A client of mine settled her divorce in California; several years later, she moved to New Jersey. Neither party continues to live in California, where child support was established. Now that the dust has settled, the client wants to pursue college expenses for her son, now a teenager. California requires the parents to agree to pay college expenses for a child beyond the age of 18 or 19. New Jersey allows for college expenses beyond the age of 19.
Another client moved to New Jersey from Vermont, where the father remained. Though the support laws and Child Support Guidelines of Vermont could apply, the children and the client now live in New Jersey, a state with a higher cost of living and presumably, higher support guidelines. Naturally, she wanted to know which state's rules applied, and how to establish the father's child support obligations.
The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) governs these interstate support issues.
Generally, the laws of the state where the support obligation is first established apply. That state has continuing exclusive jurisdiction, or the ability to determine or modify the obligation, until something changes.
For example, the court may no longer have continuing exclusive jurisdiction where neither party nor the child resides in the state that issued the initial support determination. In that instance, there is a mechanism to seek jurisdiction in a new state. Each of the 50 states has Child Support Standards and Guidelines, providing an approach to support, including the amount of support awarded under the guidelines, laws on when support is no longer required, and parents’ contributions to college. Through UIFSA, a state without continuing exclusive jurisdiction will still work with, recognize, and enforce the order of another state. There are UIFSA coordinators in each courthouse, a first contact if you seek to establish, enforce or modify an order obtained in another state.
My client pursuing college expenses found that her California agreement, because it did not cover college expenses, would not be modified by the New Jersey courts; the New Jersey law on paying for college didn’t apply. Similarly, the client with the ex in Vermont chose to work, from New Jersey, with the Vermont child support coordinators to establish the obligation in Vermont, where her ex still lives. She felt that her ex would pay support according to the laws of his state, and this meant a lot to her financially.
The takeaway is that it is important to know the child support laws of the state where the support obligation is determined. One should look into the impact of UIFSA on modifications and enforcement, once one or both parties move to a new state.