(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 circuit court in this State:
        (1) a letter or other 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; and
        (3) except as otherwise provided in Section 209, 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), the registering court shall:

Terms Used In Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 36/305

  • 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.
  • State: when applied to different parts of the United States, may be construed to include the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" may be construed to include the said district and territories. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.14

        (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; and
        (2) serve notice upon the persons named pursuant to
    
subsection (a)(3) and provide them with an opportunity to contest the registration in accordance with this Section.
    (c) The notice required by subsection (b)(2) 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 20 days after service of notice; and
        (3) 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.
    (d) A person seeking to contest the validity of a registered order must request a hearing within 20 days after service of the notice. At that hearing, the court shall confirm the registered order unless the person contesting registration establishes that:
        (1) the issuing court did not have jurisdiction under
    
Article 2;
        (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; or
        (3) the person contesting registration was entitled
    
to notice, but notice was not given in accordance with the standards of Section 108, 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 hearing, precludes further contest of the order with respect to any matter that could have been asserted at the time of registration.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Article 3 Contents