UIFSA
What does the future of UIFSA Look like for CA?
Presenters:
Alisha Griffin, Director - DCSS
Kristen Erickson Donadee, Attorney - DCSS
Elizabeth Pak, Attorney - Los Angeles LCSA
UIFSA 2008 - Background
■ UIFSA 1996 (CA presently operates under this)
■ UIFSA 2001 (CA adopted this but it’s not operative)
■ 11/23/2007 Hague Convention on the
International Recovery of Child Support and
Other Forms of Family Maintenance
■ UIFSA 2008 (basically UIFSA 2001 + Convention)
UIFSA 2008 - Mandate
On September 19, 2014, President Obama signed
HR4980 the Preventing Sex Trafficking and
Strengthening Families Act which requires all
states to enact UIFSA 2008 no later than:
✷
✷
“…the first day of the first calendar quarter
beginning after the close of the first regular
session of the State Legislature that begins after
the date of the enactment of this Act.”
If a State has a 2-year legislative session, “each
year of the session shall be deemed to be a
separate regular session of the State
Legislature.”
Where are we now?
CA has introduced legislation (Senate Bill 646) to
comply with HR 4980
■ UIFSA 2008 will have its own Part in the Family
Code
✷
✷
✷
Family Code §4900 et seq. will be repealed
UIFSA will fall under Family Code 5700 et seq.
Sections will be renumbered to match UIFSA
2008
• Example FC §5700.101 will correspond with
UIFSA §101
Where are we going?
Once all states enact UIFSA 2008 …
■ President must sign the instrument of ratification
■ Then US must deposit its instrument of
ratification with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the depository
for the Hague Conference
■ Treaty will be effective for the US on the 1st day
of the 1st month that is not less than 3 months
after the date of the deposit.
UIFSA 2008 Changes
UIFSA 2008 - builds on UIFSA 2001 & Implements the Hague
 Article I – General Provisions
 Article II – Jurisdiction
 Article III – Civil Provisions of General Application
 Article IV – Establishment of Support Order or Determination of
Parentage
 Article V – Enforcement of Support Order without Registration
 Article VI – Registration, Enforcement & Modification of Support Order
 Article VII – Support Proceeding Under Convention
Differences in documents, timeframes and defenses 

Non-Hague orders: Articles I through VI
Hague orders: Article VII
UIFSA 2008: Changes
Section 102:
 “State” now means a U.S. state, territory, or Indian nation or
tribe.

But remember that in terms of the Convention, a “state” is a
country
 “Foreign country” means:
1. Bi-Lateral agreement for Federal reciprocity
2. State-level agreement for reciprocity
3. Enacted law or established procedures which are substantially
similar to UIFSA; or
4. Convention Country
 Courts can recognize foreign orders under Comity
§ 204(a).
UIFSA 2008: Changes
Modification Provisions:
 Order-issuing state can modify if no party lives
there but parties consent. (UIFSA § 205 (a)(2))
 US tribunal can modify a US order if one person
resides in another US state and the other
person resides outside the US. (UIFSA § 611)
 US can modify a foreign order if the foreign
country cannot or will not modify its order
(UIFSA § 615)
UIFSA 2008 Changes
Section 312
Judicial Non-Disclosure Order no longer needed.
 Party must allege in an affidavit or declaration
that the health, safety or liberty of a party or
child would be jeopardized by disclosure of
specific identifying information, for information
to be sealed and not disclosed.

May be disclosed after hearing after
considering health, safety or liberty of party or
child if in the interest of justice.
UIFSA 2008: Changes
Section 316: Physical presence of nonresident party
Courts now must allow for the telephonic or other
electronic testimony of non-resident party.
UIFSA 1996 language indicated the court may permit.
*Keep time difference in mind when setting hearings,
particularly for international cases
UIFSA 2008: Changes
Section 316: Affidavit
“Under oath” replaced with “under penalty of
perjury” requirement for documents and affidavits.
UIFSA 2008: Changes
Section 319: Redirection of Payments and
Change of Payee
Where parties no longer live in the order-issuing
state, the IV-D agency where CP resides and
receives services may request that the issuing
state obtain orders which redirect payment to their
SDU.
 Redirection by IWO or administrative notice of
change of payee
UIFSA 2008 Changes
Section 501: Direct Income Withholding
 Employers do not have to honor Direct Income
Withholding orders from foreign countries; no
change in that they must honor them for orders
issued in another state.
UIFSA 2008: Changes
Section 506: Contest by Obligor of Out-of-State
IWO
 Clarifies that Obligor may register to challenge
direct IWO
UIFSA 2008: Changes
Section 602: Registration
“Support order…may be registered in this state by
sending the following records to the appropriate
tribunal…”
The word “document” changed to “record”
expands meaning to include electronic
transmission of documents.
UIFSA 2008: Changes
Section 604: Choice of Law
 Issuing state’s law governs:
1.
2.
3.
nature, extent, amount, duration of current
payments,
computation and payment of arrearages and
accrual of interest on arrearages,
existence & satisfaction of other obligations
 Responding state’s law governs: enforcement

