Blount v. Blount

Summary

The Supreme Court of Nevada affirmed an order confirming a Hualapai Tribal Court child-custody determination under Nevada's Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. The court held that NRS 125A.465 requires a challenge to registration within 20 days and precludes later challenges to matters that could have been asserted during that period. Because the appellants did not timely challenge registration, their arguments concerning jurisdiction, notice, and a superseding custody order were barred.

Holdings

1. Under NRS 125A.465(6), a person seeking to contest registration of a foreign child-custody order must request a hearing within 20 days after service of the registration notice.
2. Once registration is confirmed as a matter of law, NRS 125A.465(8) precludes further contest of the registered custody order as to any matter that could have been asserted at the time of registration.
3. The UCCJEA did not require Paula to serve Stephanie with notice of the request to register because Stephanie had not been awarded custody or visitation in the Tribal Court custody determination.

Questions Presented

1. Whether NRS 125A.465 requires a challenge to the registration of a foreign child-custody order to be filed within 20 days after service of the registration notice.
2. Whether failure to timely challenge registration confirms the foreign custody order as a matter of law and precludes later challenges to matters that could have been asserted during the 20-day period.
3. Whether the appellants' challenges based on the Tribal Court's jurisdiction, allegedly superseding custody order, and notice of the custody hearing were barred as untimely.
4. Whether Stephanie Blount was entitled to notice of Paula Blount's request to register the Tribal Court order.

Disposition

affirmed