[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 922 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]

103d CONGRESS

  2d Session

                                 S. 922

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                 S. 922

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.''.

            Passed the Senate September 27 (legislative day, September 
      12), 1994.

            Attest:






                                                             Secretary.