[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 922 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 922
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 6 (legislative day, April 19), 1993
Ms. Moseley-Braun introduced the following bill; which was read twice
and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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) Definitions.--In this section--
``(1) `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;
``(2) `child's State' means the State in which a child
resides;
``(3) `child support' means a payment of money, continuing
support, or arrearages or the provision of a benefit (including
health insurance) for the support of a child;
``(4) `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;
``(5) `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 a child support order has
been assigned;
``(6) `court' means a court, administrative process, or
quasi-judicial process 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;
``(7) `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; and
``(8) `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).
``(b) 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).
``(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 unsatisfied obligations that
accrued before the date on which a modification of the order is made
under subsection (e).''.
(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.''.
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