Opinion ID: 2163640
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Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Enforcement of Foreign Custody Decree by Ex Parte Order

Text: The last issue which we must consider on this application is whether or not the Grand Forks County District Court erred in the procedure it used to enforce the Maryland custody decree. Phaon filed a certified copy of the Maryland decree with the clerk of the district court. Without first showing that a dire emergency existed, he filed a motion for and was granted an ex parte order requiring Carol to return custody of the children to him pursuant to the terms of the Maryland decree. Sections 14-14-13 and 14-14-15, N.D. C.C., of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, are pertinent to the enforcement of a foreign custody decree: 14-14-13. Recognition of out-of-state custody decrees.-The courts of this state shall recognize and enforce an initial decree or modification decree of a court of another state which had assumed jurisdiction under statutory provisions substantially in accordance with this chapter or which was made under factual circumstances meeting the jurisdictional standards of this chapter, so long as this decree has not been modified in accordance with jurisdictional standards substantially similar to those of this chapter. [Emphasis added.] 14-14-15. Filing and enforcement of custody decree of another state. 1. A certified copy of a custody decree of another state may be filed in the office of the clerk of any district court or family court of this state. The clerk shall treat the decree in the same manner as a custody decree of the district court or family court of this state. A custody decree so filed has the same effect and shall be enforced in like manner as a custody decree rendered by a court of this state. 2. A person violating a custody decree of another state which makes it necessary to enforce the decree in this state may be required to pay necessary travel and other expenses, including attorney's fees, incurred by the party entitled to the custody or his witnesses. [Emphasis added.] The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws provided a written comment to Section 15 of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act which states in pertinent part: Out-of-state custody decrees which are required to be recognized are enforced by other states. See section 13. [14-14-13, N.D.C.C.]. Subsection (a) [14-14-15(1), N.D.C.C.] provides a simplified and speedy method of enforcement. It is derived from section 2 of the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act of 1964, 9A U.L.A. 486 (1965). Handbook of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, at 213 (1968). Pursuant to Section 14-14-15(1), N.D.C.C., upon filing a certified copy of a foreign custody decree with the clerk of a district court, the foreign custody decree is given the same effect as a custody decree rendered by a court of this state. The commissioners' comment to this section describing the effect to be given a foreign custody decree indicates that it was derived from the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act which has been adopted by this state and codified as Chapter 28-20.1, N.D.C.C. Section 28-20.1-01, N.D.C.C., of that act defines a foreign judgment as . . . any judgment, decree, or order of a court of the United States or of any other court which is entitled to full faith and credit in this state. We believe that enforcement of a foreign custody decree under Section 14-14-15, N.D.C.C., of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act must be accomplished in compliance with the provisions of Chapter 28-20.1, N.D.C.C., which encompasses procedure for enforcement of all foreign judgments. Compliance with Chapter 28-20.1, N.D.C.C., requires the following procedure, among other things, to enforce a foreign judgment: (1) Prompt mailing of notice to the judgment debtor at his last known post-office address of the filing of the foreign judgment; and (2) Automatic stay of execution or other process of enforcement of the foreign judgment until 10 days after the date the judgment is filed. [2] The notice requirement and the automatic stay of enforcement of a foreign judgment until 10 days after it has been filed with the clerk of a district court affords the judgment debtor an opportunity to request a stay of the enforcement of the foreign judgment and, in the case of a foreign custody decree, to also bring an action to modify the decree. If the judgment debtor does not avail himself of that opportunity, the foreign judgment can be enforced by the district court in like manner as a foreign judgment rendered by a court of this state. In view of the similarity of facts in the instant case with those of Giddings v. Giddings, 228 N.W.2d 915 (N.D.1975), it is necessary to consider the import of our opinion in Giddings, supra, as it relates