11.02.320 Petition for Child Custody

(a) For an action involving children and no divorce, except as otherwise provided below in B, the party seeking relief must attach a verified statement to the petition, stating:

(1) the Court's jurisdiction under this section;

(2) the last known telephone number, post office address, residence address, and if knows the business address of each party;

(3) a physical description of each party, including eye color, hair color, height, weight, race, gender, and identifying marks;

(4) any other names by which the parties are or have been known;

(5) the name, age, birth date, and residential address of each child involved in the action, as well as of any other child of either party;

(6) if the parties are unmarried how paternity was established, if paternity has not been established any paternity action shall be governed by Section 11.03.040 of this title;

(7) the places where the child has lived during the last five years, and the names and present addresses of the persons with whom the child has lived during that period;

(8) whether the petitioner has participated, as a party or witness or in any other capacity, in any other proceeding concerning the custody of or visitation with the child and, if so, identify the court, the case number, and the date of the child custody determination, if any;

(9) if the petitioner knows of any proceeding that could affect the current proceeding, including proceedings for enforcement and proceedings relating to domestic violence, protective orders, termination of parental rights, and adoptions and, if so, identify the court, the case number, and the nature of the proceeding;

(10) if the petitioner knows the names and addresses of any person not a party to the proceeding who has physical custody of the child or claims rights of legal custody or physical custody of, or parenting time with, the child and, if so, the names and addresses of those persons;

(11) the name and address of any person, other than the parties, who may have custody of any child during the pendency of the action; and

(12) a proposed parenting plan.

(b) The information in the verified statement under Section 11.02.320(a) is confidential and shall not be released other than to the Tribal Court, the parties, or the attorneys for the parties, except on Tribal Court order and shall not be made a part of the public Tribal Court file. For good cause, the addresses of a party and any child may be omitted from the copy of the statement that is served on the other party. If any of the information required to be included in the verified statement is omitted, the party seeking relief shall explain the omission in a sworn affidavit, to be filed with the Tribal Court.

(c) The Petition shall be accompanied by a filing fee for a civil action as may be specified by rules of the Tribal Court.

(d) When a Petition is filed in the Tribal Court, the Tribal Court shall issue a summons with a hearing scheduled no later than sixty (60) days after the Petition is filed. The summons shall include a date certain and time for the parties' appearance with a warning that a Respondent's failure to appear may result in a default judgment.

(e) The Tribal Court shall retain the original executed summons and return a copy of the executed summons to the Petitioner within five (5) days.

(f) The summons and petition shall be served by the Petitioner on Respondent(s) in accordance with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe's Rules of Civil Procedure, with proof of service filed with Tribal Court in accordance with those rules.