Title 46 — Domestic Relations.

(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…

(a) A party contesting the validity or enforcement of a registered support order or seeking to vacate the registration has the burden of proving one or more of the following defenses: (1) The issuing tribunal lacked personal jurisdiction over the contesting party; (2) The order w…

Confirmation of a registered support order, whether by operation of law or after notice and hearing, precludes further contest of the order with respect to any matter that could have been asserted at the time of registration.

A party or support enforcement agency seeking to modify, or to modify and enforce, a child-support order issued in another state shall register that order in the District in the same manner provided in §§ 46-356.01 through 46-356.08 if the order has not been registered. A petitio…

A tribunal of the District may enforce a child-support order of another state registered for purposes of modification, in the same manner as if the order had been issued by a tribunal of the District, but the registered support order may be modified only if the requirements of § …

(a) If § 46-356.13 does not apply, upon petition a tribunal of the District may modify a child-support order issued in another state which is registered in the District if, after notice and hearing, the tribunal finds that: (1) The following requirements are met: (A) Neither the …

If a child-support order issued by a tribunal of the District is modified by a tribunal of another state which assumed jurisdiction pursuant to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, a tribunal of the District: (1) May enforce its order that was modified only as to arrears an…

(a) If all of the parties who are individuals reside in the District and the child does not reside in the issuing state, a tribunal of the District has jurisdiction to enforce and to modify the issuing state’s child-support order in a proceeding to register that order. (b) A trib…

Within 30 days after issuance of a modified child-support order, the party obtaining the modification shall file a certified copy of the order with the issuing tribunal that had continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over the earlier order, and in each tribunal in which the party kno…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in § 46-357.11, if a foreign country lacks or refuses to exercise jurisdiction to modify its child-support order pursuant to its laws, a tribunal of the District may assume jurisdiction to modify the child-support order and bind all individuals su…

A party or support enforcement agency seeking to modify, or to modify and enforce, a foreign child-support order not under the Convention may register that order in the District under §§ 46-356.01 through 46-356.08 if the order has not been registered. A petition for modification…

In this subchapter: (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 o…

This subchapter applies only to a support proceeding under the Convention. In such a proceeding, if a provision of this subchapter is inconsistent with subchapters I through VI of this chapter [§§ 46-351.01 through 46-356.16], this subchapter controls.

The Office of the Attorney General 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 subchapter, the Office of the Attorney General shall: (1) Transmit and receive applications; and (2) Initiate or facilitate the institution of a proceeding regarding an application in a tribunal of the District. (b) The following support pro…

(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 the District applies. (b) A petitioner may file a direct request seeking recognition and enforcement of a su…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, a party who is an individual or a support enforcement agency seeking recognition of a Convention support order shall register the order in the District as provided in subchapter VI of this chapter [§ 46-356.01 et seq.]. (b) Not…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, §§ 46-356.05 through 46-356.08 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 registrati…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, a tribunal of the District shall recognize and enforce a registered Convention support order. (b) The following grounds are the only grounds on which a tribunal of the District may refuse recognition and enforcem…

If a tribunal of the District 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) of this section, a tribunal of the District shall recognize and enforce a foreign support agreement registered in the District. (b) An application or direct request for recognition and enforcement of a foreign support ag…

(a) A tribunal of the District 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 the District, either expressly or by def…

Personal information gathered or transmitted under this subchapter may be used only for the purposes for which it was gathered or transmitted.

A record filed with a tribunal of the District under this subchapter must be in the original language and, if not in English, must be accompanied by an English translation.

(a) For purposes of this subchapter, “governor” includes an individual performing the functions of governor or the executive authority of a state covered by this chapter. (b) The Mayor may: (1) Demand that the governor of another state surrender an individual found in the other s…

(a) Before making a demand that the governor of another state surrender an individual charged criminally in the District with having failed to provide for the support of an obligee, the Mayor may require a prosecutor of the District to demonstrate that at least 60 days previously…

In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.

[Repealed or reserved.]

This chapter applies to proceedings begun on or after February 27, 2016, to establish a support order or determine parentage of a child or to register, recognize, enforce, or modify a prior support order, determination, or agreement, whenever issued or entered.

(a) Marriage is the legally recognized union of 2 persons. Any person may enter into a marriage in the District of Columbia with another person, regardless of gender, unless the marriage is expressly prohibited by § 46-401.01 or § 46-403. (b) Where necessary to implement the righ…