§ 19-9-88.Verification and petition for enforcement requirements; sealing; appearance; expenses

This is the heart of the UCCJEA’s expedited enforcement procedure. A petition under Part 3 must be verified, and certified copies of every order to be enforced, plus any order confirming registration, must be attached. A copy of a certified copy will do.

The petition must state six things: whether the issuing court identified the jurisdictional basis it relied on, and what it was; whether the order has been vacated, stayed or modified by a court whose decision must be enforced under the Act, with the court, case number and nature of that proceeding; whether any proceeding that could affect this one has started, including family violence, protective order, termination of parental rights and adoption cases, with the same details; the present physical address of the child and the respondent, if known, except in cases involving a parent who has been the subject of a family violence finding by a court of Georgia or another state; whether the petitioner seeks relief beyond immediate physical custody of the child and attorney’s fees, including help from law enforcement, and what that relief is; and, if the order was registered and confirmed under § 19-9-85, the date and place of registration.

If a party alleges in an affidavit or sworn pleading that disclosing any required information would jeopardize the health, safety or liberty of a party or child, the information must be sealed. It stays sealed unless the court orders disclosure after a hearing that weighs those risks and finds disclosure in the interest of justice.

When the petition is filed, the court must order the respondent to appear in person, with or without the child, and may enter any order needed to keep the parties and the child safe. The hearing must be held on the next judicial day after service of that order unless that date is impossible; then it must be held on the first judicial day possible. The court may push the date back at the petitioner’s request. The order must state the time and place and warn the respondent that the court will let the petitioner take immediate physical custody and will order payment of fees, costs and expenses under § 19-9-92, and may set a further hearing, unless the respondent proves a defense. For an unregistered order the defenses are lack of jurisdiction under Part 2, an order vacated, stayed or modified by a court with Part 2 jurisdiction, or lack of notice under § 19-9-47. For a registered and confirmed order, only the vacated, stayed or modified defense remains. Section 19-9-90 governs the hearing itself.