Ventura Cnty. Human Servs. Agency v. A.C. (In re E.R.)

*76 The courts, not the parties, decide jurisdiction.

A.C. (Mother) and E.R. (Father) appeal orders of the juvenile court terminating their parental rights to their children E.R. and D.R., minors coming under the juvenile court law. ( Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 300, subds. (b)(1) & (g), 366.26.) 1 We conclude, among other things, that the juvenile court had jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) ( Fam. Code, § 3421 ) after a Nevada juvenile court declined to exercise jurisdiction. We conditionally reverse and remand because the investigation required by the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) ( 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq. ) was not complete.

*77 FACTS

The Nevada Juvenile Court Proceedings

In April 2017, the Clark County, Nevada Department of Family Services (DFS) filed a juvenile dependency petition in the Clark County, Nevada juvenile court ("Nevada court"). Mother had recently given birth to twins, E.R. and D.R., in Nevada. The babies tested positive for "amphetamines," because Mother used methamphetamines during her pregnancy.

The DFS petition stated that Mother lives in California and came to Nevada "to *874 sign her kids over to her…