Delaware Code Title 13 Sec. 411 – Choice of law
(a) The law of this State shall apply in all actions and proceedings concerning the issuance, enforcement and duration of income withholding orders issued by a court of this State, which is based upon a support order of another jurisdiction entered pursuant to § 403 of this title, except as provided in subsections (b), (c) and (d) of this section.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 13 Sec. 411
- 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 alleged to be the beneficiary of a support order directed to the parent. See Delaware Code Title 13 Sec. 401
- Court: means the Family Court of this State and, when the context requires, means either the court or agency of any other jurisdiction with functions similar to those defined in this chapter, including the issuance and enforcement of support orders. See Delaware Code Title 13 Sec. 401
- Income: means income as defined in § 513(b)(5) of this title. See Delaware Code Title 13 Sec. 401
- Jurisdiction: means any state, as that term is defined in § 6-102 of this title, or political subdivision, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See Delaware Code Title 13 Sec. 401
- 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.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Obligor: means an individual, or the estate of a decedent:
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
- Support order: means a judgment, decree or order, whether temporary, final or subject to modification, for the benefit of a child, a spouse or a former spouse, which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages or reimbursement, and may include related costs and fees, interest, income withholding, attorney's fees and other relief. See Delaware Code Title 13 Sec. 401
(b) The law of the jurisdiction which issued the support order shall govern the following:
(1) The interpretation of the support order entered under § 403 of this title, including amount, form of payment and the duration of support;
(2) The amount of support arrearages necessary to require the issuance of an income withholding order; and
(3) The definition of what costs, in addition to the periodic support obligation, are included as arrearages which are enforceable by income withholding, including but not limited to interest, attorney’s fees, court costs and costs of paternity testing.
(c) The court shall apply the statute of limitations for maintaining an action on arrearages of support payments of either the law of this State or of the state which issued the support order entered under this chapter, whichever is longer.
(d) An employer who receives an income withholding order or notice issued by another state shall apply the income withholding law of the state of the obligor‘s principal place of employment in determining:
(1) The employer’s fee for processing the income withholder order;
(2) The maximum amount permitted to be withheld from the obligor’s income;
(3) The time periods within which the employer must implement the income withholding order and forward the child support payment;
(4) The priorities for withholding and allocating income for multiple child support obligees; and
(5) Any withholding terms or conditions not specified in the order.
65 Del. Laws, c. 115, § ?1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 216, §§ ?25, 26;