Arizona Laws 25-1055. Registration of child custody determination
A. 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 all of the following:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 25-1055
- Court: means an entity authorized under the law of a state to establish, enforce or modify a child custody determination. See Arizona Laws 25-1002
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Issuing court: means the court that makes a child custody determination for which enforcement is sought under this chapter. See Arizona Laws 25-1002
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, or public corporation or any other legal or commercial entity. See Arizona Laws 25-1002
- Person acting as a parent: means a person, other than a parent, who meets both of the following requirements:
(a) Has physical custody of the child or has had physical custody for a period of six consecutive months, including any temporary absence, within one year immediately before the commencement of a child custody proceeding. See Arizona Laws 25-1002
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Arizona Laws 25-1002
- Visitation: includes parenting time as defined in section 25-401. See Arizona Laws 25-1002
1. A letter or another document requesting registration.
2. 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.
3. Except as otherwise provided in section 25-1039, 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.
B. On receipt of the documents required by subsection A of this section, the registering court shall:
1. Cause the determination to be filed as a foreign judgment, together with one copy of any accompanying documents and information, regardless of their form.
2. Serve notice on the persons named pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 3 of this section and provide them with an opportunity to contest the registration in accordance with this section.
C. The notice required by subsection B, paragraph 2 of this section must state that:
1. 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.
2. A hearing to contest the validity of the registered determination must be requested within twenty days after service of notice.
3. Failure to contest the registration shall 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.
D. 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 any of the following:
1. The issuing court did not have jurisdiction under article 2 of this chapter.
2. The child custody determination sought to be registered has been vacated, stayed or modified by a court having jurisdiction to do so under article 2 of this chapter.
3. The person contesting registration was entitled to notice, but notice was not given in accordance with the standards of section 25-1008, in the proceedings before the court that issued the order for which registration is sought.
E. 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.
F. Confirmation of a registered order, whether by operation of law or after notice and a hearing, precludes further contest of the order with respect to any matter that could have been asserted at the time of registration.