Registering foreign order and modification

She can contest the registration, anyone can contest anything that is filed with the court, however you have met the requirements for registration of the order and she will not succeed. Registration and jurisdiction are two separate things. If either party wished to change the order they would need to file a motion to modify custody. If either party filed a motion to modify custody she could contest the jurisdiction of the court. It is unlikely she would succeed.

In NC the basis to modify the order is a substantial change in circumstances. You must prove that the circumstances that existed when Wisconsin entered the order have changed and that a change in custody is warranted.

P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com/live for details

Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm

4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax

Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044

Durham & Chapel Hill Office
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Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780

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My husband and I have filed a Petition to Register Foreign Custody Order. Original order was in Wisconsin. All parties have lived in NC for a year, establishing residency, etc.

We received notice from the defendant that she is contesting the registration of the order. Thing is…she made her own box so that the motion to contest reads that she is contesting because she wants to move back to Wisconsin and take her daughter with her.

My husband’s ex-wife told their 8 year-old daughter last week that she was moving back to Wisconsin and would be leaving the daughter here with her father but that they would make arrangements for her to visit her. What that must do to an 8 year-old…

My questions:

  1. Is her reason a valid reason for contesting the registration?
  2. Will a judge actually review that or find for my husband and register the order? Note that the order is valid and was filed properly in Wisconsin several years ago.
  3. Once the order is registered in NC, if the mother moves back to Wisconsin and leaves the daughter in NC with us, what steps should we take to modify the custody order and can those steps be taken in NC courts or do we have to modify it in Wisconsin?
  4. What specific basis would we state for modifying the order?

Thanks so much.

momto2