(a) Upon the filing of a petition authorized by parts 20-29 of this chapter an initiating tribunal of this state shall forward the petition and its accompanying documents:

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-5-2304

  • Foreign country: means a country, including a political subdivision thereof, other than the United States, that authorizes the issuance of support orders and:
    (A) Which has been declared under the law of the United States to be a foreign reciprocating country. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • Foreign tribunal: means a court, administrative agency, or quasi-judicial entity of a foreign country which is authorized to establish, enforce, or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • 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 Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • Law: includes decisional and statutory law and rules and regulations having the force of law. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • Responding state: means a state in which a petition or comparable pleading for support or to determine parentage of a child is filed or to which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded for filing from another state or a foreign country. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • Responding tribunal: means the authorized tribunal in a responding state or foreign country. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • 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 Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • Support enforcement agency: means a public official, governmental entity, or private agency authorized to:
    (A) Seek enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of support. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • 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 Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
(1) To the responding tribunal or appropriate support enforcement agency in the responding state; or
(2) If the identity of the responding tribunal is unknown, to the state information agency of the responding state with a request that they be forwarded to the appropriate tribunal and that receipt be acknowledged.
(b) If requested by the responding tribunal, a tribunal of this state shall issue a certificate or other document and make findings required by the law of the responding state. If the responding tribunal is in a foreign country, upon request the tribunal of this state shall specify the amount of support sought, convert that amount into the equivalent amount in the foreign currency under applicable official or market exchange rate as publicly reported, and provide any other documents necessary to satisfy the requirements of the responding foreign tribunal.