Erin Olson Lopez, the mother of two minor children, appeals from the final judgment of the Superior Court of Columbia County the Georgia Court entered pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act UCCJEA OCGA § 19-9-40 et. seq., modifying a prior child custody determination made by the Superior Court, Fourth Judicial District, Fairbanks, Alaska the Alaska court. In the same order, the Georgia court also granted a legitimation petition brought by the father of one of the children, but Lopez does not enumerate error with respect to this portion of the court’s order. For the following reasons, we vacate the Georgia court’s judgment as to custody and remand for further consideration. We affirm the portion of the judgment granting the legitimation petition. 1. Lopez claims that the Georgia court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction under the UCCJEA to modify the prior custody determination made by the Alaska court, which awarded legal and primary physical custody of her two children to the children’s maternal grandparents, Ricky James Olson and Lottie Grace Olson, and granted visitation rights to Lopez.
In 2005, Lopez moved from Georgia to Alaska with her two minor children Evan, born April 2, 2004, and Kyle, born March 12, 2005. Lopez moved to Alaska with the Olsons her mother and adoptive father, who were transferred to Alaska from Georgia in 2005 pursuant to Mr. Olson’s military service. In 2007, while Lopez and the children were living with the Olsons in Alaska, Lopez entered into a written agreement with the Olsons to give custody of her two children to the Olsons. The agreement was the basis for an order entered by the Alaska court awarding legal and primary physical custody of the children to the Olsons. Lopez acknowledged in the Alaska court that Michael Diaz was the father of Kyle, and the court entered a default judgment against Diaz as to custody of Kyle. Although Lopez knew during the Alaska court proceedings that Gregory Criste was Evan’s father, this fact was not revealed to Criste or to the court; Criste was not a party to the proceedings in the Alaska court; and the Alaska court entered a default judgment as to custody of Evan against a John Doe defendant named as Evan’s father. In July 2009, the Olsons moved back to Columbia County, Georgia pursuant to another military service transfer, where they and the two children in their custody have resided since that time. Lopez also moved back to Georgia in July 2009, but in September 2009, Lopez moved to Texas to live with her biological father where she has resided since that time.
