Hester V. Hester

Norman Leon Hester appeals an order of the District Court of Santa Fe County in which it declined to exercise its jurisdiction to change the custody of the parties' eight-year-old daughter. Custody had been awarded to the mother, Deborah Hester, in a decree entered by the same court in 1979. Some time after the divorce the mother and child moved to Colorado. While the child was visiting the father at his home in New Mexico in June 1982, he filed in this State for change of custody and temporary custody pending final hearing. After conducting a full hearing, at least as to the father's proof, the trial court held it had subject matter jurisdiction under NMSA 1978, § 40-10-4 (Repl. Pamp.1983) of the Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (CCJA), but declined jurisdiction pursuant to NMSA 1978, § 40-10-8 (Repl. Pamp.1983), finding that New Mexico was not a convenient forum.