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Registering a Foreign Child Custody or Child Support Order

What is a Foreign Order?

A court order entered outside of Utah is called a "foreign order." For example, an order from a California court is a foreign order in Utah. The foreign order might be for child custody, which includes parent time. Or the foreign order might be for child support or spousal support (alimony), which includes an income-withholding order. Often the custody order or support order will be part of a divorce decree or custody decree. An order from outside the United States cannot be registered using this procedure. See Mori v. Mori, 931 P.2d 854 (1997).

Before a foreign order can be enforced or modified in Utah, it must be registered and confirmed.

 

Registration and Confirmation

Registering the order and confirming the order are two separate steps.

To register the order, file the Request to Register and a certified copy of the order(s) you want to register with the court.

File in the district court in the county in which the children live. If the children do not live in Utah, then file in the county in which the opposing party lives. If neither the opposing party nor the children live in Utah then file in the county where you live. 

The court will mail the Request to Register and its supporting documents to all of the people named in the Request.

The people served have 20 days in which to ask for a hearing.

  • If no one asks for a hearing, the order is automatically confirmed.
  • If someone does ask for a hearing, the judge will decide the issues and enter an order confirming or not confirming the foreign order.

If the foreign order is confirmed - either automatically or after a judge's decision - the court will send Notice of Confirmation to all of the people named in the Request.

Utah Code Title 78B, Chapter 13 and Chapter 14

Enforcement and Modification

Once registered and confirmed, you can ask the Utah court to either enforce or modify your order, or both. For information on how to enforce your order see our webpage on Motion to Enforce Domestic Orders. Modifying your order can be more complicated. See our pages on Modifying Child Support, Modifying Child Custody and Modifying Parent-Time for more information.

 

Forms

Asking to Register a Foreign Order

  • 1158.5XX
  • Request to Register Foreign Child Custody or Parent-Time Order, or Support or Income Withholding Order - PDF | Word
  • Non-public Information Forms
  • Notice of Registration of Foreign Child Custody or Parent-Time Order, or Support or Income Withholding Order - PDF | Word
  • Notice of Confirmation of Foreign Child Custody or Parent-Time Order, or Support or Income Withholding Order - PDF | Word
  • Order on Hearing for Confirmation of Foreign Child Custody or Parent-Time Order, or Support or Income Withholding Order - PDF | Word

Opposing a Request to Register a Foreign Order

  • Request for Hearing – Request to Register Foreign Child Custody or Parent-Time Order, or Support or Income Withholding Order - PDF | Word
  • 1111FA
  • Non-public Information Forms
  • Order on Hearing for Confirmation of Foreign Child Custody or Parent-Time Order, or Support or Income Withholding Order - PDF | Word

 

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