(1) A child-custody determination issued by a court of another state may be registered in this state, with or without a simultaneous request for enforcement, by sending to the appropriate district court in this state:
A letter or other document requesting registration;
Two copies, including one certified copy, of the determination sought to be registered, and a statement under penalty of perjury that to the best of the knowledge and belief of the person seeking registration the order has not been modified; and
Except as otherwise provided in section 14-13-209, the name and address of theperson seeking registration and any parent or person acting as a parent who has been awarded custody, allocated parental responsibilities, or granted visitation or parenting time in the childcustody determination sought to be registered.
(2) On receipt of the documents required by subsection (1) of this section, the registering court shall:
Cause the determination to be filed as a foreign judgment, together with one copy ofany accompanying documents and information, regardless of their form; and
Serve notice upon the persons named pursuant to paragraph (c) of subsection (1) ofthis section and provide them with an opportunity to contest the registration in accordance with this section.
(3) The notice required by paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section must state that:
A registered determination is enforceable as of the date of the registration in the samemanner as a determination issued by a court of this state;
A hearing to contest the validity of the registered determination must be requestedwithin twenty-one days after service of notice; and
Failure to contest the registration will result in confirmation of the child-custodydetermination and preclude further contest of that determination with respect to any matter that could have been asserted.
(4) A person seeking to contest the validity of a registered order must request a hearing within twenty-one days after service of the notice. At that hearing, the court shall confirm the registered order unless the person contesting registration establishes that:
The issuing court did not have jurisdiction under a provision of law adopted by thatstate that is in substantial conformity with part 2 of this article;
The child-custody determination sought to be registered has been vacated, stayed, ormodified by a court having jurisdiction to do so under part 2 of this article; or
The person contesting registration was entitled to notice, but notice was not given inaccordance with standards substantially in conformity with the standards set forth in section 1413-108, in the proceedings before the court that issued the order for which registration is sought.
If a timely request for a hearing to contest the validity of the registration is not made,the registration is confirmed as a matter of law and the person requesting registration and all persons served must be notified of the confirmation.
Confirmation of a registered order, whether by operation of law or after notice andhearing, precludes further contest of the order with respect to any matter that could have been asserted at the time of registration.
Source: L. 2000: Entire article R&RE, p. 1531, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2012: (3)(b) amended, (SB 12-175), ch. 208, p. 834, § 37, effective July 1. L. 2014: IP(4) amended, (HB 141347), ch. 208, p. 769, § 3, effective July 1.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 14-13-117 as it existed prior to 2000.