Title 14, Domestic Relations and Persons

1. If a support order entitled to recognition under this chapter has not been issued, a responding tribunal of this state with personal jurisdiction over the parties may issue a support order if: a. The individual seeking the order resides outside this state; or b. The support en…

A tribunal of this state authorized to determine parentage of a child may serve as a responding tribunal in a proceeding to determine parentage brought under this chapter or a law or procedure substantially similar to this chapter.

An income-withholding order issued in another state may be sent by or on behalf of the obligee, or by the support enforcement agency, to the person defined as the obligor's employer under section 14-09-09.10 without first filing a petition or comparable pleading or registering th…

1. Upon receipt of an income-withholding order, the obligor's employer shall immediately provide a copy of the order to the obligor. 2. The employer shall treat an income-withholding order issued in another state which appears regular on its face as if it had been issued by a tri…

If an obligor's employer receives two or more income-withholding orders with respect to the earnings of the same obligor, the employer satisfies the terms of the orders if the employer complies with the law of the state of the obligor's principal place of employment to establish …

An employer that complies with an income-withholding order issued in another state in accordance with this chapter is not subject to civil liability to an individual or agency with regard to the employer's withholding of child support from the obligor's income.

An employer that willfully fails to comply with an income-withholding order issued by another state and received for enforcement is subject to the same penalties that may be imposed for noncompliance with an order issued by a tribunal of this state.

1. An obligor may contest the validity or enforcement of an income-withholding order issued in another state and received directly by an employer in this state by registering the order in a tribunal of this state and filing a contest to that order as provided in sections 14-12.2-…

1. A party or support enforcement agency seeking to enforce a support order or an income-withholding order, or both, issued in another state or a foreign support order may send the documents required for registering the order to a support enforcement agency of this state. 2. Upon…

A support order or an income-withholding order issued in another state or a foreign support order may be registered in this state for enforcement.

1. Subject to section 14-12.2-47.6, a support order or income-withholding order of another state or a foreign support order may be registered in this state by sending the following records to the appropriate tribunal in this state: a. A letter of transmittal to the tribunal reque…

1. A support order or income-withholding order issued in another state or a foreign support order is registered when the order is filed in the registering tribunal of this state. 2. A registered order issued in another state or foreign country is enforceable in the same manner an…

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, the law of the issuing state or foreign country governs: a. The nature, extent, amount, and duration of current payments under a registered support order; b. The computation and payment of arrearages and accrual of interest on the …

1. When a support order or income-withholding order issued in another state or a foreign support order is registered, the registering tribunal of this state shall notify the nonregistering party. The notice must be accompanied by a copy of the registered order and the documents a…

1. A nonregistering party seeking to contest the validity or enforcement of a registered order in this state shall request a hearing in accordance with the notice provided in section 14-12.2-39. The nonregistering party may seek to vacate the registration, to assert any defense t…

1. A party contesting the validity or enforcement of a registered order or seeking to vacate the registration has the burden of proving one or more of the following defenses: a. The issuing tribunal lacked personal jurisdiction over the contesting party; b. The order was obtained…

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.

A party or support enforcement agency seeking to modify, or to modify and enforce, a child support order issued in another state shall register that order in this state in the same manner provided in sections 14-12.2-35 through 14-12.2-42 if the order has not been registered. A p…

A tribunal of this state may enforce a child support order of another state registered for purposes of modification, in the same manner as if the order had been issued by a tribunal of this state, but the registered order may be modified only if the requirements of section 14-12.…

1. If section 14-12.2-46.1 does not apply, upon petition a tribunal of this state may modify a child support order issued in another state which is registered in this state if, after notice and hearing, the tribunal finds that: a. The following requirements are met: (1) Neither t…

1. If all of the parties who are individuals reside in this state and the child does not reside in the issuing state, a tribunal of this state has jurisdiction to enforce and to modify the issuing state's child support order in a proceeding to register that order. 2. A tribunal o…

Within thirty days after issuance of a modified child support order, the party obtaining the modification shall file a certified copy of the order with the issuing tribunal that had continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over the earlier order, and in each tribunal in which the party…

1. Except as otherwise provided in section 14-12.2-47.11, if a foreign country lacks or refuses to exercise jurisdiction to modify its child support order pursuant to its laws, a tribunal of this state may assume jurisdiction to modify the child support order and bind all individ…

A party or support enforcement agency seeking to modify, or to modify and enforce, a foreign child support order not subject to the convention may register that order in this state as provided in sections 14-12.2-35 through 14-12.2-42 if the order has not been registered. A petit…

