2008 Amendments to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act ...

ARTICLE 5
ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT ORDER OF ANOTHER STATE
WITHOUT REGISTRATION
Introductory Comment
This article governs direct filing of an income withholding order from one state to an
employer in another state. Except as provided in Section 507, the provisions of this article only
apply to an interstate case and do not apply to an income-withholding order from a foreign
country. While U.S. employers routinely enforce sister state income-withholding orders,
enforcement of the wide variety of possible foreign support orders would provide too many
complexities and challenges to justify requiring an employer to interpret and enforce an
ostensible foreign income-withholding order. Indeed, income-withholding orders from a foreign
country are quite rare at this time, although instances of that enforcement remedy are expected to
increase in the near future.
SECTION 501. EMPLOYER’S RECEIPT OF INCOME-WITHHOLDING
ORDER OF ANOTHER STATE. An income-withholding order issued in another State state
may be sent by or on behalf of the obligee, or by the support enforcement agency, to the person
defined as the obligor’s employer under [the income-withholding law of this State state] without
first filing a [petition] or comparable pleading or registering the order with a tribunal of this State
state.
Comment
In 1984 Congress mandated that all states adopt procedures for enforcing incomewithholding
orders of sister states. Direct recognition by the out-of-state obligor's employer of a
withholding order issued by another state long was sought by support enforcement associations
and other advocacy groups. UIFSA (1992) recognized such a procedure. This article was
extensively amended in 1996, but was the subject only of clarifying amendments in 2001.
Section 501 is deliberately written in the passive voice; the act does not restrict those who
may send an income-withholding order across state lines. Although the sender will ordinarily be
a child support enforcement agency or the obligee, the obligor or any other person may supply an
employer with the income-withholding order. “Sending a copy” of a withholding order to an
employer is clearly distinguishable from “service” of that order on the same employer. Service of
an order necessarily intends to invoke a tribunal’s authority over an employer doing business in
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