Chapter 7. Support Proceeding Under Convention of California Family Law Code >> Division 9. >> Part 6. >> Chapter 7.
In this chapter:
(1) "Application" means a request under the Convention by an
obligee or obligor, or on behalf of a child, made through a central
authority for assistance from another central authority.
(2) "Central authority" means the entity designated by the United
States or a foreign country described in Section 5700.102(5)(D) to
perform the functions specified in the Convention.
(3) "Convention support order" means a support order of a tribunal
of a foreign country described in Section 5700.102(5)(D).
(4) "Direct request" means a petition filed by an individual in a
tribunal of this state in a proceeding involving an obligee, obligor,
or child residing outside the United States.
(5) "Foreign central authority" means the entity designated by a
foreign country described in Section 5700.102(5)(D) to perform the
functions specified in the Convention.
(6) "Foreign support agreement":
(A) means an agreement for support in a record that:
(i) is enforceable as a support order in the country of origin;
(ii) has been:
(I) formally drawn up or registered as an authentic instrument by
a foreign tribunal; or
(II) authenticated by, or concluded, registered, or filed with a
foreign tribunal; and
(iii) may be reviewed and modified by a foreign tribunal; and
(B) includes a maintenance arrangement or authentic instrument
under the Convention.
(7) "United States central authority" means the Secretary of the
United States Department of Health and Human Services.
This chapter applies only to a support proceeding under
the Convention. In such a proceeding, if a provision of this chapter
is inconsistent with Chapters 1 through 6, this chapter controls.
The Department of Child Support Services is recognized as
the agency designated by the United States central authority to
perform specific functions under the Convention.
(a) In a support proceeding under this chapter, the
Department of Child Support Services shall:
(1) transmit and receive applications; and
(2) initiate or facilitate the institution of a proceeding
regarding an application in a tribunal of this state.
(b) The following support proceedings are available to an obligee
under the Convention:
(1) recognition or recognition and enforcement of a foreign
support order;
(2) enforcement of a support order issued or recognized in this
state;
(3) establishment of a support order if there is no existing
order, including, if necessary, determination of parentage of a
child;
(4) establishment of a support order if recognition of a foreign
support order is refused under Section 5700.708(b)(2), (4), or (9);
(5) modification of a support order of a tribunal of this state;
and
(6) modification of a support order of a tribunal of another state
or a foreign country.
(c) The following support proceedings are available under the
Convention to an obligor against which there is an existing support
order:
(1) recognition of an order suspending or limiting enforcement of
an existing support order of a tribunal of this state;
(2) modification of a support order of a tribunal of this state;
and
(3) modification of a support order of a tribunal of another state
or a foreign country.
(d) A tribunal of this state may not require security, bond, or
deposit, however described, to guarantee the payment of costs and
expenses in proceedings under the Convention.
(a) A petitioner may file a direct request seeking
establishment or modification of a support order or determination of
parentage of a child. In the proceeding, the law of this state
applies.
(b) A petitioner may file a direct request seeking recognition and
enforcement of a support order or support agreement. In the
proceeding, Sections 5700.706 through 5700.713 apply.
(c) In a direct request for recognition and enforcement of a
Convention support order or foreign support agreement:
(1) a security, bond, or deposit is not required to guarantee the
payment of costs and expenses; and
(2) an obligee or obligor that in the issuing country has
benefited from free legal assistance is entitled to benefit, at least
to the same extent, from any free legal assistance provided for by
the law of this state under the same circumstances.
(d) A petitioner filing a direct request is not entitled to
assistance from the Department of Child Support Services.
(e) This chapter does not prevent the application of laws of this
state that provide simplified, more expeditious rules regarding a
direct request for recognition and enforcement of a foreign support
order or foreign support agreement.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a party
who is an individual or a support enforcement agency seeking
recognition of a Convention support order shall register the order in
this state as provided in Chapter 6.
(b) Notwithstanding Sections 5700.311 and 5700.602(a), a request
for registration of a Convention support order must be accompanied
by:
(1) a complete text of the support order or an abstract or extract
of the support order drawn up by the issuing foreign tribunal, which
may be in the form recommended by the Hague Conference on Private
International Law;
(2) a record stating that the support order is enforceable in the
issuing country;
(3) if the respondent did not appear and was not represented in
the proceedings in the issuing country, a record attesting, as
appropriate, either that the respondent had proper notice of the
proceedings and an opportunity to be heard or that the respondent had
proper notice of the support order and an opportunity to be heard in
a challenge or appeal on fact or law before a tribunal;
(4) a record showing the amount of arrears, if any, and the date
the amount was calculated;
(5) a record showing a requirement for automatic adjustment of the
amount of support, if any, and the information necessary to make the
appropriate calculations; and
(6) if necessary, a record showing the extent to which the
applicant received free legal assistance in the issuing country.
(c) A request for registration of a Convention support order may
seek recognition and partial enforcement of the order.
(d) A tribunal of this state may vacate the registration of a
Convention support order without the filing of a contest under
Section 5700.707 only if, acting on its own motion, the tribunal
finds that recognition and enforcement of the order would be
manifestly incompatible with public policy.
