Child Support Enforcement - Sarpy County Nebraska

Nebraska has signed reciprocity agreements for the establishment and enforcement of
child support orders with the following nations: Australia, Canada (the provinces of Alberta,
British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories, Newfoundland/Labrador,
Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Yukon), the Czech
Republic, El Salvador, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, portions of Mexico (27 individual
states), The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Sweden, Scotland,
Switzerland , The United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Wales) and Yap. (Also see this
State Dept. Link; note that it admits it may be out-of-date.) Working international support cases
with countries not on this list is also possible if no one objects and you obtain the cooperation of
the other nation’s child support system.
An extremely useful 77 page guide for workers/attorneys who share cases with Canada
may be found at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pol/IM/2011/im-11-01a.pdf In addition,
the Canadian Department of Justice has a useful link describing their child support laws, written
in layman’s terminology: http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/fcy-fea/sup-pen/index.html
Note: Additional resources relating to International Child Support (Maintenance), including a
treatise on currency conversion, and a PowerPoint presentation on International Child Support, may
be obtained by emailing Bill MacKenzie at Billm @sarpy.com.
II. Full Faith & Credit issues
Many European nations (plus Canada, Argentina and parts of Mexico) apply their
marriage laws without regard to gender. Same sex divorces will ultimately find their way
into the mix of cases we are asked to enforce. See the Same Sex Marriage
subheading for more information in this regard.
In November 2007 an International Protocol affecting maintenance for children
was concluded by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. The
organization is described as being “The World Organisation for Cross-border Cooperation
in Civil and Commercial Matters.” You can read a helpful overview of the
organization here as well as their FAQ page.
Of particular interest to the child support community would be the following
agreements/documents, concluded in November 2007:
CONVENTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL RECOVERY OF CHILD SUPPORT
AND OTHER FORMS OF FAMILY MAINTENANCE, (PDF Version);
An Outline of the above document; and the
PROTOCOL ON THE LAW APPLICABLE TO MAINTENANCE OBLIGATIONS
(PDF version)
The United States is a signatory to the Protocol and
Convention, however the treaty has yet to be submitted to the
U.S. Senate for ratification; this may occur late in 2008. The
individual states will also have to update their UIFSA laws to
dovetail with the provisions contained in the Convention, before it
will be enacted. To date no other nation has ratified the
Convention, which will also be required before it takes effect.
III. Currency Conversion issues
Federal court rulings have long held that all judgments set by
courts in the United States should to be paid in dollars, and not in
foreign currency. This solves some potential problems, but can lead to
other issues. When we register foreign child support orders for
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