TITLE 8: FAMILY LAW AND PROBATE
DIVISION 1: DOMESTICS RELATIONS
§ 15101. Short Title. This Act may be cited as the “Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.” Source: PL 20-22 § 6 (Oct. 6, 2017). Commission Comment: PL 20-22 included the following Findings section: The Legislature finds that: a) The United States Congress determined that because of the tendency of parents to travel from state to state, and the fact that parents of a child often live in different states, it would be highly desirable to have a relatively few “mandatory state laws” that all states must enact. b) To assure enactment of these state laws, Congress tied funding for states’ child support and welfare programs to the enactment of such legislation. c) On September 29, 2014, Public Law (P.L.) 113-183, the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act was signed into law. d) There is a federal mandate set forth in Section 666(f) of Title 42 of the United States Code requiring each state to adopt and have in effect the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), including any amendments officially adopted by the National Council of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws as of September 30, 2008. e) The purpose of the UIFSA is to make uniform child support law across all states, territories and participating foreign countries. Enactment of UIFSA would bring the CNMI into compliance with federal child support requirements and be on par with all the states, including Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam. f) In addition, this legislation will assist the CNMI to better serve children and families in establishing and enforcing child support when one parent resides outside the CNMI. Currently, the CNMI is operating under the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (URESA) from 1968. This proposed UIFSA will replace URESA.