Terms Used In Michigan Laws 552.2211

  • 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
  • Initiating tribunal: means the tribunal of a state or foreign country from which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded or in which a petition or comparable pleading is filed for forwarding to another state or foreign country. 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.
  • Law: includes decisional and statutory law and rules and regulations having the force of law. See Michigan Laws 552.2102
  • 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.
  • Responding tribunal: means the authorized tribunal in a responding state or foreign country. See Michigan Laws 552.2102
  • Spousal-support order: means a support order for a spouse or former spouse of the obligor. 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
  • 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) A tribunal of this state issuing a spousal-support order consistent with the law of this state has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify the spousal-support order throughout the existence of the support obligation.
      (2) A tribunal of this state may not modify a spousal-support order issued by a tribunal of another state or a foreign country having continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over that order under the law of that state or foreign country.
      (3) A tribunal of this state that has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over a spousal-support order may serve as either of the following:
      (a) An initiating tribunal to request a tribunal of another state to enforce the spousal-support order issued in this state.
      (b) A responding tribunal to enforce or modify its own spousal-support order.