney, V. v. Andrews, A. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2026).

— 23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5422(a)(2) — 3 cases

Gutshall, C. v. Thomas, T. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2024).

M.W. & A.W. v. H.W. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2017).

OMalley, K. v. Isquierdo, D., 2025 Pa. Super. 203 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2025).

— 23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5422(a)(l) — 1 case

S.C. v. A.M. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2016).

— 23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5422(b) — 6 cases

Bjd v. Dlc, 19 A.3d 1081 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2011).

OMalley, K. v. Isquierdo, D., 2025 Pa. Super. 203 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2025).

M.M. v. J.M. (Pa. Super. Ct. 2019).

— 23 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5422(d) — 2 cases

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.