Mediating International Child Abductions

• Author: Melissa Kucinski
• Pages: 33-35

32 FAMILY ADVOCATE www.shopaba.org

might be helpful. Chapter V of the Child Support Convention

provides rules for the recognition and enforcement of foreign

orders, with article 37 allowing parties to make direct requests

of competent authorities in the other country. Domestic

enactments of this chapter of the Child Support Convention

will provide the applicable rules.

Enforcement of a Foreign Order in the Unit ed States

e categorization of the foreign country becomes particu-

larly relevant in the context of an action in a U.S. state court

to enforce a foreign child support order. Section 601 of

UIFSA permits the registration of foreign orders for the

purpose of enforcement. e general procedure for register-

ing a foreign order for enforcement is contained in section

602 of UIFSA, with a dierent rule for the registration of

orders from a country for which the Child Support Conven-

tion has eect regarding relations between the United States

and that country in section 706 of UIFSA. Pursuant to

section 603 of UIFSA, a registered foreign child support

order is enforceable in the same manner and subject to the

same procedures as an order of that state. Section 603 of

UIFSA also provides that registered child support orders shall

be recognized, as well as enforced, if the issuing tribunal had

proper jurisdiction. Section 605 of UIFSA spells out the

notice requirements when a child support order is registered.

Sections 606 and 607 of UIFSA address the procedure and

burdens, respectively, for contesting the validity or enforce-

ment of a foreign child support order. Section 707 of UIFSA

modies these rules slightly should a party seek to challenge a

child support order from a country for which the Child

Support Convention has eect regarding relations between

the United States and that country. Pursuant to section 608

of UIFSA, once a registered child support order is conrmed,

the order may not be contested with respect to a matter that

may have been asserted at the time of registration. Section

708 of UIFSA addresses recognition and enforcement of a

child support order from a country for which the Child

Support Convention has eect regarding relations between

the United States and that country.

A unique feature of the Child Support Convention is

that it establishes an obligation to recognize and enforce

certain written agreements relating to the payment of child

support as if they are orders from foreign courts. e

fundamental requirement, identied in article 30 of the

Child Support Convention, for this obligation to apply is

that these agreements must be enforceable as if they were

decisions issued in the foreign country. (is would not

extend to, for example, consent agreements that are

incorporated into judicial orders.) Section 710 of UIFSA

addresses these agreements.

Modication of a U.S. Order i n Another Country

If you seek to modify a U.S. order in another country, the

jurisdictional and procedural rules of the country in which

you seek to establish the order will govern. Once again, the

assistance of a foreign lawyer or a U.S. state or tribal child

support agency might be helpful. However, article 37 of the

Child Support Convention allows parties to make direct

requests of competent authorities in the other country.

Domestic enactments of this article of the Child Support

Convention will provide the applicable rules.

Modication of a Foreign Or der in the United States

As is the case for enforcement of a foreign child support order

in the United States, the categorization of the foreign country

is relevant in the context of an action to modify a foreign child

support order in a U.S. state court. e general rule, estab-

lished by section 616 of UIFSA, requires that the foreign child

support order be registered and allows for a petition for

modication to be led contemporaneously with, or subse-

quent to, the registration request. If the child support order

sought to be modied is from a country for which the Child

Support Convention has eect regarding relations between the

United States and that country, section 711 of UIFSA

establishes the jurisdictional rules applicable in the U.S. state.

For modication of orders from other countries, the jurisdic-

tional rules are found in section 615 of UIFSA.

Over time, as more countries become party to the Child

Support Convention such that the Convention has eect

regarding relations between the United States and those

countries, the overarching regime would be established by the

Convention itself. Of course, the provisions of the Convention

will be eectuated by domestic law, such as UIFSA in the

United States. Once that happens, there should be greater

consistency globally in the application of the applicable rules.

Until that time, you should focus on the category (or catego-

ries) into which the foreign country ts and consider consult-

ing with foreign attorneys as needed. Keep in mind that your

client’s best interests might be served by the involvement of

U.S. state and tribal child support agencies. fa

MICHAEL S. COFFEE (mikecoffee@law.gwu.

edu) has served as an attorney-adviser in the

Ofce of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department

of State where, for nearly a decade, he was

responsible for the development and implementa-

tion of rules applicable to international family law.

He is currently a professorial lecturer in law at

the George Washington University Law School, where he co-teaches

international family law. Any views expressed herein are the author’s

views and not necessarily those of the aforementioned institutions.

Published in Family Advocate, Volume 43, Number 2, Fall 2020. © 2020 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof

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