West Virginia Code 48-16-707 – Contest of registered convention support order
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this article, sections 605 through 608 [§§48-16-605 through §48-16-608] apply to a contest of a registered convention support order.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 48-16-707
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Convention: means the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, concluded at The Hague on November 23, 2007. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Foreign tribunal: means a court, administrative agency or quasi-judicial entity of a foreign country which is authorized to establish, enforce or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Support order: means a judgment, decree, order, decision or directive, whether temporary, final or subject to modification, issued in a state or foreign country for the benefit of a child, a spouse or a former spouse which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, retroactive support or reimbursement for financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Tribunal: means a court, administrative agency or quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
(b) A party contesting a registered convention support order shall file a contest not later than thirty days after notice of the registration, but if the contesting party does not reside in the United States, the contest must be filed not later than sixty days after notice of the registration.
(c) If the nonregistering party fails to contest the registered convention support order by the time specified in subsection (b) of this section, the order is enforceable.
(d) A contest of a registered convention support order may be based only on grounds set forth in section 708 [§48-16-708]. The contesting party bears the burden of proof.
(e) In a contest of a registered convention support order, a tribunal of this state:
(1) Is bound by the findings of fact on which the foreign tribunal based its jurisdiction; and
(2) May not review the merits of the order.
(f) A tribunal of this state deciding a contest of a registered convention support order shall promptly notify the parties of its decision.
(g) A challenge or appeal, if any, does not stay the enforcement of a convention support order unless there are exceptional circumstances.