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 |