Title 46, Domestic Relations.

(a) A tribunal of the District shall apply subchapters I through VI of this chapter [§§ 46-351.01 through § 46-356.16] and, as applicable, subchapter VII of this chapter [§ 46-357.01 et seq.], to a support proceeding involving: (1) A foreign support order; (2) A foreign tribunal;…

(a) In a proceeding to establish or enforce a support order or to determine parentage of a child, a tribunal of the District may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident individual or the individual’s guardian or conservator if: (1) The individual is personally served wi…

Personal jurisdiction acquired by a tribunal of the District in a proceeding under this chapter or other law of the District relating to a support order continues as long as a tribunal of the District has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify its order or continuing jurisd…

Under this chapter, a tribunal of the District may serve as an initiating tribunal to forward proceedings to a tribunal of another state, and as a responding tribunal for proceedings initiated in another state or a foreign country.

(a) A tribunal of the District may exercise jurisdiction to establish a support order if the petition or comparable pleading is filed after a pleading is filed in another state or a foreign country only if: (1) The petition or comparable pleading in the District is filed before t…

(a) A tribunal of the District that has issued a child-support order consistent with the law of the District, has and shall exercise continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify its child-support order if the order is the controlling order and: (1) At the time of the filing of a …

(a) A tribunal of the District that has issued a child-support order consistent with the law of the District, may serve as an initiating tribunal to request a tribunal of another state to enforce: (1) The order if the order is the controlling order and has not been modified by a …

(a) If a proceeding is brought under this chapter and only one tribunal has issued a child-support order, the order of that tribunal controls and must be recognized. (b) If a proceeding is brought under this chapter, and 2 or more child-support orders have been issued by tribunal…

In responding to registrations or petitions for enforcement of 2 or more child-support orders in effect at the same time with regard to the same obligor and different individual obligees, at least one of which was issued by a tribunal of another state or a foreign country, a trib…

A tribunal of the District shall credit amounts collected for a particular period pursuant to any child-support order against the amounts owed for the same period under any other child-support order for support of the same child issued by a tribunal of the District, another state…

A tribunal of the District exercising personal jurisdiction over a nonresident in a proceeding under this chapter, under other law of the District relating to a support order, or recognizing a foreign support order, may receive evidence from outside the District pursuant to § 46-…

(a) A tribunal of the District issuing a spousal-support order consistent with the law of the District has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify the spousal-support order throughout the existence of the support obligation. (b) A tribunal of the District may not modify a sp…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, this subchapter 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…

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.

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

(a) Upon the filing of a petition authorized by this chapter, an initiating tribunal of the District 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…

(a) When a responding tribunal of the District receives a petition or comparable pleading from an initiating tribunal or directly pursuant to § 46-353.01(b), it shall cause the petition or pleading to be filed and notify the petitioner where and when it was filed. (b) A respondin…

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

(a) In a proceeding under this chapter, a support enforcement agency of the District, upon request: (1) Shall provide services to a petitioner residing in a state; (2) Shall provide services to a petitioner requesting services through a central authority of a foreign country as d…

The Office of the Attorney General may determine that a foreign country has established a reciprocal arrangement for child support with the District and take appropriate action for notification of the determination.

An individual may employ private counsel to represent the individual in proceedings authorized by this chapter.

(a) The Office of the Attorney General 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 the District which have jurisdiction under this chapter and any sup…

(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 § 46-35…

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 the District may assess against an obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney’s fees, other costs, and necessary travel and other reasonable expenses incu…

(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.

(a) The physical presence of a nonresident party who is an individual in a tribunal of the District 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…

A tribunal of the District may communicate with a tribunal outside the District 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 proceedi…

A tribunal of the District may: (1) Request a tribunal outside the District 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 the District.

(a) A support enforcement agency or tribunal of the District 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 certifie…

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

A tribunal of the District 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.

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 Chapter 2 of this title [§ 46-201 et seq.] without first filing a petition or comparable ple…

(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 2 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 th…

An employer that complies with an income-withholding order issued in another state in accordance with this subchapter 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.

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 the District.

(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 the District by registering the order in a tribunal of the District and filing a contest to that order as provided in subchapter V…

(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 the District. (b) …

A support order or income-withholding order issued in another state or a foreign support order may be registered in the District for enforcement.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in § 46-357.06, a support order or income-withholding order of another state or a foreign support order may be registered in the District by sending the following records to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia: (1) A letter of transmitt…

(a) A support order or income-withholding order issued in another state or a foreign support order is registered when the order is filed in the registering tribunal of the District. (b) A registered support order issued in another state or a foreign country is enforceable in the …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d) of this section, the law of the issuing state or foreign country governs: (1) The nature, extent, amount, and duration of current payments under a registered support order; (2) The computation and payment of arrearages and accrua…

(a) When a support order or income-withholding order issued in another state or a foreign support order is registered, the registering tribunal of the District shall notify the nonregistering party. The notice must be accompanied by a copy of the registered order and the document…

(a) A nonregistering party seeking to contest the validity or enforcement of a registered support order in the District shall request a hearing within the time required by § 46-356.05. The nonregistering party may seek to vacate the registration, to assert any defense to an alleg…