Title 30

(a) The court may award any party, including a state, necessary and reasonable expenses incurred by or on behalf of the party, including costs, communication expenses, attorney’s fees, investigative fees, expenses for witnesses, travel expenses, and child care during the course o…

A court of this state shall accord full faith and credit to an order issued by another state and consistent with this chapter which enforces a child custody determination by a court of another state unless the order has been vacated, stayed, or modified by a court having jurisdic…

An appeal may be taken from a final order in a proceeding under this article in accordance with Alabama law. Unless the court enters a temporary emergency order under Section 30-3B-204, the enforcing court may not stay an order enforcing a child custody determination pending appe…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, this article applies to all proceedings under this chapter. (b) An individual petitioner or a support enforcement agency may initiate a proceeding authorized under this chapter by filing a petition in an initiating tribunal for fo…

A minor parent, or a guardian or other legal representative of a minor parent, may maintain a proceeding on behalf of or for the benefit of the minor’s child. (Act 2015-284, §1.)

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a responding tribunal of this state shall: (1) apply the procedural and substantive law generally applicable to similar proceedings originating in this state and may exercise all powers and provide all remedies available in those proc…

(a) Upon the filing of a petition authorized by this chapter, an initiating tribunal of this state shall forward the petition and its accompanying documents: (1) to the responding tribunal or appropriate support enforcement agency in the responding state; or (2) if the identity o…

(a) When a responding tribunal of this state receives a petition or comparable pleading from an initiating tribunal or directly pursuant to Section 30-3D-301(b), it shall cause the petition or pleading to be filed and notify the petitioner where and when it was filed. (b) A respo…

If a petition or comparable pleading is received by an inappropriate tribunal of this state, the tribunal shall forward the pleading and accompanying documents to an appropriate tribunal of this state or another state and notify the petitioner where and when the pleading was sent…

(a) A support enforcement agency of this state, upon request, shall provide services to a petitioner in a proceeding under this chapter. (b) A support enforcement agency of this state that is providing services to the petitioner shall: (1) take all steps necessary to enable an ap…

(a) If the Attorney General determines that the support enforcement agency is neglecting or refusing to provide services to an individual, the Attorney General may order the agency to perform its duties under this chapter or may provide those services directly to the individual. …

An individual may employ private counsel to represent the individual in a proceeding authorized by this chapter. (Act 2015-284, §1.)

(a) The Department of Human Resources is the state information agency under this chapter. (b) The state information agency shall: (1) compile and maintain a current list, including addresses, of the tribunals in this state which have jurisdiction under this chapter and any suppor…

(a) In a proceeding under this chapter, a petitioner seeking to establish a support order, to determine parentage of a child, or to register and modify a support order of a tribunal of another state or a foreign country must file a petition. Unless otherwise ordered under Section…

If a party alleges in an affidavit or a pleading under oath that the health, safety, or liberty of a party or child would be jeopardized by disclosure of specific identifying information, that information must be sealed and may not be disclosed to the other party or the public. A…

(a) The petitioner may not be required to pay a filing fee or other costs. (b) If an obligee prevails, a responding tribunal of this state may assess against an obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney’s fees, other costs, and necessary travel and other reasonable expenses incurr…

(a) Participation by a petitioner in a proceeding under this chapter before a responding tribunal, whether in person, by private attorney, or through services provided by the support enforcement agency, does not confer personal jurisdiction over the petitioner in another proceedi…

A party whose parentage of a child has been previously determined by or pursuant to law may not plead nonparentage as a defense to a proceeding under this chapter. (Act 2015-284, §1.)

(a) The physical presence of a nonresident party who is an individual in a tribunal of this state is not required for the establishment, enforcement, or modification of a support order or the rendition of a judgment determining parentage of a child. (b) An affidavit, a document s…

A tribunal of this state may communicate with a tribunal outside this state in a record or by telephone, electronic mail, or other means, to obtain information concerning the laws, the legal effect of a judgment, decree, or order of that tribunal, and the status of a proceeding. …

A tribunal of this state may: (1) request a tribunal outside this state to assist in obtaining discovery; and (2) upon request, compel a person over which it has jurisdiction to respond to a discovery order issued by a tribunal outside this state. (Act 2015-284, §1.)

(a) A support enforcement agency or tribunal of this state shall disburse promptly any amounts received pursuant to a support order, as directed by the order. The agency or tribunal shall furnish to a requesting party or tribunal of another state or a foreign country a certified …

In applying and construing this chapter, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it. (Act 99-438, p. 866, §1.)

