A. A tribunal of this state 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 either of the following applies:

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 25-1341

  • Child: means an individual, whether over or under the age of majority, who is or is alleged to be owed a duty of support by the individual's parent or who is or is alleged to be the beneficiary of a support order directed to the parent. See Arizona Laws 25-1202
  • Child support order: means a support order for a child, including a child who has attained the age of majority under the law of the issuing state or foreign country. See Arizona Laws 25-1202
  • Convention: means the convention on the international recovery of child support and other forms of family maintenance, concluded at the Hague on November 23, 2007. See Arizona Laws 25-1202
  • Foreign country: means a country, including a political subdivision of a country, other than the United States, that authorizes the issuance of support orders and to which any of the following applies:

    (a) It has been declared under the law of the United States to be a foreign reciprocating country. See Arizona Laws 25-1202

  • Foreign tribunal: means a court, administrative agency or quasi-judicial entity of a foreign country that is authorized to establish, enforce or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. See Arizona Laws 25-1202
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Obligee: means any of the following:

    (a) An individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged to be owed or in whose favor a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child has been issued. See Arizona Laws 25-1202

  • State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Arizona Laws 25-1202
  • Support order: means a judgment, decree, order, decision or directive, whether temporary, final or subject to modification, issued in a state or foreign country for the benefit of a child, a spouse or a former spouse, that provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, retroactive support or reimbursement for financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support. See Arizona Laws 25-1202
  • Tribunal: means a court, administrative agency or quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. See Arizona Laws 25-1202

1. The obligee submits to the jurisdiction of a tribunal of this state, either expressly or by defending on the merits of the case without objecting to the jurisdiction at the first available opportunity.

2. The foreign tribunal lacks or refuses to exercise jurisdiction to modify its support order or issue a new support order.

B. If a tribunal of this state does not modify a convention child support order because the order is not recognized in this state, section 25-1338, subsection C applies.