Colorado § 14-5-602 - Procedure to register order for enforcement.

§ 14-5-602. Procedure to register order for enforcement.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in section 14-5-706, 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:

(1) A letter of transmittal to the tribunal requesting registration and enforcement;

(2) Two copies, including one certified copy, of the order to be registered, including any modification of the order;

(3) A sworn statement by the person requesting registration or a certified statement by the custodian of the records showing the amount of any arrearage;

(4) The name of the obligor and, if known:

(A) The obligor's address and social security number;

(B) The name and address of the obligor's employer and any other source of income of the obligor; and

(C) A description and the location of property of the obligor in this state not exempt from execution; and

(5) Except as otherwise provided in section 14-5-312, the name and address of the obligee and, if applicable, the person to whom support payments are to be remitted.

(b) On receipt of a request for registration, the registering tribunal shall cause the order to be filed as an order of a tribunal of another state or a foreign support order, together with one copy of the documents and information, regardless of their form.

(c) A petition or comparable pleading seeking a remedy that must be affirmatively sought under other law of this state may be filed at the same time as the request for registration or later. The pleading must specify the grounds for the remedy sought.

(d) If two or more orders are in effect, the person requesting registration shall:

(1) Furnish to the tribunal a copy of every support order asserted to be in effect in addition to the documents specified in this section;

(2) Specify the order alleged to be the controlling order, if any; and

(3) Specify the amount of consolidated arrears, if any.

(e) A request for a determination of which is the controlling order may be filed separately or with a request for registration and enforcement or for registration and modification. The person requesting registration shall give notice of the request to each party whose rights may be affected by the determination.

Source: L. 93: Entire article R&RE, p. 1596, § 1, effective January 1, 1995. L. 2003: Entire section amended, p. 1257, § 33, effective July 1, 2004. L. 2015: Entire part amended, (HB 15-1198), ch. 173, p. 555, § 31, effective July 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 14-5-140 as it existed prior to 1993.

COMMENT

Subsection (a) outlines the mechanics for registration of an interstate or foreign support order. Substantial compliance with the requirements is expected. The procedure for registration and enforcement set forth in this section is basically unchanged for a foreign support order; indeed, all of Sections 601 through 608 apply. The requirement that the order be "issued by a tribunal" has been subtly modified. Although the vast majority of enforceable support orders will be from a tribunal, in relatively rare instances an enforceable "foreign support order" from a Convention country will not have been issued by a tribunal, see e.g., Section 710, infra. Note, however, that a request for registration of a foreign support order for which the Convention is in force is subject to Section 706. This is because the list of documents comprising the required record in subsection (a) differs in a measurable degree with Convention art. 11 and 25.

Millions of interstate domestic cases have been, and will continue to be, processed under the procedure specified in this section. It has been estimated that only approximately one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) of the Title IV-D caseload involve a foreign support order. Thus, the documentation specified by this section is the same for interstate and non-Convention foreign support orders. A support order from a Convention country is covered by the separate list of specifications in Section 706 to accommodate the differences between this act and the Convention. Because child-support enforcement agencies have successfully dealt with foreign support orders with increasing frequency during the UIFSA era, this may well prove to be a distinction without much difference.

Subsection (b) confirms that the support order being registered is not converted into an order of the responding state; rather, it continues to be an order of the tribunal of the issuing state or foreign country.

Subsection (c) warns that if a particular enforcement remedy must be specifically sought under local law, the same rules of procedure and substantive law apply to an interstate or international case. For example, if license suspension or revocation is sought as a remedy for alleged noncompliance with an order, the substantive and procedural rules of the responding state apply. Whether the range of application of the remedy in the responding state is wider or narrower than that available in the issuing state or foreign country is irrelevant. The responding tribunal will apply the familiar law of its state, and is neither expected nor authorized to consider the enforcement laws of the issuing state or foreign country. In short, the responding tribunal follows the identical path for enforcing the order of a tribunal of another state or foreign country as it would when enforcing an order of the responding state. The authorization of a later filing to comply with local law contemplates that interstate or international pleadings may be liberally amended to conform to local practice.

Subsections (d) and (e) amplify the procedures to be followed when two or more child-support orders exist and registration for enforcement is sought. In such instances, the requester is directed to furnish the tribunal with sufficient information and documentation so that the tribunal may make a determination of the controlling order for prospective support and of the amount of consolidated arrears and interest accrued under all valid orders. See Section 207.

Related to Convention: art. 11. Application contents; art. 20. Bases for recognition and enforcement; art. 21. Severability and partial recognition and enforcement; art. 22. Grounds for refusing recognition and enforcement; art. 23. Procedure on an application for recognition and enforcement; art. 25. Documents.