SB 473

This bill updates the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) under

current law. UIFSA sets out rules and priorities for the exercise of jurisdiction by

courts in this state in actions to establish or enforce spousal or child support

obligations, to modify child support obligations, or to determine paternity, when the

parties reside in different states or when orders have been issued in different states.

By setting out such rules and priorities, UIFSA aims to eliminate the possibility that

conflicting support orders might be issued or enforced by courts in different states.

The bill primarily reorganizes provisions in current law and makes various

nonsubstantive terminology or technical changes and minor substantive changes.

One of the main changes the bill makes is to clarify UIFSA's application to foreign

countries, in recognition of and comformity with the ratification by the United States

of the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms

of Family Maintenance, concluded at The Hague on November 23, 2007 (convention).

The purpose of the convention is to provide international procedures for enforcing

child support orders when the person who is liable for the support and the child do

not live in the same country. Whereas under current law "state" is defined to include

a "foreign jurisdiction that has enacted a law or established procedures for issuance

and enforcement of support orders that are substantially similar to the procedures

under .... the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act ...." so that a reference

to a "state" in current law includes a reference to a foreign country, this bill

eliminates a foreign jurisdiction from the definition of "state" and adds "foreign

country" to the statutory text wherever appropriate. For example, current law

provides that a court in this state may forward proceedings to, and receive

proceedings from, a court of another state, which would include a foreign jurisdiction.

The bill provides that a court in this state may forward proceedings to a court of

another state and receive proceedings initiated in another state or a foreign country.

As another example, current law provides that if a proceeding related to child

support is brought in this state and two or more child support orders regarding the

same child and obligor have been issued by courts of this or another state, a court of

this state must apply certain rules to determine which child support order to

recognize for purposes of continuing jurisdiction. Under the bill, the court must use

the same rules for determining which child support order controls and must be

recognized, and adds that one or more of the child support orders may have been

issued in a foreign country. In the bill, "foreign country" is defined as a country other

than the U.S. that authorizes the issuance of support orders and that has been

declared under the laws of the U.S. to be a foreign reciprocating country, that has

established a reciprocal arrangement for child support with this state, that has

enacted a law or established procedures for issuing and enforcing support orders that

are substantially similar to UIFSA, or that is one in which the convention is in force

with respect to the U.S.