If any provision of this chapter or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provision…

This chapter takes effect January 1, 2000. (Act 99-438, p. 866, §1.)

Effective January 1, 2000, the following sections and all amendments thereto and all other sections and parts of sections of this code inconsistent herewith are repealed: The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act located at Sections 30-3-20 through 30-3-44. No actions may be fil…

A motion or other request for relief made in a child custody proceeding or to enforce a child custody determination which was commenced before January 1, 2000, is governed by the law in effect at the time the motion or other request was made. (Act 99-438, p. 866, §1.)

(a) If a support order entitled to recognition under this chapter has not been issued, a responding tribunal of this state with personal jurisdiction over the parties may issue a support order if: (1) the individual seeking the order resides outside this state; or (2) the support…

A tribunal of this state authorized to determine parentage of a child may serve as a responding tribunal in a proceeding to determine parentage of a child brought under this chapter or a law or procedure substantially similar to this chapter. (Act 2015-284, §1.)

There is hereby created a civil action to establish an order of retroactive support which may be brought against a non-supporting parent who has a duty to support as the legal parent of a child or children but has failed to provide support. The action may be brought by the parent…

The action shall be commenced prior to the time the child or children reaches the age of majority. (Acts 1994, No. 94-213, p. 298, §2.)

An action for retroactive support shall be filed in the juvenile or family court division of the district or circuit court in the county in which the parent or guardian resides or in the county in which the child resides. There shall be no right to a jury trial. (Acts 1994, No. 9…

An order of retroactive support may be awarded against the non-supporting parent irrespective of the marital status of the parties. (Acts 1994, No. 94-213, p. 298, §4.)

The order of retroactive support shall be a sum certain judgment and may cover all periods in which the non-supporting parent failed to provide support. For all time periods in which support is requested, the court shall consider the needs of the child or children and the ability…

The action for retroactive support authorized by this article is in addition to any rights to retroactive support granted by any other provision of law including, but not limited to, Section 26-17-8 nor shall the provisions of the article limit or affect the state’s right to reco…

An income-withholding order issued in another state may be sent by or on behalf of the obligee, or by the support enforcement agency, to the person defined as the obligor’s employer under the income-withholding law of this state without first filing a petition or comparable plead…

(a) Upon receipt of an income-withholding order, the obligor’s employer shall immediately provide a copy of the order to the obligor. (b) The employer shall treat an income-withholding order issued in another state which appears regular on its face as if it had been issued by a t…

If an obligor’s employer receives two or more income-withholding orders with respect to the earnings of the same obligor, the employer satisfies the terms of the orders if the employer complies with the law of the state of the obligor’s principal place of employment to establish …

An employer that complies with an income-withholding order issued in another state in accordance with this article is not subject to civil liability to an individual or agency with regard to the employer’s withholding of child support from the obligor’s income. (Act 2015-284, §1.…

An employer that willfully fails to comply with an income-withholding order issued in another state and received for enforcement is subject to the same penalties that may be imposed for noncompliance with an order issued by a tribunal of this state. (Act 2015-284, §1.)

(a) An obligor may contest the validity or enforcement of an income-withholding order issued in another state and received directly by an employer in this state by registering the order in a tribunal of this state and filing a contest to that order as provided in Article 6, or ot…

(a) A party or support enforcement agency seeking to enforce a support order or an income-withholding order, or both, issued in another state or a foreign support order may send the documents required for registering the order to a support enforcement agency of this state. (b) Up…

For the purposes of this article “domestic or family abuse” means an incident resulting in the abuse, stalking, assault, harassment, or the attempt or threats thereof. “Abuse” means any offense under Article 4 of Chapter 6 of this title or Chapter 15 of Title 26. “Stalking” means…

In every proceeding where there is at issue a dispute as to the custody of a child, a determination by the court that domestic or family violence has occurred raises a rebuttable presumption by the court that it is detrimental to the child and not in the best interest of the chil…

(a) In addition to other factors that a court is required to consider in a proceeding in which the custody of a child or visitation by a parent is at issue and in which the court has made a finding of domestic or family violence the court shall consider each of the following: (1)…

In every proceeding where there is at issue a dispute as to the custody of a child, a determination by the court that domestic or family violence has occurred raises a rebuttable presumption by the court that it is in the best interest of the child to reside with the parent who i…