LD 986
pg. 34
Page 33 of 77 An Act To Enact the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act Amendments of 1996 an... Page 35 of 77
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LR 467
Item 1

 
A tribunal of this State exercising personal jurisdiction
over a nonresident in a proceeding under this chapter or under
other laws of this State relating to a support order or
recognizing a support order of a foreign country or political
subdivision on the basis of comity may receive evidence from
another state pursuant to section 3016, communicate with a
tribunal of another state pursuant to section 3017 and obtain
discovery through a tribunal of another state pursuant to
section 3018. In all other respects, subchapters 3 to 7 do not
apply and the tribunal shall apply the procedural and
substantive law of this State.

 
Uniform Comment

 
(This is Section 210 of the Uniform Act.)

 
Although this section is a product of the 2001 amendments, in
fact it combines provisions formerly found in Sections 202 and
206(b) into a single, comprehensive provision. Section 202
took account of the fact that assertion of long-arm
jurisdiction over a nonresident results in a one-state
proceeding, notwithstanding the fact that the parties reside
in different States. Section 206(b) made a vital contribution
to the exercise of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to
modify and continuing jurisdiction to enforce support orders
if one of the parties to an original proceeding in the forum
State subsequently left the State after the initial support
order was issued. Indeed, it is far more common for a support
order to be issued in conjunction with a divorce or
determination of parentage in which both the obligor and
obligee are residents of the forum than to be issued as a
result of an assertion of long-arm jurisdiction. Note that
either the petitioner or the respondent may be the nonresident
party (either of whom may be the obligor or the obligee). And,
also note that absent this provision the ordinary intrastate
substantive and procedural law of the forum would apply to
either fact situation without reference to the fact that one
of the parties is a nonresident. In sum, whether the matter at
hand involves establishment of an original support order or
enforcement or modification of an existing order. If one of
the parties resides outside the forum State, the nonresident
may avail himself or herself of the special evidentiary and
discovery provisions provided by UIFSA.

 
Except for the three sections specified, the provisions of
UIFSA--its title labels it an interstate act--are not
applicable to an intrastate proceeding. The first exception
allows the tribunal to apply the special rules of evidence and
procedure of Section 316 in order to facilitate decision-
making when one party resides in another State. The improved
interstate exchange of information enables the nonresident to
participate as fully
as


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