Wyoming Statutes

Wyo. Stat. § 20-5-304 (2026)

Temporary emergency jurisdiction.

✓ current as of May 2026
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(a) A court of this state has temporary emergency
jurisdiction if the child is present in this state and the child
has been abandoned or it is necessary in an emergency to protect
the child because the child, the child's sibling or a parent of
the child is subjected to or threatened with mistreatment or
abuse.

     (b) If there is no previous child custody determination
that is entitled to be enforced under this act and a child
custody proceeding has not been commenced in a court of a state
having jurisdiction under a provision of law from that state
that is in substantial conformity with W.S. 20-5-301 through
20-5-303, a child custody determination made under this section
remains in effect until an order is obtained from a court of a
state having jurisdiction under a provision of law in
substantial conformity with W.S. 20-5-301 through 20-5-303. If
a child custody proceeding has not been or is not commenced in a
court of a state having jurisdiction under a provision of law
from that state that is in substantial conformity with W.S.
20-5-301 through 20-5-303, a child custody determination made
under this section becomes a final determination, if it so
provides and this state becomes the home state of the child.

     (c) If there is a previous child custody determination
that is entitled to be enforced under this act, or a child
custody proceeding has been commenced in a court of a state
having jurisdiction under a provision of law from that state
that is in substantial conformity with W.S. 20-5-301 through
20-5-303, any order issued by a court of this state under this
section shall specify in the order a period that the court
considers adequate to allow the person seeking an order to
obtain an order from the state having jurisdiction under a
provision of law from that state that is in substantial
conformity with W.S. 20-5-301 through 20-5-303. The order
issued in this state remains in effect until an order is
obtained from the other state within the period specified or the
period expires.

     (d) A court of this state which has been asked to make a
child custody determination under this section, upon being
informed that a child custody proceeding has been commenced in,
or a child custody determination has been made by, a court of
another state having jurisdiction under a provision of law from
that state that is in substantial conformity with W.S. 20-5-301
through 20-5-303, shall immediately communicate with the other
court. A court of this state which is exercising jurisdiction
pursuant to W.S. 20-5-301 through 20-5-303, upon being informed
that a child custody proceeding has been commenced in, or a
child custody determination has been made by, a court of another
state under a statute similar to this section shall immediately
communicate with the court of that state to resolve the
emergency, protect the safety of the parties and the child and
determine a period for the duration of the temporary order.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 4 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2007–2026 · leading case: In the Interest of Nc & Am, Minor Child., Sc & Fc, Iii v. State of Wyoming, Dep't of Fam. Servs., 2013 WY 2 (Wyo. 2013).
In the Interest of Nc & Am, Minor Child., Sc & Fc, Iii v. State of Wyoming, Dep't of Fam. Servs., 2013 WY 2 (Wyo. 2013). · cites it 4× “Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-5-304 (d). In that regard, we anticipate the district court will find a receptive audience with the Texas court.”
Renee Michelle Tracy, n/k/a Renee Michelle Buchli v. Shane Elwood Tracy, 2017 WY 17 (Wyo. 2017). “, § 20-5-304, dealing with temporary emergency jurisdiction.”
Prickett v. Prickett, 2007 WY 153 (Wyo. 2007). “§ 20-5-302 (a), which states: (a) Except as provided in W.S. 20-5-304, a court of this state which has made a child custody determination consistent with W.”
Ralph Walton Callaway, Jr. v. Megan Moynihan Callaway, 2026 WY 41 (Wyo. 2026). “Unless the court enters a temporary emergency order under W.S. 20-5-304, the enforcing court may not stay an order enforcing a child custody determination pending appeal.”
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.