In 1992 Subsection (24) introduced a completely new term, "tribunal," which replaced the term "court" used in RURESA. With the advent of federally-funded IV-D programs, a number of states have delegated various aspects of child support establishment and enforcement to quasi-judicial bodies and administrative agencies. The term "tribunal" accounts for the breadth of state variations in dealing with support orders. By 2001 the usage has become the standard in the child support enforcement community, although private practitioners who only rarely are involved in such cases may still find the term unfamiliar.

Sec. 8. 19-A MRSA §2803, as enacted by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. B, §2 and affected by Pt. E, §2, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

§2803.__Remedies cumulative

1.__Remedies cumulative.__Remedies provided by this chapter are cumulative and do not affect the availability of remedies under other law, including the recognition of a support order of a foreign country or political subdivision on the basis of comity.

2.__Not exclusive method; jurisdiction.__This chapter does not:

A.__Provide the exclusive method of establishing or enforcing a support order under the laws of this State; or

B.__Grant a tribunal of this State jurisdiction to render judgment or issue an order relating to parental rights and responsibilities other than child support in a proceeding under this chapter.

Uniform Comment

(This is Section 104 of the Uniform Act.)

The existence of procedures for interstate establishment, enforcement, or modification of support or a determination of parentage in UIFSA does not preclude the application of the general law of the forum. Even if the parents live in different states, for example, a petitioner may decide to file an original proceeding for child support (and most likely for other relief as well) directly in the State of residence of the respondent and proceed under that forum's generally applicable support law. In so doing, the petitioner thereby submits to the personal jurisdiction of the forum and foregoes reliance on UIFSA. Once a