Modifications to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act

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.

Among substantive changes to current law, the bill does the following:

1. Provides that a court of this state that enforces current support or collects arrearages of support due under a support order issued in another state or a foreign country must apply the procedures and remedies of this state when doing so.

2. Provides the process and notification requirements when a party registering (filing) a support order issued in another state with a court of this state asserts that two or more support orders are in effect.

3. Provides that in a proceeding to modify a support order issued in another state, the law of the other state governs the duration of the obligation and a court of this state may not impose a further obligation of support.

4. Provides that a court in this state may assume jurisdiction to modify a child support order issued in a foreign country, and bind all individuals who are subject to the court's personal jurisdiction, if the foreign country lacks or refuses to exercise jurisdiction to modify the order, and that the order issued by the court of this state modifying the foreign child support order is the controlling order.

5. Provides procedures for a person to file a direct request for the establishment or modification of a support order involving an obligor, obligee, or child who lives outside the United States.

6. Provides procedures and requirements, in accordance with the convention, for registering with a court in this state a foreign support order or agreement for recognition and enforcement; specifies the types of proceedings that are available under the convention; provides procedures and requirements for contesting a registered support order; provides grounds for a court to refuse to recognize such an order; and, with limited exceptions, prohibits a court in this state from modifying a foreign support order if the obligor remains a resident of the foreign country.