(e) The tribunal shall promptly notify the parties of the
registration or the order vacating the registration of a Convention
support order.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter,
Sections 5700.605 through 5700.608 apply to a contest of a registered
Convention support order.
(b) A party contesting a registered Convention support order shall
file a contest not later than 30 days after notice of the
registration, but if the contesting party does not reside in the
United States, the contest must be filed not later than 60 days after
notice of the registration.
(c) If the nonregistering party fails to contest the registered
Convention support order by the time specified in subsection (b), the
order is enforceable.
(d) A contest of a registered Convention support order may be
based only on grounds set forth in Section 5700.708. The contesting
party bears the burden of proof.
(e) In a contest of a registered Convention support order, a
tribunal of this state:
(1) is bound by the findings of fact on which the foreign tribunal
based its jurisdiction; and
(2) may not review the merits of the order.
(f) A tribunal of this state deciding a contest of a registered
Convention support order shall promptly notify the parties of its
decision.
(g) A challenge or appeal, if any, does not stay the enforcement
of a Convention support order unless there are exceptional
circumstances.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), a
tribunal of this state shall recognize and enforce a registered
Convention support order.
(b) The following grounds are the only grounds on which a tribunal
of this state may refuse recognition and enforcement of a registered
Convention support order:
(1) recognition and enforcement of the order is manifestly
incompatible with public policy, including the failure of the issuing
tribunal to observe minimum standards of due process, which include
notice and an opportunity to be heard;
(2) the issuing tribunal lacked personal jurisdiction consistent
with Section 5700.201;
(3) the order is not enforceable in the issuing country;
(4) the order was obtained by fraud in connection with a matter of
procedure;
(5) a record transmitted in accordance with Section 5700.706 lacks
authenticity or integrity;
(6) a proceeding between the same parties and having the same
purpose is pending before a tribunal of this state and that
proceeding was the first to be filed;
(7) the order is incompatible with a more recent support order
involving the same parties and having the same purpose if the more
recent support order is entitled to recognition and enforcement under
this part in this state;
(8) payment, to the extent alleged arrears have been paid in whole
or in part;
(9) in a case in which the respondent neither appeared nor was
represented in the proceeding in the issuing foreign country:
(A) if the law of that country provides for prior notice of
proceedings, the respondent did not have proper notice of the
proceedings and an opportunity to be heard; or
(B) if the law of that country does not provide for prior notice
of the proceedings, the respondent did not have proper notice of the
order and an opportunity to be heard in a challenge or appeal on fact
or law before a tribunal; or
(10) the order was made in violation of Section 5700.711.
(c) If a tribunal of this state does not recognize a Convention
support order under subsection (b)(2), (4), or (9):
(1) the tribunal may not dismiss the proceeding without allowing a
reasonable time for a party to request the establishment of a new
Convention support order; and
(2) the Department of Child Support Services shall take all
appropriate measures to request a child-support order for the obligee
if the application for recognition and enforcement was received
under Section 5700.704.
If a tribunal of this state does not recognize and
enforce a Convention support order in its entirety, it shall enforce
any severable part of the order. An application or direct request may
seek recognition and partial enforcement of a Convention support
order.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (c) and
(d), a tribunal of this state shall recognize and enforce a foreign
support agreement registered in this state.
(b) An application or direct request for recognition and
enforcement of a foreign support agreement must be accompanied by:
(1) a complete text of the foreign support agreement; and
(2) a record stating that the foreign support agreement is
enforceable as an order of support in the issuing country.
(c) A tribunal of this state may vacate the registration of a
foreign support agreement only if, acting on its own motion, the
tribunal finds that recognition and enforcement would be manifestly
incompatible with public policy.
(d) In a contest of a foreign support agreement, a tribunal of
this state may refuse recognition and enforcement of the agreement if
it finds:
(1) recognition and enforcement of the agreement is manifestly
incompatible with public policy;
(2) the agreement was obtained by fraud or falsification;
(3) the agreement is incompatible with a support order involving
the same parties and having the same purpose in this state, another
state, or a foreign country if the support order is entitled to
recognition and enforcement under this act in this state; or
(4) the record submitted under subsection (b) lacks authenticity
or integrity.
(e) A proceeding for recognition and enforcement of a foreign
support agreement must be suspended during the pendency of a
challenge to or appeal of the agreement before a tribunal of another
state or a foreign country.
(a) A tribunal of this state may not modify a Convention
child-support order if the obligee remains a resident of the foreign
country where the support order was issued unless:
(1) the obligee submits to the jurisdiction of a tribunal of this
state, either expressly or by defending on the merits of the case
without objecting to the jurisdiction at the first available
opportunity; or
(2) the foreign tribunal lacks or refuses to exercise jurisdiction
to modify its support order or issue a new support order.
(b) If a tribunal of this state does not modify a Convention
child-support order because the order is not recognized in this
state, Section 5700.708(c) applies.
Personal information gathered or transmitted under this
chapter may be used only for the purposes for which it was gathered
or transmitted.
A record filed with a tribunal of this state under this
chapter must be in the original language and, if not in English, must
be accompanied by an English translation.