§ 50A-305. Registration of child-custody determination.
§ 50A‑305. Registrationof child‑custody determination.
(a) A child‑custodydetermination issued by a court of another state may be registered in thisState, with or without a simultaneous request for enforcement, by sending tothe appropriate court in this State:
(1) A letter or otherdocument requesting registration;
(2) Two copies,including one certified copy, of the determination sought to be registered, anda statement under penalty of perjury that to the best of the knowledge andbelief of the person seeking registration the order has not been modified; and
(3) Except as otherwiseprovided in G.S. 50A‑209, the name and address of the person seekingregistration and any parent or person acting as a parent who has been awardedcustody or visitation in the child‑custody determination sought to beregistered.
(b) On receipt of thedocuments required by subsection (a), the registering court shall:
(1) Cause thedetermination to be filed as a foreign judgment, together with one copy of anyaccompanying documents and information, regardless of their form; and
(2) Direct thepetitioner to serve notice upon the persons named pursuant to subdivision(a)(3) of this section, including notice of their opportunity to contest theregistration in accordance with this section.
(c) The notice requiredby subdivision (b)(2) must state that:
(1) A registereddetermination is enforceable as of the date of the registration in the samemanner as a determination issued by a court of this State;
(2) A hearing to contestthe validity of the registered determination must be requested within 20 daysafter service of notice; and
(3) Failure to contestthe registration will result in confirmation of the child‑custodydetermination and preclude further contest of that determination with respectto any matter that could have been asserted.
(d) A person seeking tocontest the validity of a registered order must request a hearing within 20days after service of the notice. At that hearing, the court shall confirm theregistered order unless the person contesting registration establishes that:
(1) The issuing courtdid not have jurisdiction under Part 2;
(2) The child‑custodydetermination sought to be registered has been vacated, stayed, or modified bya court having jurisdiction to do so under Part 2; or
(3) The personcontesting registration was entitled to notice, but notice was not given inaccordance with the standards of G.S. 50A‑108 in the proceedings beforethe court that issued the order for which registration is sought.
(e) If a timely requestfor a hearing to contest the validity of the registration is not made, theregistration is confirmed as a matter of law, and the person requestingregistration and all persons served must be notified of the confirmation.
(f) Confirmation of aregistered order, whether by operation of law or after notice and hearing,precludes further contest of the order with respect to any matter that couldhave been asserted at the time of registration. (1979, c. 110, s. 1; 1997‑81,s. 1; 1999‑223, s. 3; 2007‑484, s. 8.)