MATTER OF CAMPBELL v. O'NEIL

ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, the objections to the order of the Hearing Examiner are sustained, the order entered April 13, 1998, is vacated, and the matter is remitted to the Family Court, Putnam County, for a new determination in accordance herewith.

The instant proceeding was commenced by the filing of a violation of support petition against the respondent father to recover arrears of child support pursuant to an order that was issued in Connecticut in 1986 and registered in New York in 1992. The Hearing Examiner erred in placing the burden of demonstrating the validity of the foreign support order on the petitioner (see, Family Ct. Act § 580-607 Fam. Ct. Act[a]). The Connecticut order was confirmed by operation of law when it was registered without objection in 1992 (see, Family Ct. Act § 580-606 Fam. Ct. Act[b]). That the order may have been vacated, suspended, or modified by a later order can be raised by the respondent as a defense to the enforcement of the Connecticut order (see, Family Ct. Act § 580-607 Fam. Ct. Act[a][3]). Accordingly, dismissal of the proceeding was improper, and the matter must be remitted for a hearing and determination of the merits of the petition.

THOMPSON, J. P., JOY, KRAUSMAN, and GOLDSTEIN, JJ., concur.