[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 922 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.922
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-
four
An Act
To provide that a State court may not modify an order of another State
court requiring the payment of child support unless the recipient of
child support payments resides in the State in which the modification is
sought or consents to the seeking of the modification in that court.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Full Faith and Credit for Child
Support Orders Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
(1) there is a large and growing number of child support cases
annually involving disputes between parents who reside in different
States;
(2) the laws by which the courts of different jurisdictions
determine their authority to establish child support orders are not
uniform;
(3) those laws, along with the limits imposed by the Federal
system on the authority of each State to take certain actions
outside its own boundaries--
(A) encourage noncustodial parents to relocate outside the
States where their children and the custodial parents reside to
avoid the jurisdiction of the courts of such States, resulting
in an increase in the amount of interstate travel and
communication required to establish and collect on child
support orders and a burden on custodial parents that is
expensive, time consuming, and disruptive of occupations and
commercial activity;
(B) contribute to the pressing problem of relatively low
levels of child support payments in interstate cases and to
inequities in child support payments levels that are based
solely on the noncustodial parent's choice of residence;
(C) encourage a disregard of court orders resulting in
massive arrearages nationwide;
(D) allow noncustodial parents to avoid the payment of
regularly scheduled child support payments for extensive
periods of time, resulting in substantial hardship for the
children for whom support is due and for their custodians; and
(E) lead to the excessive relitigation of cases and to the
establishment of conflicting orders by the courts of various
jurisdictions, resulting in confusion, waste of judicial
resources, disrespect for the courts, and a diminution of
public confidence in the rule of law; and
(4) among the results of the conditions described in this
subsection are--
(A) the failure of the courts of the States to give full
faith and credit to the judicial proceedings of the other
States;
(B) the deprivation of rights of liberty and property
without due process of law;
(C) burdens on commerce among the States; and
(D) harm to the welfare of children and their parents and
other custodians.
(b) Statement of Policy.--In view of the findings made in
subsection (a), it is necessary to establish national standards under
which the courts of the various States shall determine their
jurisdiction to issue a child support order and the effect to be given
by each State to child support orders issued by the courts of other
States.
(c) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to facilitate the enforcement of child support orders among
the States;
(2) to discourage continuing interstate controversies over
child support in the interest of greater financial stability and
secure family relationships for the child; and
(3) to avoid jurisdictional competition and conflict among
State courts in the establishment of child support orders.
SEC. 3. FULL FAITH AND CREDIT FOR CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 115 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by inserting after section 1738A the following new section:
``Sec. 1738B. Full faith and credit for child support orders
``(a) General Rule.--The appropriate authorities of each State--
``(1) shall enforce according to its terms a child support
order made consistently with this section by a court of another
State; and
``(2) shall not seek or make a modification of such an order
except in accordance with subsection (e).
``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
```child' means--
``(A) a person under 18 years of age; and
``(B) a person 18 or more years of age with respect to whom
a child support order has been issued pursuant to the laws of a
State.
```child's State' means the State in which a child resides.
```child support' means a payment of money, continuing support,
or arrearages or the provision of a benefit (including payment of
health insurance, child care, and educational expenses) for the
support of a child.
```child support order'--
``(A) means a judgment, decree, or order of a court
requiring the payment of child support in periodic amounts or
in a lump sum; and
``(B) includes--
``(i) a permanent or temporary order; and
``(ii) an initial order or a modification of an order.
```contestant' means--
``(A) a person (including a parent) who--
``(i) claims a right to receive child support;
``(ii) is a party to a proceeding that may result in
the issuance of a child support order; or
``(iii) is under a child support order; and
``(B) a State or political subdivision of a State to which
the right to obtain child support has been assigned.
```court' means a court or administrative agency of a State
that is authorized by State law to establish the amount of child
support payable by a contestant or make a modification of a child
support order.
```modification' means a change in a child support order that
affects the amount, scope, or duration of the order and modifies,
replaces, supersedes, or otherwise is made subsequent to the child
support order.
```State' means a State of the United States, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories and
possessions of the United States, and Indian country (as defined in
section 1151 of title 18).
``(c) Requirements of Child Support Orders.--A child support order
made is made consistently with this section if--
``(1) a court that makes the order, pursuant to the laws of the
State in which the court is located--
``(A) has subject matter jurisdiction to hear the matter
and enter such an order; and
``(B) has personal jurisdiction over the contestants; and
``(2) reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard is given to
the contestants.
``(d) Continuing Jurisdiction.--A court of a State that has made a
child support order consistently with this section has continuing,
exclusive jurisdiction over the order if the State is the child's State
or the residence of any contestant unless the court of another State,
acting in accordance with subsection (e), has made a modification of
the order.
``(e) Authority To Modify Orders.--A court of a State may make a
modification of a child support order with respect to a child that is
made by a court of another State if--
``(1) the court has jurisdiction to make such a child support
order; and
``(2)(A) the court of the other State no longer has continuing,
exclusive jurisdiction of the child support order because that
State no longer is the child's State or the residence of any
contestant; or
``(B) each contestant has filed written consent to that court's
making the modification and assuming continuing, exclusive
jurisdiction over the order.
``(f) Enforcement of Prior Orders.--A court of a State that no
longer has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction of a child support order
may enforce the order with respect to nonmodifiable obligations and
unsatisfied obligations that accrued before the date on which a
modification of the order is made under subsection (e).
``(g) Choice of Law.--
``(1) In general.--In a proceeding to establish, modify, or
enforce a child support order, the forum State's law shall apply
except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3).
``(2) Law of state of issuance of order.--In interpreting a
child support order, a court shall apply the law of the State of
the court that issued the order.
``(3) Period of limitation.--In an action to enforce a child
support order, a court shall apply the statute of limitation of the
forum State or the State of the court that issued the order,
whichever statute provides the longer period of limitation.''.
(b) Technical Amendment.--The chapter analysis for chapter 115 of
title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 1738A the following new item:
``1738B. Full faith and credit for child support orders.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.