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This entry was published on 2014-09-22
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SECTION 77-D
Registration of child custody determination
Domestic Relations (DOM) CHAPTER 14, ARTICLE 5-A, TITLE 3
§ 77-d. Registration of child custody determination. 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 court in this state;

(a) a letter or other document requesting registration;

(b) 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

(c) except as otherwise provided in section seventy-six-h of this
article, the name and address of the person seeking registration and any
parent or person acting as a parent who has been awarded custody or
visitation in the child custody determination sought to be registered.

2. On receipt of the documents required by subdivision one of this
section, the registering court shall:

(a) cause the determination to be filed as a foreign judgment,
together with one copy of any accompanying documents and information,
regardless of their form; and

(b) serve notice upon the persons named pursuant to subdivision one of
this section and provide them with an opportunity to contest the
registration in accordance with this section.

3. The notice required by paragraph (b) of subdivision two of this
section must state that:

(a) a registered determination is enforceable as of the date of the
registration in the same manner as a determination issued by a court of
this state;

(b) a hearing to contest the validity of the registered determination
must be requested within twenty days after service of notice; and

(c) failure to contest the registration will result in confirmation of
the child custody determination 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 days after service of the notice. At
that hearing, the court shall confirm the registered order unless the
person contesting registration establishes that:

(a) the issuing court did not have jurisdiction under title two of
this article;

(b) the child custody determination sought to be registered has been
vacated, stayed, or modified by a court having jurisdiction to do so
under title two of this article; or

(c) the person contesting registration was entitled to notice, but
notice was not given in accordance with the standards of section
seventy-five-g of this article, in the proceedings before the court that
issued the order for which registration is sought.

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 all persons served must
be notified of the confirmation.

6. Confirmation of a registered order, whether by operation of law or
after notice and hearing, precludes further contest of the order with
respect to any matter that could have been asserted at the time of
registration.