Sec. 304.
(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 all of the following to the circuit court in this state:
(a) A letter or other document requesting registration.
(b) Two copies, including 1 certified copy, of the child-custody 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 child-custody determination has not been modified.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in section 209, the name and address of the person seeking registration and of each parent or person acting as a parent who has been awarded custody or parenting time in the child-custody determination sought to be registered.
(2) On receipt of the documents required by subsection (1), the registering court shall do both of the following:
(a) Cause the child-custody determination to be filed as a foreign judgment, together with 1 copy of any accompanying documents and information, regardless of form.
(b) Serve notice upon the persons named under subsection (1)(c) and provide them with an opportunity to contest the registration in accordance with this section.
(3) The notice required by subsection (2)(b) must state all of the following:
(a) A registered child-custody determination is enforceable as of the date of the registration in the same manner as a child-custody determination issued by a court of this state.
(b) A hearing to contest the validity of the registered child-custody determination must be requested within 21 days after service of notice.
(c) Failure to contest the registration will result in confirmation of the child-custody determination and preclude further contest of that child-custody determination with respect to a matter that could have been asserted.
(4) A person seeking to contest the validity of a registered child-custody determination must request a hearing within 21 days after service of the notice under subsection (2). At that hearing, the court shall confirm the registered child-custody determination unless the person contesting registration establishes 1 of the following:
(a) The issuing court did not have jurisdiction under article 2.
(b) The child-custody determination sought to be registered has been vacated, stayed, or modified by a court of a state having jurisdiction to do so under article 2.
(c) The person contesting registration was entitled to notice in the proceedings before the court that issued the child-custody determination for which registration is sought, but notice of those proceedings was not given in accordance with the standards of section 108.
(5) 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 each person served must be notified of the confirmation.
(6) Confirmation of a registered child-custody determination, whether by operation of law or after notice and hearing, precludes further contest of the child-custody determination with respect to a matter that could have been asserted at the time of registration.
History: 2001, Act 195, Eff. Apr. 1, 2002