(A) If a proceeding is brought under this chapter and only one tribunal has issued a child-support order, the order of that tribunal controls and must be recognized.

Terms Used In Ohio Code 3115.207

  • Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
  • 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 Ohio Code 3115.102
  • 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 Ohio Code 3115.102
  • Foreign country: means a country, including a political subdivision of the country, other than the United States, that authorizes the issuance of support orders to which at least one of the following applies:

    (1) It has been declared under the law of the United States to be a foreign reciprocating country;

    (2) It has established a reciprocal arrangement for child support with this state as provided in section 3115. See Ohio Code 3115.102

  • 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 six consecutive months immediately preceding the time of filing of a petition or comparable pleading for support and, if a child is less than six months old, the state or foreign country in which the child lived from birth with any of them. See Ohio Code 3115.102
  • 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:

    (1) 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;

    (2) A foreign country, state, or political subdivision of a state to which the rights under a duty of support or support order have been assigned or that has independent claims based on financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support;

    (3) An individual seeking a judgment determining parentage of the individual's child;

    (4) A person that is a creditor in a proceeding under sections 3115. See Ohio Code 3115.102

  • Obligor: means an individual, or the estate of a decedent, to whom or to which any of the following applies:

    (1) The individual or estate owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support. See Ohio Code 3115.102

  • 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 Ohio Code 3115.102
  • 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 under the jurisdiction of the United States. See Ohio Code 3115.102
  • Support enforcement agency: means a public official, governmental entity, or private agency authorized to do any of the following:

    (1) Seek enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of support;

    (2) Seek establishment or modification of child support;

    (3) Request determination of parentage of a child;

    (4) Attempt to locate obligors or their assets; or

    (5) Request determination of the controlling child-support order. See Ohio Code 3115.102

  • 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 Ohio Code 3115.102

(B) If a proceeding is brought under this chapter and two 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 court 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:

(1) If only one of the tribunals would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under this chapter, the order of that tribunal controls.

(2) If more than one of the tribunals would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under this chapter, whichever of the following is relevant applies:

(a) An order issued by a tribunal in the current home state of the child controls;

(b) If an order has not been issued in the current home state of the child, the order most recently issued controls.

(3) If none of the tribunals would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under this chapter, the court of this state shall issue a child-support order, which order controls.

(C) If two 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 court of this state having personal jurisdiction over both the obligor and the obligee who is an individual shall determine which order controls under division (B) of this section. The request may be filed with a registration for enforcement or registration for modification pursuant to sections 3115.601 to 3115.616 of the Revised Code, or may be filed as a separate proceeding.

(D) 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.

(E) The tribunal that issued the controlling order under division (A), (B), or (C) of this section has continuing jurisdiction to the extent provided in section 3115.205 or 3115.206 of the Revised Code.

(F) A court of this state that determines by order which is the controlling order under division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, or that issues a new controlling order under division (B)(3) of this section, shall state all of the following in that order:

(1) The basis upon which the court made its determination;

(2) The amount of prospective support, if any;

(3) 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 3115.209 of the Revised Code.

(G) Within thirty 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.

(H) An order that has been determined to be the controlling order, or a judgment for consolidated arrears of support and interest, if any, made pursuant to this section must be recognized in proceedings under this chapter.

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