In sections 14-12.2-47.1 through 14-12.2-47.13: 1. "Application" means a request under the convention by an obligee, obligor, or on behalf of a child, made through a central authority for assistance from another central authority. 2. "Central authority" means the entity designate…

1. Except as provided in subsections 3 and 4, a tribunal of this state shall recognize and enforce a foreign support agreement registered in this state. 2. An application or direct request for recognition and enforcement of a foreign support agreement shall be accompanied by: a. …

1. A tribunal of this state may not modify a convention child support order if the obligee remains a resident of the foreign country where the support order was issued unless: a. The obligee submits to the jurisdiction of a tribunal of this state, either expressly or by defending…

Personal information gathered or transmitted under sections 14-12.2-47.1 through 14-12.2-47.13 may be used only for the purposes for which it was gathered or transmitted.

A record filed with a tribunal of this state under sections 14-12.2-47.1 through 14-12.2-47.13 must be in the original language and, if not in English, must be accompanied by an English translation.

Sections 14-12.2-47.1 through 14-12.2-47.13 apply only to a support proceeding under the convention. In such a proceeding, if a provision of sections 14-12.2-47.1 through 14-12.2-47.13 is inconsistent with a provision of sections 14-12.2-01 through 14-12.2-46.4, sections 14-12.2-…

The department of health and human services of this state is recognized as the agency designated by the United States central authority to perform specific functions under the convention.

1. In a support proceeding under the convention, the department of health and human services of this state shall: a. Transmit and receive applications; and b. Initiate or facilitate the institution of a proceeding regarding an application in a tribunal of this state. 2. The follo…

1. A petitioner may file a direct request seeking the establishment or modification of a support order or determination of parentage of a child. In such a proceeding, the law of this state applies. 2. A petitioner may file a direct request seeking the recognition and enforcement …

1. Except as otherwise provided in sections 14-12.2-47.1 through 14-12.2-47.13, a party who is an individual or a support enforcement agency seeking recognition of a convention support order shall register the order in this state as provided in sections 14-12.2-35 through 14-12.2…

1. Except as otherwise provided in sections 14-12.2-47.1 through 14-12.2-47.13, sections 14-12.2-39 through 14-12.2-42 apply to a contest of a registered convention support order. 2. A party contesting a registered convention support order must file a contest not later than thirt…

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, a tribunal of this state shall recognize and enforce a registered convention support order. 2. The following grounds are the only grounds on which a tribunal of this state may refuse recognition and enforcement of a registered conv…

If a tribunal of this state does not recognize and enforce a convention support order in its entirety, it shall enforce any severable part of the order. An application or direct request may seek recognition and partial enforcement of a convention support order.

1. For purposes of sections 14-12.2-48 and 14-12.2-49, "governor" includes an individual performing the functions of governor or the executive authority of a state covered by this chapter. 2. The governor of this state may: a. Demand that the governor of another state surrender a…

1. Before making a demand that the governor of another state surrender an individual charged criminally in this state with having failed to provide for the support of an obligee, the governor of this state may require a prosecutor of this state to demonstrate that at least sixty …

As used in this chapter: 1. "Abandoned" means left without provision for reasonable and necessary care or supervision. 2. "Child custody determination" means a judgment, decree, or other order of a court providing for the legal custody, physical custody, or visitation with respec…

This chapter does not govern an adoption proceeding or a proceeding pertaining to the authorization of emergency medical care for a child.

1. A child custody proceeding that pertains to an Indian child as defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act [25 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.] is not subject to this chapter to the extent that it is governed by the Indian Child Welfare Act. 2. A court of this state shall treat a tribe as if …

1. A court of this state shall treat a foreign country as if it were a state for the purpose of applying sections 14-14.1-01 through 14-14.1-21. 2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, a child custody determination made in a foreign country under factual circumstances in…

A child custody determination made by a court of this state that had jurisdiction under this chapter binds all persons who have been served in accordance with the laws of this state or notified in accordance with section 14-14.1-07 or who have submitted to the jurisdiction of the…

If a question of existence or exercise of jurisdiction under this chapter is raised in a child custody proceeding, the question, upon request of a party, must be given priority on the calendar and handled expeditiously.

1. Notice required for the exercise of jurisdiction when a person is outside this state may be given in a manner prescribed by the law of this state for service of process or by the law of the state in which the service is made. Notice must be given in a manner reasonably calcula…