November Marked Anniversary of Agreement on International Child Support

November 23^rd, 2017 marked the ten-year anniversary of the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (aka the Hague Maintenance Convention), as well as Protocol of 23 November 2007 on the Law Applicable. Both have been swiftly endorsed in different parts of the world, and are helping to facilitate recovery of child support payments for many children each year, across many borders.

There is also continuing interest in further implementing both the Convention and Protocol to go after global child support debt. According to some estimates, there are at least one million instances of unpaid child support involving border issues, globally; indicating a strong need to come up with a reliable global tool with which to facilitate the collection of child support payments.

Help Streaming Lining Child Support Payments From Abroad

Countries and states are reportedly starting to increasingly embracing iSupport, a secure communication and electronic case management system designed to help facilitate the Convention. Many caseworkers in states like California are increasingly relying on it, for example, to streamline the recovery of child support when the obligor is abroad.

Florida’s Jurisdiction over Child Support Payments

Florida law incorporates these international laws via the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (Act) which references the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, as concluded at The Hague Convention on November 23^rd, 2007. It declares that even if Florida is not the residence of the obligor, obligee, or the child, the parties consent that Florida may continue to exercise jurisdiction over its own child support order under most circumstances (i.e. unless all of the parties involved filed consent for another state to exercise jurisdiction or the order is not the controlling order).

In instances where more than one country or state issued child support orders, Florida courts–where they have jurisdiction over the obligor and obligee–apply the following rules in order to determine which order controls and is recognized in the state:

• Preference is given to the state (or country) that would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under the Act; however,
• If more than one would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction, the order issued by the tribunal which is located in the current home state of the child controls; or
• If that is not applicable, the order most recently issued controls. However;
• If none of these circumstances are applicable (i.e. none of the tribunals would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under the Act), Florida shall issue the child support order, and it controls.

Florida International Child Support Lawyers

At Arwani Law Firm ,, our dedicated family law attorneys have had significant experience in handling both child support and international family law cases here in Florida. We work hard to ensure that our clients and their families are taken care of. Contact us today to find out more about our services.

Resource:

familylawweek.co.uk/site.aspx?i=ed183167