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Part 1 - Article 5B - Family Court

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section Description
580-101 Short Title.
580-102 Definitions.
580-103 State tribunal and state support enforcement agencies.
580-104 Remedies cumulative.
580-105 Application of the article to a resident of a foreign country and foreign support proceedings. 
  S 580-101. Short Title. This  article may be cited as the "uniform
  interstate family support act" or "UIFSA".

  S 580-102. Definitions. In this article:
    (1)  "Child"  means  an  individual,  whether over or under the age of
  majority, who is or is alleged to be owed  a  duty  of  support  by  the
  individual's  parent  or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a
  support order directed to the parent.
    (2) "Child support order" means a support order for a child, including
  a child who has attained the age  of  majority  under  the  law  of  the
  issuing state or foreign country.
    (3) "Convention" means the Convention on the International Recovery of
  Child  Support  and  Other Forms of Family Maintenance, concluded at The
  Hague on November twenty-third, two thousand seven.
    (4) "Duty of support" means an obligation imposed or imposable by  law
  to  provide  support for a child, spouse, or former spouse, including an
  unsatisfied obligation to provide support.
    (5)  "Foreign  country"  means  a  country,  including   a   political
  subdivision  thereof,  other than the United States, that authorizes the
  issuance of support orders and:
    (i) which has been declared under the law of the United States to be a
  foreign reciprocating country;
    (ii) which has established a reciprocal arrangement for child  support
  with this state as provided in section 580-308 of this article;
    (iii)  which  has  enacted  a  law  or  established procedures for the
  issuance and enforcement  of  support  orders  which  are  substantially
  similar to the procedures under this article; or
    (iv)  in  which  the Convention is in force with respect to the United
  States.
    (6) "Foreign support  order"  means  a  support  order  of  a  foreign
  tribunal.
    (7)  "Foreign  tribunal"  means  a  court,  administrative  agency  or
  quasi-judicial entity of  a  foreign  country  which  is  authorized  to
  establish,  enforce  or modify support orders, or to determine parentage
  of  a  child.  The  term  includes  a  competent  authority  under   the
  Convention.
    (8)  "Home  state" means the state or foreign country in which a child
  lived with a parent or a person  acting  as  parent  for  at  least  six
  consecutive  months  immediately  preceding  the  time  of  filing  of a
  petition or comparable pleading for support and, if a child is less than
  six months old, the state or foreign country in which  the  child  lived
  from  birth  with  any  of them. A period of temporary absence of any of
  them is counted as part of the six-month or other period.
    (9) "Income" includes earnings or other periodic entitlements to money
  from any source and  any  other  property  subject  to  withholding  for
  support as defined by section five thousand two hundred forty-one of the
  civil practice law and rules.
    (10)  "Income withholding order" means an order or other legal process
  directed to an obligor's employer, an income payor as defined by section
  five thousand  two  hundred  forty-one  or  five  thousand  two  hundred
  forty-two  of  the  civil  practice  law  and  rules, or other debtor to
  withhold support from the income of the obligor.
    (11) "Initiating tribunal" means the tribunal of a  state  or  foreign
  country  from which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded or in
  which a petition or comparable  pleading  is  filed  for  forwarding  to
  another state or foreign country.
    (12)  "Issuing  foreign  country" means the foreign country in which a
  tribunal issues a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a
  child.
    (13) "Issuing state" means the state in  which  a  tribunal  issues  a
  support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child.
    (14)  "Issuing  tribunal"  means  the  tribunal  of a state or foreign
  country that issues a support order or a judgment determining  parentage
  of a child.
    (15)  "Law"  includes  decisional  and  statutory  law  and  rules and
  regulations having the force of law.
    (16) "Obligee" means:
    (i) an individual to whom a duty of support is or  is  alleged  to  be
  owed  or  in  whose  favor  a  support  order  or a judgment determining
  parentage of a child has been issued;
    (ii) a foreign country, state or political subdivision of a  state  to
  which  the  rights  under  a  duty of support or support order have been
  assigned or which has independent claims based on  financial  assistance
  provided to an individual obligee in place of child support;
    (iii)  an  individual  seeking a judgment determining parentage of the
  individual's child; or
    (iv) a person that is a creditor in a proceeding under part  seven  of
  this article.
    (17) "Obligor" means an individual, or the estate of a decedent that:
    (i) owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support;
    (ii)  is  alleged  but  has  not  been adjudicated to be a parent of a
  child;
    (iii) is liable under a support order; or
    (iv) is a debtor in a proceeding under part seven of this article.
    (18) "Outside this state" means a  location  in  another  state  or  a
  country  other  than  the United States, whether or not the country is a
  foreign country.
    (19)  "Person"  means  an  individual,  corporation,  business  trust,
  estate,  trust,  partnership,  limited  liability  company, association,
  joint  venture,   public   corporation,   government   or   governmental
  subdivision, agency or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial
  entity.
    (20) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium
  or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in
  perceivable form.
    (21)  "Register"  means  to file in a tribunal of this state a support
  order or judgment determining parentage of a  child  issued  in  another
  state or a foreign country.
    (22)  "Registering tribunal" means a tribunal in which a support order
  or judgment determining parentage of a child is registered.
    (23)  "Responding  state"  means  a  state  in  which  a  petition  or
  comparable  pleading for support or to determine parentage of a child is
  filed or to which a petition or comparable  pleading  is  forwarded  for
  filing from another state or a foreign country.
    (24)   "Responding  tribunal"  means  the  authorized  tribunal  in  a
  responding state or foreign country.
    (25) "Spousal-support order" means a support order  for  a  spouse  or
  former spouse of the obligor.
    (26)  "State"  means  a  state  of  the United States, the District of
  Columbia,  Puerto  Rico,  the  United  States  Virgin  Islands,  or  any
  territory  or  insular  possession  under the jurisdiction of the United
  States. The term includes an Indian nation or tribe.
    (27)  "Support  enforcement   agency"   means   a   public   official,
  governmental entity or private agency authorized to:
    (i) seek enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of
  support;
    (ii) seek establishment or modification of child support;
    (iii) request determination of parentage of a child;
    (iv) attempt to locate obligors or their assets; or
    (v) request determination of the controlling child support order.
    (28)  "Support  order"  means  a  judgment, decree, order, decision or
  directive, whether temporary, final or subject to  modification,  issued
  in  a state or foreign country for the benefit of a child, a spouse or a
  former  spouse,  which  provides  for  monetary  support,  health  care,
  arrearages,   retroactive   support   or   reimbursement  for  financial
  assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child  support.
  The   term   may  include  related  costs  and  fees,  interest,  income
  withholding, automatic adjustment, reasonable attorney's fees and  other
  relief.
    (29)   "Tribunal"   means   a   court,   administrative   agency,   or
  quasi-judicial  entity  authorized  to  establish,  enforce,  or  modify
  support orders or to determine parentage of a child.

