Residents of Texas may have heard of cases where partners, even if divorced, shift residences to ensure that their children are not affected by the absence of either parent. While this emotional concern is often addressed in a stressful manner, the financial aspects of receiving child support from your partner can be taken care of without going through such pains, thanks to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.
Typically, a child support order is handed down by a court in the state where the partners reside with their children. Depending on the economic circumstances of either parent, such orders can be modified at a later date. However, if either parent shifts their residence, the child support order remains in place but may be registered in the new state as well. In this situation, the easiest scenario is when one parent follows the other parent in relocating to another state.
Over and above ensuring that a person does not try to abandon his or her responsibility of child support by moving to a different state, the UIFSA also strengthens the ability of courts to enforce the orders they have issued. It is now possible to withhold a person’s income or tax returns if he or she has defaulted on child support payments. This is also possible when the person no longer resides in the same state where the original order was issued.
Per Texas law, a child support order may be registered if either parent resides here or has some sort of a connection with the state. This is made possible because UIFSA allows for collaboration between states, ensuring that there are no child support defaulters. However, UIFSA does use a timeframe within which an out-of-state order may be contested by the supposed negligent parent.
