Colorado

Family Law

Family Law

Section 14-5-605 – Notice of registration of order

(a) 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 and relevant information accompanying the order.
(b) A notice must inform the nonregistering party:

(1) That a registered order is enforceable as of the date of registration in the same manner as an order issued by a tribunal of this state;
(2) That a hearing to contest the validity or enforcement of the registered order must be requested within twenty days after notice unless the registered order is under section 14-5-707;
(3) That failure to contest the validity or enforcement of the registered order in a timely manner will result in confirmation of the order and enforcement of the order and the alleged arrearages; and
(4) Of the amount of any alleged arrearages.
(c) If the registering party asserts that two or more orders are in effect, a notice must also:

(1) Identify the two or more orders and the order alleged by the registering party to be the controlling order and the consolidated arrears, if any;
(2) Notify the nonregistering party of the right to a determination of which is the controlling order;
(3) State that the procedures provided in subsection (b) of this section apply to the determination of which is the controlling order; and
(4) State that failure to contest the validity or enforcement of the order alleged to be the controlling order in a timely manner may result in confirmation that the order is the controlling order.
(d) Upon registration of an income-withholding order for enforcement, the support enforcement agency or the registering tribunal shall notify the obligor’s employer pursuant to the income-withholding law of this state.

C.R.S. § 14-5-605

L. 93: Entire article R&RE, p. 1597, § 1, effective January 1, 1995. L. 97: (a) and (b)(2) amended, p. 540, § 12, effective July 1. L. 2003: (b) and (c) amended and (d) added, p. 1259, § 35, effective July 1, 2004. L. 2015: Entire part amended, (HB 15-1198), ch. 173, p. 557, § 31, effective July 1.

COMMENT

Subsection (a) requires the registering tribunal to provide notice to the nonregistering party of the effect of registration. After such notice is given, absent a successful contest by the nonregistering party, the order will be confirmed and future contest will be precluded. The notice contemplates far more than merely announcing an intent to initiate enforcement of an existing support order. The registered order or orders and other relevant documents and information must accompany the notice, including details about the alleged arrears.

Subsection (b) provides the nonregistering party with a wealth of information about the proceeding, including that: (1) the order is immediately enforceable; (2) a hearing must be requested within a relatively short time; (3) failure to contest “will result” in a confirmation of the order (roughly the equivalent of a default judgment); and (4) the amount of arrears, if any. Initially subsection (b) made the suggestion, via brackets, that [20] days be the time within which a request for a hearing to contest the support order be made. The rationale for this relatively short period was that the matter had already been litigated, and the obligor had already had the requisite “day in court,” and was allegedly in default of a known order. Moreover, advocates of child-support enforcement stressed the necessity of quick resolution of an instance of nonsupport.

On the other hand, the Convention requires notice of hearing to be within a fixed time of 30 days, and further a fixed time of 60 days if the respondent resides in a foreign country. See Convention art. 23(6). This difference between UIFSA and the Convention is accommodated in Section 707. The time frame for notice of registration for an interstate support order and a foreign support order not subject to the Convention will be established by local law.

Subsection (c) is the correlative to Section 602 regarding the notice to be given to the nonregistering party if determination of a controlling order must be made because of the existence of two or more child-support orders. The petitioner requesting this affirmative relief is directed to identify the order alleged to be controlling under Section 207.

Subsection (d) states the obvious; i.e., the obligor’s employer also must be notified if income is to be withheld. Often this will not be necessary if the employer has already been notified by the responding state’s enforcement agency via the administrative process established in Section 507.

Related to Convention: art. 20. Bases for recognition and enforcement; art. 23. Procedure on an application for recognition and enforcement.