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Bellew v. Larese

A trial court's subject matter jurisdiction to make an initial child custody determination is heavily dependent on a child's home state, which is defined as ' "the state in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least six months immediately before the commencement of a child custody proceeding." '

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This Court granted Robert Shelton Bellew’s application for discretionary appeal to review the trial court’s order dismissing his divorce and custody action. We now reverse the trial court’s judgment. Bellew and Silvia Larese were married in Italy on June 22, 2002. Larese is an Italian national and Bellew is a citizen of the United States.1 The couple has a minor child, who was born in Italy on November 12, 2002, and who has dual Italian and United States citizenship. The parents and child resided in Athens-Clarke County from August 2004 to 2007; the couple jointly purchased a home there, declared a homestead exemption for property tax purposes, and filed joint state and federal tax returns.

In May of 2007, Larese left with the child for Italy, on an annual summer visit to her family; they were scheduled to return on August 1, 2007. However, they did not, and on August 1, 2007, Larese filed divorce and custody proceedings in the Tribunale di Firenze, a court of general jurisdiction in Italy; it is undisputed that Bellew was served in this action on November 15, 2007. Bellew filed for divorce on September 17, 2007 in the Superior Court of Athens-Clarke County “trial court”, with service by publication ordered on October 18, 2007, and an affidavit of publication filed on November 27, 2007. Larese entered a special appearance on November 15, 2007, and referenced the filing in the Tribunale di Firenze; she filed a conditional answer to Bellew’s complaint on November 19, 2007.2

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