Initial Child Custody Determinations in North Carolina by Raleigh native, Jaime Humphries Davis Gailor, Wallis & Hunt, PLLC. (more…)

Raleigh divorce attorney Jaime H. Davis educates on the issue of changing the terms of out-of-state custody orders when divorced parents relocate to North Carolina. Jaime is a Board Certified Family Law Specialist and a member of the Raleigh divorce law firm of Gailor, Wallis & Hunt, PLLC.

After the divorce has been entered and all of the issues related to child custody and visitation; child support; alimony and spousal support; and property distribution have been resolved in another state, one or both of the parties may relocate with their children to North Carolina. When a parent moves to North Carolina, what happens to his or her custody order which has been entered in another state? North Carolina may enforce the terms of a custody order from another state if the state where the order was entered exercised jurisdiction in conformity with the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, or the out-of-state child custody determination was made under factual circumstances that would meet the jurisdictional standards of the UCCJEA. N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 50A (2008).

In order for North Carolina to be able to enforce the terms of a custody order issued in another state, the custody order must be registered in North Carolina. Registration of an out-of-state order is a relatively simple legal process that involves filing the following information with the court of the county in which you are living: a verified letter or other document requesting registration, two copies of the custody order sought to be registered (one copy must be certified), a statement under oath that the order has not been modified, and the names and addresses of the person seeking to register the order and any parent or person acting as a parent who has been awarded custody or visitation in the order sought to registered.

The opposing party has twenty (20) days to contest registration of the custody order; however, the grounds for contesting registration of the order are quite limited. The grounds are: (1) the state issuing the original custody order did not have jurisdiction to enter the order under the UCCJEA; (2) the custody order in question has been vacated, stayed, or modified; or (3) that he was entitled to notice, and that proper notice was not given in the original proceeding that resulted in the custody order sought to be registered. If registration of the order is uncontested, or if the person contesting the registration fails to prove the existence of one of the three grounds listed above, the court will confirm the registered out-of-state order and it will be recognized and enforced in North Carolina.

While North Carolina may have jurisdiction to register and enforce a custody order issued in another state, whether North Carolina courts can modify or change the terms of that custody order is a different question. North Carolina may not modify the terms of another state’s custody order unless North Carolina would have jurisdiction to make an initial child custody determination as the home state of the children or as a “significant connection state,” and one of the following conditions is met ( See N.C. Gen. Stat. §50A-201 (2008).

First, the state issuing the order determines that it no longer has exclusive continuing jurisdiction or that North Carolina would be a more appropriate forum, or second, that either North Carolina or the other state determines that the child, the child’s parents, and any other person acting as a parent no longer reside in the other state. For example, Mom and Dad were divorced in South Carolina, and a South Carolina court entered a custody order.

Mom moves to North Carolina with the child, but Dad remains in South Carolina. South Carolina will retain exclusive continuing jurisdiction until such time as South Carolina determines that it no longer has jurisdiction, that North Carolina would be a more appropriate forum, or Dad moves to another state. Absent the occurrence of one of the foregoing factors, Mom will not be able to modify the terms of the South Carolina custody order in North Carolina.

For more information on initial custody jurisdiction, see North Carolina Family Law News article entitled “Learning About Initial Child Custody Determinations in North Carolina” at www.northcarolinafamilylawnews.com.

Contributor: Jaime H. Davis - Jaime Davis. a Raleigh Family Law Attorney is a North Carolina Board Certified Family Law Specialist with the Raleigh, North Carolina Divorce Law Firm of Gailor, Wallis & Hunt, PLLC.

For more information contact: Raleigh, North Carolina Family Law Firm, Gailor, Wallis & Hunt at 1101 Haynes Street, Suite 201, Raleigh, NC 27604. Tel: 919-832-8488, www.gailorwallishunt.com.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is intended as a general guide and is not to be used as legal advice by Gailor, Wallis & Hunt, PLLC. Whether or not you may be entitled to take action in regard to the information addressed in this article can only be determined after a thorough review of the facts and circumstances of your case. You may contact North Carolina Family Lawyers, Gailor, Wallis & Hunt, PLLC, a full service divorce law firm, at 919-832-8488 or 910-509-7223

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