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

the state. Thus, for there to be valid “service” of a withholding order on an employer in a state,
the tribunal must have authority to bind the employer. In most cases, this requires the assertion of
the authority of a local responding tribunal in a “registration for enforcement” proceeding. In
short, the formality of “service” defeats the whole purpose of direct income withholding across
state lines.
The process contemplated in this article is direct “notification” of an employer in another
state of a withholding order without the involvement of initiating or responding tribunals.
Therefore, receipt of a copy of a withholding order by facsimile, regular first class mail,
registered or certified mail, or any other type of direct notice is sufficient to provide the requisite
notice to trigger direct income withholding in the absence of a contest by the employee-obligor.
This process is now widely used by not only child support enforcement agencies, but also by
private collection agencies or private attorneys acting on behalf of obligees.
Except as provided in Section 507. Administrative Enforcement of Orders, none of the
sections in Article 5 are intended to apply to foreign support orders. While it is appropriate for
U.S. employers to enforce sister state income-withholding orders routinely, enforcement of the
wide variety of possible foreign support orders provides too many complexities and challenges to
require an employer to interpret and enforce ostensible foreign income-withholding orders.
SECTION 502. EMPLOYER’S COMPLIANCE WITH INCOME-
WITHHOLDING ORDER OF ANOTHER STATE.
(a) Upon receipt of an income-withholding order, the obligor’s employer shall
immediately provide a copy of the order to the obligor.
(b) The employer shall treat an income-withholding order issued in another State state
which appears regular on its face as if it had been issued by a tribunal of this State state.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d) and Section 503, the employer shall
withhold and distribute the funds as directed in the withholding order by complying with terms
of the order which specify:
(1) the duration and amount of periodic payments of current child support, stated
as a sum certain;
(2) the person designated to receive payments and the address to which the
payments are to be forwarded;
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