  S 580-103. State tribunal and state support enforcement agencies. (a)
  The family court is the tribunal of this state.
    (b) The office of temporary and disability assistance and/or a  social
  services  district as defined in subdivision seven of section two of the
  social services law are the support enforcement agencies of this state.

  S 580-104. Remedies cumulative. (a) Remedies provided by this article
  are cumulative and do not affect  the  availability  of  remedies  under
  other  law or the recognition of a foreign support order on the basis of
  comity.
    (b) This article does not:
    (1) provide the  exclusive  method  of  establishing  or  enforcing  a
  support order under the law of this state; or
    (2)  grant a tribunal of this state jurisdiction to render judgment or
  issue an order relating to child custody or visitation in  a  proceeding
  under this article.

  S 580-105. Application  of  the  article  to a resident of a foreign
  country and foreign support proceedings. (a) A tribunal  of  this  state
  shall  apply  parts  one through six of this article and, as applicable,
  part seven of this article, to a support proceeding involving:
    (1) a foreign support order;
    (2) a foreign tribunal; or
    (3) an obligee, obligor, or child residing in a foreign country.
    (b) A tribunal of this  state  that  is  requested  to  recognize  and
  enforce  a support order on the basis of comity may apply the procedural
  and substantive provisions of parts one through six of this article.
    (c) Part seven of this article applies only to  a  support  proceeding
  under the convention. In such a proceeding, if a provision of part seven
  of  this  article  is  inconsistent  with  parts one through six of this
  article, part seven of this article controls.

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Index | Article 1 | Article 2 | Article 3 | Article 4 | Article 5 | Article 5A | Article 5B | Article 6 | Article 7 | Article 8 | Article 9 | Article 10 | Article 10A | Article 10B | Article 10C | Article 11 | Article 12

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