Also known as: Family Support Act · FSA · Family Support Act of 1988
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A uniform act adopted by states to govern the establishment, enforcement, and modification of child support orders across state lines. The act allocates authority between issuing and enforcing states by designating a controlling order and preserving the issuing state's law on substantive matters such as duration and emancipation age.
Fernando Farrell obtained a child support order in State X that remained unmodified. After moving to State Y, the mother registered the order there for enforcement. When Fernando sought to terminate payments under State Y rules, the State Y tribunal applied State X law as the controlling order and continued enforcement.
Fatou Fall received a New York support order requiring payments until age 21. After the father relocated to North Carolina and the order was registered there, the father petitioned to end support at age 18 under North Carolina law. The North Carolina court denied the petition because New York law continued to fix the obligation's length.
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Fumiko Fujimoto filed a parentage and support action in State A against a nonresident father who was served while temporarily present for work. The father moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. The State A court exercised jurisdiction because the service satisfied the statutory conditions drawn from the interstate support act.
The issuing state's law governs the nature, extent, and duration of the support obligation, including the age of emancipation. Registration allows the new state to enforce the order using its own procedures but does not permit substitution of its own substantive rules on duration.
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Yes. The act expressly authorizes personal jurisdiction when the nonresident is personally served with process inside the state. This basis operates independently of other contacts and applies in establishment proceedings.
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No. The registering state must honor the issuing state's rules on duration unless the issuing state has lost continuing exclusive jurisdiction and modification requirements are met. Attempts to shorten the obligation by invoking forum emancipation rules are rejected.
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