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Legal Information: Indiana

Statutes: Indiana

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Updated: 
November 14, 2023

31-21-6-4 Registration of child custody determination

Sec. 4. (a) A child custody determination issued by a court of another state may be registered in Indiana, with or without a simultaneous request for enforcement, by sending the following to the appropriate Indiana court:
(1) A letter or other document requesting registration.
(2) Two (2) copies, including one (1) 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 13 of this chapter:
(A) the name and address of the person seeking registration; and
(B) the name of a 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:
(1) cause the determination to be filed as a foreign judgment, together with one (1) copy of the accompanying documents and information, regardless of their form; and
(2) serve notice on each person named under subsection (a)(3) and provide the person with an opportunity to contest the registration in accordance with this section.
(c) The notice required by subsection (b)(2) must state the following:
(1) A registered determination is enforceable as of the date of the registration in the same manner as a child custody determination issued by an Indiana court.
(2) A hearing to contest the validity of the registered determination must be requested not more than twenty (20) days after service of notice.
(3) Failure to contest the registration shall:
(A) result in confirmation of the child custody determination; and
(B) preclude further contest of that determination with respect to a matter that may have otherwise been asserted.