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providing services. Note also, that the services available may | | differ significantly; for example, modification of spousal | | support is limited to the issuing State, see Section 205(f), | | supra. |
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| | | Subsection (b) responds to the past complaints of many | | petitioners that they were not properly kept informed about | | the progress of their requests for services. |
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| | | The 2001 additions of Subsections (c) and (d) are procedural | | clarifications reflecting actual practice of the support | | agencies developed after years of experience with the Act. | | Subsection (c) imposes a duty on all support enforcement | | agencies to facilitate the UIFSA one-order world by actively | | searching for cases with multiple orders and obtaining a | | determination of the controlling order as expeditiously as | | possible. This agency duty correlates to new Subsection 602(d) | | regarding the registration process and cases with multiple | | orders. |
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| | | Read in conjunction with Section 319, infra, new Subsection | | (e) requires the state support enforcement agency to | | facilitate redirection of the stream of child support in order | | that the payments be more efficiently received by the obligee. |
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| | | Subsection (f) explicitly states that UIFSA neither creates | | nor rejects the establishment of an attorney-client or | | fiduciary relationship between the support enforcement agency | | and a petitioner receiving services from that agency. This | | highly controversial issue is left to otherwise applicable | | state law. |
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| | | Sec. 19. 19-A MRSA §3008-A, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 669, §18, is | | amended by adding a new 2nd paragraph to read: |
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| | | The commissioner may determine that a foreign country or | | political subdivision has established a reciprocal arrangement | | for child support with this State and take appropriate action | | for notification of the determination. |
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| | | (This is Section 308 of the Uniform Act.) |
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| | | In a carryover from RURESA, Subsection (a) provides that the | | State Attorney General, or an alternative designated by state | | law, is given oversight responsibility for the diligent | | provision of services by the support enforcement agency and | | the power to seek compliance with the Act. |
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| | | The 2001 addition of Subsection (b) makes clear that a State | | has a variety of options in determining the scope of its | | support |
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