Black-letter propositions
- 01
A tribunal needs a statutory personal-jurisdiction basis over a nonresident, such as residence, consent, prior residence with child, support in state, or qualifying conception conduct.
- 02
The issuing state generally retains continuing exclusive jurisdiction while obligor, obligee, or child remains, or parties consent as statute allows.
- 03
A state can register an order for enforcement and, when authorized, modification.
- 04
The issuing state's law controls duration and accrued obligation; the enforcing forum applies its procedures.
- 05
Direct income withholding and interstate agency cooperation support collection.
Use this attack sequence under time
Frame the issue
Identify every order and issuing state.
Resolve the next checkpoint
Find personal jurisdiction.
Resolve the next checkpoint
Determine controlling order and continuing authority.
Resolve the next checkpoint
Classify enforcement versus modification.
Finish the conclusion
Apply registration defenses and choice of law.
Common wrong turns
- Custody jurisdiction under UCCJEA does not create support jurisdiction under UIFSA.
- Parties cannot casually move modification power when continuing authority remains.
- A forum cannot shorten the issuing state's support duration through local law.
Worked example
An issuing state still houses the child and obligee, while the obligor moves and seeks modification elsewhere.
The issuing state ordinarily retains continuing exclusive jurisdiction, so the new state can enforce after registration but generally cannot modify without statutory conditions.
Practice this topic
What NCBE lists
NCBE's NextGen outline names the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (2008) in three places: jurisdiction over divorce decrees and support, modification of child support and custody, and enforcement of decrees. It also lists the requirement that jurisdictions work with one another to enforce child-support orders, and the due-process requirement of procedural safeguards for fair determinations of support.
It lists awareness of a jurisdiction's power to bring child-support enforcement actions. Read each of these entries as a separate issue on an exam: which court may act, whether it may modify, and how another state enforces.
Enforcement tools Cornell describes
Cornell says Congress created the Federal Parent Locator Service partly to enforce support obligations, and its federal materials list the Child Support Enforcement Act, 42 U.S.C. § 651. Some states permit wage withholding, where an employer withholds part of wages and turns it over to the obligee, and an employer that fails to comply may face penalties.
Courts can also hold a noncomplying obligor in contempt, which may require the obligor to pay attorney's fees and court costs.
UIFSA jurisdiction and direct income withholding
UIFSA lets a state reach a nonresident parent on listed bases, such as personal service in the state, consent, having lived with the child there, or having caused the child to live there. The issuing state keeps continuing exclusive jurisdiction over the support order while the obligor, the obligee or the child still lives there. Direct income withholding lets the obligee send a support order straight to the obligor's employer in another state without registering it. Identify the states involved, which state issued the order and where each parent lives before you apply these rules.
Frequently asked questions
How should I analyze uifsa jurisdiction, continuing authority, and enforcement on the bar exam?+
Identify every order and issuing state. Find personal jurisdiction. Determine controlling order and continuing authority. Classify enforcement versus modification. Apply registration defenses and choice of law.
Where does NCBE mention UIFSA?+
Under jurisdiction, modification of child support and custody, and enforcement of divorce decrees, in the NextGen outline, which cites the 2008 version.
What must jurisdictions do about child-support orders?+
Work with one another to enforce them, according to the due-process and cooperation topics in NCBE's outline.
What is the Federal Parent Locator Service?+
A service Congress created partly to enforce child support obligations by letting authorized individuals obtain and transmit information about obligors.
What can an employer be required to do?+
Withhold a portion of wages and turn it over to the obligee under a wage withholding order, and it may be penalized if it fails.
How does UIFSA decide which state controls a support order?+
The state that issued the order keeps continuing exclusive jurisdiction while the obligor, the obligee or the child still lives there, and other states enforce that order rather than issue a new one.