to the instant case. In Giddings, supra, a married couple was divorced in Iowa, and the Iowa decree awarded custody of the minor daughter to the mother with reasonable rights of visitation reserved for the father as are or will be agreed upon between the parties. Shortly after the decree was entered, the father took the child to North Dakota and refused to return her to her mother in Iowa. The mother than obtained an order from the Iowa court finding the father in contempt for failure to return the child. Armed with the Iowa custody decree and contempt order the mother obtained an ex parte order from the Burleigh County District Court which directed the sheriff of Burleigh County to take the child from the father and place her in the mother's custody. The sheriff took the child into custody in compliance with the order, and the father then filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the Burleigh County District Court. A hearing was held on the petition at which the father attempted to introduce evidence that he had not violated the custody arrangement that allegedly had been agreed to between the parties and also that it would not be in the best interests of the child to place her in the custody of her mother and to allow her to be removed from North Dakota. The district court refused to allow the father to introduce such evidence because, in the court's opinion, to allow its introduction would result in not giving full faith and credit to the Iowa custody decree. Consequently, the district court denied the petition for the writ of habeas corpus. We held that it was error for the court to enforce the Iowa decree without proceeding under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, Chapter 14-14, N.D.C.C. We concluded that the district court had jurisdiction to decide the custody issue under Section 14-14-03, N.D.C.C., and that it should have held an evidentiary hearing to decide what custody disposition would be in the best interests of the child. Accordingly, this Court reversed the ex parte order and remanded for further proceedings. Giddings, supra, involved more than an attempt to enforce a foreign custody decree. [3] The father's request to introduce evidence that it was not in the best interests of the child to be returned to the custody of her mother in Iowa constituted, in effect, a request for modification of the Iowa custody decree. It was this aspect of the situation that made it necessary for the district court in Giddings, supra, to hold an evidentiary hearing and to render a custody determination in accordance with the provisions of the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, Chapter 14-14, N.D.C.C. A foreign custody decree, a certified copy of which is properly filed under Section 14-14-15, N.D.C.C., can be enforced by an ex parte order or in any other manner than a custody decree of a court of this state can be enforced providing that enforcement of the foreign custody decree is accomplished in compliance with the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, Chapter 28-20.1, N.D.C.C. Enforcement of a foreign custody decree by a court of this state does not require a determination of the court's jurisdiction under Section 14-14-03, N.D.C.C., notice and hearing under Section 14-14-04, N.D.C.C., or a custody determination by the court under Chapter 14-14, N.D.C.C. To the extent that Giddings, supra, reflects a contrary view, it is hereby overruled. In her action, Carol requested the Nelson County District Court to accept jurisdiction under Chapter 14-14, N.D.C.C., and to modify the Maryland custody decree. No such request was made by Phaon in the Grand Forks County District Court. Rather, Phaon filed a certified copy of the Maryland custody decree under Section 14-14-15, N.D.C.C., and requested the Court to merely enforce the decree. Therefore, it was not necessary for the Grand Forks County District Court to acquire jurisdiction under Section 14-14-03, N.D.C.C., or to make a custody determination under Chapter 14-14, N.D.C.C. However, the enforcement of the Maryland decree under Section 14-14-15, N.D.C.C., was not accomplished in compliance with Chapter 28-20.1, N.D.C.C. Carol was not notified of the filing of the foreign decree in this state as required under Section 28-20.1-03(2), N.D.C.C., nor was a ten-day period allowed to elapse prior to enforcement of the decree as required under Section 28-20.1-03(3), N.D.C.C. On July 18, 1980, we entered a temporary stay of the July 14, 1980, ex parte order of the Grand Forks County District Court pending the hearing on these matters. We hereby continue the stay of the July 14, 1980, ex parte order until Carol is given notice of the filing of the Maryland decree and a period of ten days has been allowed to elapse from the date such notice is given. [4] WRIT OF PROHIBITION DENIED. STAY OF EX PARTE ORDER CONTINUED PURSUANT TO OPINION. PEDERSON, SAND and PAULSON, JJ., concur.