Texas Family Code - Section 152.305. Registration Of Child Custody Determination

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§ 152.305. 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:
		(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 152.209, 
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:
		(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 
Subchapter C;        
		(2)  the child custody determination sought to be 
registered has been vacated, stayed, or modified by a court having 
jurisdiction to do so under Subchapter C;  or
		(3)  the person contesting registration was entitled to 
notice, but notice was not given in accordance with the standards of 
Section 152.108, 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.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 34, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.            

Last modified: August 10, 2007