Terms Used In Michigan Laws 552.2207

  • 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 Michigan Laws 552.2102
  • 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 Michigan Laws 552.2102
  • Foreign country: means a country, including a political subdivision thereof, other than the United States, that authorizes the issuance of support orders and 1 or more of the following:
  (i) That has been declared under the law of the United States to be a foreign reciprocating country. See Michigan Laws 552.2102
  • Home state: means the state or foreign country in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as parent for at least 6 consecutive months immediately preceding the time of filing of a petition or comparable pleading for support and, if a child is less than 6 months old, the state or foreign country in which the child lived from birth with any of them. See Michigan Laws 552.2102
  • 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 1 or more of the following:
  •   (i) 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 Michigan Laws 552.2102
  • Obligor: means an individual about whom 1 of the following is true, or the estate of a decedent about whom 1 of the following was true before the individual's death:
  •   (i) Owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support. See Michigan Laws 552.2102
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Michigan Laws 552.2102
  • 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 Michigan Laws 552.2102
  • Support enforcement agency: means a public official or governmental entity or private agency authorized to do 1 or more of the following:
  •   (i) Seek enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of support. See Michigan Laws 552.2102
  • 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 Michigan Laws 552.2102
  •   (1) If a proceeding is brought under this act and only 1 tribunal has issued a child-support order, the order of that tribunal controls and must be so recognized.
      (2) If a proceeding is brought under this act, and 2 or more child-support orders have been issued by tribunals of this state, another state, or a foreign country with regard to the same obligor and same child, a tribunal of this state having personal jurisdiction over both the obligor and individual obligee shall apply the following rules and by order shall determine which order controls and must be recognized:
      (a) If only 1 of the tribunals would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under this act, the order of that tribunal controls and must be so recognized.
      (b) If more than 1 of the tribunals would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under this act, 1 of the following applies:
      (i) An order issued by a tribunal in the current home state of the child controls.
      (ii) If an order has not been issued in the current home state of the child, the order most recently issued controls.
      (c) If none of the tribunals would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under this act, the tribunal of this state shall issue a child-support order, which controls.
      (3) If 2 or more child-support orders have been issued for the same obligor and same child, upon request of a party who is an individual or that is a support enforcement agency, a tribunal of this state having personal jurisdiction over both the obligor and the obligee who is an individual shall determine which order controls under subsection (2). The request may be filed with a registration for enforcement or registration for modification under article 6 or may be filed as a separate proceeding.
      (4) A request to determine which is the controlling order must be accompanied by a copy of every child-support order in effect and the applicable record of payments. The requesting party shall give notice of the request to each party whose rights may be affected by the determination.
      (5) The tribunal that issued the controlling order under subsection (1), (2), or (3) has continuing jurisdiction to the extent provided in section 205 or 206.
      (6) A tribunal of this state that determines by order which is the controlling order under subsection (2)(a) or (b) or subsection (3), or that issues a new controlling order under subsection (2)(c), shall state the following in that order:
      (a) The basis upon which the tribunal made its determination.
      (b) The amount of prospective support, if any.
      (c) The total amount of consolidated arrears and accrued interest, if any, under all of the orders after all payments made are credited as provided by section 209.
      (7) Within 30 days after issuance of an order determining which is the controlling order, the party obtaining the order shall file a certified copy of it in each tribunal that issued or registered an earlier order of child support. A party or support enforcement agency obtaining the order that fails to file a certified copy is subject to appropriate sanctions by a tribunal in which the issue of failure to file arises. The failure to file does not affect the validity or enforceability of the controlling order.
      (8) An order that has been determined to be the controlling order, or a judgment for consolidated arrears of support and interest, if any, made under this section must be recognized in proceedings under this act.