Some states have adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act in the hopes that codification by a state of its rules on the recognition of money-judgments rendered in a foreign court will make it more likely that judgments rendered in the state will be recognized abroad. In those states that have adopted the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgment Act , a foreign judgment (defined as a judgment of any state or federal court) may be registered by filing an exemplified copy of the foreign judgment with the appropriate office of the Court and notifying the debtor of the filing.
An exemplified judgment is a copy of the judgment to which a certificate has been attached signed in three places, once by the judge and twice by the clerk, attesting to the authenticity and validity of the judgment. It is frequently called a judgment that has been authenticated pursuant to an Act of Congress. The Act sets forth the technical procedure that must be followed to register the judgment.
A judgment that has been registered is viewed as a judgment issued out of the Court in which the foreign judgment was filed and all local enforcement procedures would be available to the creditor. Some states have adopted the Act with varied form. For example, some states will not allow the registration of a default judgment in which case a new lawsuit must be filed to enforce the judgment.
