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The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act

The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act has been adopted by every state in the United States to establish a uniform system of child and spousal support. The widespread adoption of the Family Support Act is largely due to the passage of federal legislation in 1996 that required states to assume the provisions of the Act or lose necessary federal funding for child support enforcement. In Virginia, the Family Support Act is codified in the Virginia Code.

The provisions of the Family Support Act are fairly complicated, and this library article will give an overview of the law. Generally speaking, whenever more than one state is involved in establishing, enforcing, or modifying a child or spousal support order, the Family Support Act is implemented to determine the jurisdiction and power of the courts in the states involved. The Family Support Act also establishes which state's law will be applied in proceedings, an important factor as support laws vary greatly among the states. In short, the Family Support Act determines the balance of power between multiple jurisdictions when support disputes cross state lines.

In specific, the Family Support Act establishes rules requiring Virginia to defer to support orders entered by the courts of the child or spouse’s home state. Likewise, the Family Support Act requires courts of other jurisdictions to defer to child or spousal support orders entered by Virginia courts if the relevant child or spouse resides in Virginia. The Act also provides for enforcement mechanisms that allow states to cooperate in retrieving delinquent support funds. For example, the Family Support Act allows a caretaker parent to mail a court order to the delinquent parent’s employer, which will require the employer to directly withhold pay for the benefit of the aggrieved child or spouse.

The Supreme Court of Virginia has made Family Support Act forms, including requests for support enforcement, available on its website.