The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act ("UIFSA")

Many find Family Law to be among the more approachable subjects tested on the bar exam. Some of the  issues tested in the subject can get a bit thorny, though. One such issue deals with the enforcement of both child support orders and spousal support orders. 

The relevant question here is that once there has been an order for child support or for spousal support, how is that order enforced? The vehicle for enforcement is called the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act ("UIFSA")

One purpose of the UIFSA relates to jurisdiction. Through the UIFSA, a state can obtain jurisdiction over a support debtor even if the debtor is a nonresident of the state. It essentially functions like a "long arm" statute. Further, once it's determined that a state has jurisdiction over the debtor, it is said to retain "continuing exclusive jurisdiction," provided that at least one of the parties (either parent or the child) continues to reside in that state. Importantly, that state will then be the only state authorized to modify the original support award. 

Once jurisdiction is determined, the next step in the analysis is to determine how to enforce (as per the UIFSA) the support order. The gist here is to ensure that the obligor who owes the support pays the support. To do so, an income withholding order may be mailed directly to an out-of-state obligor's  employer. This will trigger withholding from the employer unless a timely objection is made. Alternatively, the order to withhold may be mailed to the support enforcement agency in the obligor's state.

A few other enforcement avenues are available as well, such as ordering an unemployed obligor to participate in job training and to seek unemployment; withholding professional licenses, driving licenses, etc., from the obligor, requiring the spouse of an obligor to secure insurance or a bond to cover the obligation, etc.

Once an order has been issued, the role of the state that issued the order is to continue to enforce that order. The support order cannot be modified by any state that did not issue the order unless the parties no longer reside in the issuing state or the parties consent to the non-issuing state's assertion of jurisdiction to modify.

Next, is to determine the penalties for non-payment. If an obligor has the ability to pay but fails to do so, the obligor may be held to be in civil contempt. Criminal contempt is likewise possible if the obligor's failure to pay is deemed willful. It only gets worse if it's continual: any party who has previously been held in contempt for failure to pay who then willfully fails again to make the required support payment commits a first-degree misdemeanor.