Bohmer v. Bohmer: the step-by-step build

The task

You are an associate at a Franklin firm representing Jessica Bohmer (the mother, pro bono). Her husband Alex filed for custody of their 6-year-old, Carrie, in Franklin on June 30, 2008. Jessica and Carrie now live in Columbia. The partner wants an objective memo answering two questions under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA).

1. Was Franklin or Columbia the home state under the UCCJEA when Alex filed on June 30, 2008?
2. Assuming Franklin is the home state, is a Motion to Decline Jurisdiction (inconvenient forum) likely to succeed, so the case can be heard in Columbia?

Tone + trap: this is predictive, not persuasive. The memo says give weaknesses as well as strengths. An answer that argues only Jessica's side gets marked down. No separate statement of facts is needed.

Your method: the six moves, applied to this file

1. Read the task memo twice to lock the structure: who you are, what you are writing, and the exact questions.
2. Work the Library and pull the rules from the statutes and the two cases. Tag each rule with a color.
3. Anchor your client and matter from the memo: a short, general spine of who and what.
4. Jot the case parties as you read each case, so you know what a winning (or losing) fact pattern looks like.
5. Work the File and match facts to rules: pull the relevant, similar, and contrasting facts under each colored rule.
6. Outline, then write in IRAC: Whether, Here, Therefore—both issues, both sides.

Step 1 · Read the task memo twice for the structure

First pass for the gist, second pass with your pen. The memo and the transcript hand you the whole skeleton. Write this spine at the top of your scratch paper before you read anything else:

• WHO YOU ARE — associate at Petrilla & Associates, a Franklin firm, for Jessica (pro bono).
• WORK PRODUCT — an objective memo to the partner. Detailed analysis, apply the authorities, give both sides.
• QUESTION 1 — home state = Franklin or Columbia on the filing date?
• QUESTION 2 — if Franklin is home state, will it decline as an inconvenient forum?
• GOAL — get the custody fight moved to Columbia, where Jessica feels safe and can file.

Step 2 · Work the Library: pull the rules

Read the Library before the File so you know what facts matter. Pull the black letter, then tag each rule with a color. You will reuse these exact colors when you match facts in Step 5.

• § 16-102(7): "home state" = the state where the child lived with a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before the case is filed. A temporary absence counts as part of that period.
• § 16-201: the home state has priority for an initial custody case. Another state may hear it only if the home state declines under § 16-207.
• § 16-207: the home state may decline as an inconvenient forum if another state is more appropriate, weighing six factors; if it declines, it stays its case on condition the parent promptly files in the other state.

In re Marriage of Mills (Franklin Ct. App. 2002) — an absence that starts as temporary can turn into a permanent relocation. The holding you will borrow: a stay is no longer "temporary" once the absent parent forms intent to live permanently elsewhere and is in fact doing so. Intent is shown by actions, not words alone (Jennifer rented a house, enrolled the kids, took a job)—so the 6-month clock for the new state starts when intent formed and was acted on. Telling the other parent "I am staying" is relevant but NOT controlling on the date of relocation.

In re Marriage of Brickman & Young (Franklin Sup. Ct. 2003) — how to run the six inconvenient-forum factors. The rules you will borrow: no single factor is dispositive and there is no burden of proof, but domestic violence gets greater weight than any other factor. When a parent fled to escape violence, the court may ask which state better protects them; abusers have high recidivism. The violence in Brickman was extreme—4 convictions, beatings in pregnancy—which sets your comparison bar.

Step 3 · Anchor your client and matter

• CLIENT — Jessica Bohmer, mother, wants the case in Columbia and fears Alex.
• OPPONENT — Alex Bohmer, father, filed first in Franklin; still married to Jessica.
• CHILD — Carrie, age 6; now in Columbia with Jessica and the grandparents.
• THE FIGHT — which state hears custody: Franklin (where Alex filed) or Columbia (where they fled).

Step 4 · Jot the case parties as you read

Mills (the home-state / temporary-absence case): Jennifer left Franklin for Columbia on a set date intending to relocate, then rented, enrolled the kids, and took a job. She did not tell William it was permanent until months later; he argued the later date controlled. Held: the clock ran from the relocation date, not the announcement; Columbia was home state; Franklin had no jurisdiction.

Brickman (the inconvenient-forum case): severe, documented abuse—four convictions, beatings during pregnancy, no counseling, no showing the danger had passed. Kids had lived in Columbia five years; courts were 400 miles apart; incomes $41,797 vs $6,500. Held: reversed; Columbia is the more appropriate forum, with added weight to the violence factor.

Step 5 · Work the File: match facts to the colored rules

Now read the File (transcript, intake form, protection order, email) with your colored rules in front of you. Every fact you pull should snap under a rule of the same color. Same color on both sides of these tables = a fact doing legal work.

Issue 1 · home state: match the timeline to the rule

Do the math on the page: even taking the earliest relocation date (Feb 2), only about five months had run when Alex filed on June 30, so Columbia could not be the home state until roughly August at the earliest. Franklin is the home state. Kill the counterargument in writing: Alex will point to Dec 1 physical presence (over six months), but a temporary absence does not count against Franklin, so that argument should fail.

Issue 2 · inconvenient forum: run the six factors, both sides

Weigh, do not tally. No factor is dispositive and there is no burden of proof, but violence carries added weight. The safety factor plus finances point to Columbia; the rest are neutral. So the honest prediction is that Franklin is likely to decline, though not certain, because the violence here is real but milder than Brickman. Say both. A one-sided answer loses points.

Step 6 · Outline, then write it in IRAC

Every issue gets the full loop: Whether (Issue), the rule with its authority, Here (apply the matched facts, both sides), Therefore (Conclusion). Use the colors to check you actually used each fact you pulled.

Before you hand it in: point-losers on this file

• Answering inconvenient forum without first nailing that Franklin IS the home state. You only reach § 16-207 because Franklin has jurisdiction.
• Arguing only Jessica's strengths. The memo asks for weaknesses; compare her honestly to Brickman.
• Fuzzy dates. Count the months on the page from each candidate relocation date to June 30.
• Forgetting the remedy: if Franklin declines it stays and conditions the case on a prompt Columbia filing; it does not just dismiss.
• Dropping the authorities. Cite the sections and both cases by name; that is what an MPT grades.