LD 986
pg. 19
Page 18 of 77 An Act To Enact the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act Amendments of 1996 an... Page 20 of 77
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LR 467
Item 1

 
tribunal has personal jurisdiction over both parties, absent
agreement of the parties it does not have subject matter
jurisdiction to modify a support order of another State if one
of the parties or the child reside in the issuing State at the
time the modification proceeding is filed, see Section 207,
infra. Even if everyone has moved away from the issuing State, a
tribunal having personal jurisdiction over both parties may not
modify the order if the petitioner is a resident of the tribunal
forum--unless both parties are residents of the forum, see
Sections 611 and 613, infra. Absent an agreement of the parties,
in all other cases the movant must be a nonresident, and the
tribunal must have personal jurisdiction over the respondent.
Almost invariably the respondent will be a resident of the
forum.

 
On rare occasion, however, the required personal jurisdiction
over the respondent may be available only by virtue of the
long-arm provisions of this section, which explains why
Sections 201, 205, 207, 611 and 615 must read in conjunction
with one another. An example of such a situation is as
follows: the controlling child-support order was issued by a
tribunal in State A, which of course had personal jurisdiction
over the parties when it issued its order; the obligee and
child presently reside in State B (a State the obligor has
never even visited); the obligor presently is employed and
resides in Nation X, although the obligor's "home base" in the
United States can be identified as State C where the
headquarters of the obligor's employer is located; and,
finally, other than Nation X, the only states that can claim a
nexus with the obligor sufficient to assert personal
jurisdiction over him are State C and perhaps State A. Under
this fact situation, it is necessary to invoke one of the
long-arm bases of Section 201 to assert the personal
jurisdiction over the obligor necessary to modify the order.
Note that the long-arm statute may not be asserted in State B
where the movant resides due to the restriction provided in
Section 611, even if a basis exists for assertion of long-arm
jurisdiction in that State. The employment connection in State
C is likely to permit a tribunal in that State to assert
jurisdiction to modify the support order based on the catch-
all provision, Subsection (a)(8). Further, a tribunal in State
A might also find that it has retained jurisdiction to modify
the order under Subsection (a)(8) (remember both parties are
nonresidents) given the absence or paucity of other U.S.
jurisdictions with a nexus to the obligor, see Phillips v.
Phillips, 826 S.W.2d 746 (Tex. App. 1992). Note, however, that
such an action by the original issuing State must be exercised
with extreme restraint or the restriction on modification in
Section 611 will become a nullity. Concern that long-arm
jurisdiction will be asserted
in less compelling circumstances than presented in this
hypothetical situation is not substantiated by experience with
Section 201 in establishment cases filed since the enactment
of UIFSA. In fact, overreaching


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