After a state has determined Controlling Order
Determination, that state’s laws prospectively
applies, including its law on interest, current and
future support and on consolidated arrears
UIFSA 2008: Changes
Section 307:
Convert currency at registration.
Example of currency conversion recommended
wording for Notice of Registration of Foreign Order:
The amount of the alleged arrearages is 900 Euros as
of date having a United States of America Dollar
equivalence of $___ as of date.
Hague Maintenance Convention Background
 71 countries participated in the negotiations
 Different legal traditions
 Diverse approaches to delivery of child support
(maintenance) services
 Result: One convention document, forms, and
caseworker practice handbook
Hague Convention Background
United States participated in negotiations and is a
signatory to the treaty.
 Senate gave advice and consent to ratify on
September 29, 2010, and the President signed
the treaty
 Public Law Number 113-183 (HR 4980):
Congress approved implementing legislation on
September 29, 2014
 All states must adopt UIFSA 2008 prior to
ratification by President
Hague Convention Status
 32 countries have ratified:



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
Norway
Albania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ukraine
European Union countries (except Denmark)
(as of 8/1/2014)
 See HCCH.net for updated status,
recommended forms, Country Profiles, and
Caseworker’s Guide
Countries Slated to Ratify
 United States

Anticipated Summer 2016
 Brazil
 Belarus
 Kazakhstan
 New Zealand

Recent new movement
 All ratifications by a state (country) are dependent
on each country’s passage of state-level legislation
Potential Impact of the Convention
 International Case Research 2013
 Compared international caseloads in 9
jurisdictions
 Diverse jurisdictions; diverse sizes
 Some conclusions:



Caseloads highest with states in close
geographic proximity
International cases have longer lives than
domestic cases
The cases look similar to domestic cases
International Cases & the Hague Convention
Non-Hague Foreign Support
Order
Hague Foreign Support order
Transmittal letter
Transmittal letter
2 copies of order (1 certified)
Complete text of order or
abstract by issuing tribunal
Sworn or certified arrears
statement
Record: order is enforceable in
issuing country
Certain obligor/obligee info
For a default order, record
attesting to due process
Name/address of person to
whom support payments will
be sent
Record: arrears and automatic
adjustment of support
Request for Determining
Controlling Order, if
appropriate
Record of receipt of free legal
assistance in issuing country (if
necessary)
International Cases & the Hague Convention
Timeline to Contest Registration
 Non-Hague Foreign Support Order (Section
605): within 20 days after notice of registration
 Hague Foreign Support Order (Section 707)


Not later than 30 days after notice of
registration
Not later than 60 days after notice if contesting
party does not reside in US
International Cases & the Hague Convention
Acceptable Contests to Hague Foreign Support Orders
 Procedural fraud
 Proceeding between same parties with same purpose is
pending before a tribunal of state and that proceeding
was filed first.
 Issuing tribunal lacked personal jurisdiction consistent
with § 201.
 Order is not enforceable in issuing country
 If an order was obtained by default, it lacked due process
re: notice and opportunity to be heard
 Registration manifestly incompatible with public policy,
including the failure of the issuing tribunal to observe
minimum standards of due process
Non-Recognition of Hague Order
 If a tribunal does not recognize a Hague order
because of:



Lack of personal jurisdiction,
Procedural fraud, or
The order is a default order in which Respondent
neither appeared nor was represented, then
 Court must allow a reasonable time for a party to
request establishment of a new Convention order,
and
 DCSS shall take all appropriate measures to
facilitate that request.
Role of Central Authority
Entity under the Hague Convention which
performs specific functions
 The Central Authority in the US is the Secretary
of Health and Human Services
 HHS will designate CA IV-D agency to perform
many of the CA functions
Forms
2014 Intergovernmental Forms Revision Project
(OCSE):
 Addresses sensitive/confidential information (PII)
 Forms adjusted for UIFSA 2008
The Hague Conference website has the mandatory
and recommended forms for the Convention, Country
Profiles, and a Caseworker’s Guide www.hcch.net
Practical Handbook
Practical Handbook for Caseworkers
 Contains procedures, flowcharts
and guides
 Available on HccH website
(http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=publicatio
ns.details&pid=6095&dtid=3 )
iSupport
 Case management application to assist Central
Authorities in processing Convention
applications and EU regulation cases
 Expected implementation: Summer, 2016
 See iSupport page on HccH website
(http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=text.dis
play&tid=192)
iSupport Key Functionality
 Ability to generate required and recommended
Forms in multiple languages
 Secure transmission of messages and
documents between Central Authorities
 Allows case managers to track cases and
complete required Convention tasks
 May be able to handle payment transmissions
and exchange in the future
DCSS Efforts to Implement UIFSA 2008
 DCSS Project Management Team

Executives, Legal, Policy, Intergovernmental
Services, Training
 Established UIFSA 2008 Forum

CA CS Central
 Workgroup with LCSA Volunteers (Feb-March)


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Reviewed RFCs to Update CSE
Reviewed DCSS, Judicial Council, OCSE
Forms
Discussed Impact to LCSA procedures
Discussed Training Approach
Impact on LCSA
 DCSS is developing training to address multiple groups:
LCSA, Court, Private bar
 Section 319: Redirection of Payment and Change of Payee


DCSS will receive incoming redirect requests
LCSA training will focus on when and how to request
redirect from other states
 Telephonic appearance mandatory
 Non-Disclosure Declaration or Affidavit
 Judicial Council and OCSE Forms Updates to come
 International Cases: Training will focus on long-term impacts
and increase in cases
Kristen Donadee
Kristen.Donadee@dcss.ca.gov
916-464-7034