(a) A support order issued by a court of this state may be registered in the county in this state where the child or children reside, for enforcement purposes only. If the case is a Title IV-D support case, at the option of the department, it may be enforced in the county of the residence of the obligor. The order may be modified in this state in a court other than the issuing court only if transferred pursuant to part 30 of this chapter. A support order issued by a court in one county may be registered in another county by the person or agency seeking only enforcement of the original order against a support obligor by sending the following documents and information to the appropriate court in the registering county:
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-5-3103
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 Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Clerk: means the clerk of the original or registering court, or the clerk of any court who has been designated by either of those courts to collect support payments for such court. See Tennessee Code 36-5-3102
Court: means a juvenile, circuit, or chancery court or other court of this state with jurisdiction to enter support or custody orders. See Tennessee Code 36-5-3102
Department: means the department of human services or its contractor. See Tennessee Code 36-5-3102
Income: includes earnings or other periodic entitlements to money from any source and any other property subject to withholding for support under the law of this state. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Issuing court: means the court that entered the order sought to be enforced in the registering court. See Tennessee Code 36-5-3102
Law: includes decisional and statutory law and rules and regulations having the force of law. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Nonrequesting party: means the party against whom a registered order is sought to be enforced. See Tennessee Code 36-5-3102
Obligee: means an individual or agency to whom a support obligation is owed by an obligor. See Tennessee Code 36-5-3102
Obligor: means an individual against whom a support order has been entered. See Tennessee Code 36-5-3102
Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government, or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
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 Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
Registering court: means the court in which a support order is registered for enforcement only. See Tennessee Code 36-5-3102
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 order: means a judgment, decree, order, decision, or directive, whether temporary, final, or subject to modification, issued in a state or foreign country for the benefit of a child, a spouse, or a former spouse, which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, retroactive support, or reimbursement for financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
(1) One (1) certified copy of all orders to be registered, including any modification of an order;(2) A letter or transmittal document that includes the following information:
(A) The name of the obligor, and if known:
(i) The obligor’s address and social security number;(ii) The name and address of the obligor’s employer and any other source of income of the obligor; and(B) The name and address of the obligee and, if applicable, the agency or person to whom support payments are to be paid;(3) A sworn statement by the party seeking registration or a certified statement of the clerk of the court or custodian of the records showing the amount of any arrearage being sought to be enforced unless the case is being enforced by the department of human services pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.), in which situation the department’s child support computer system, if operative for the transferor and transferee court at the time of the transfer, shall be used as the child support payment record and the clerk or custodian shall not be required to prepare the certified statement of the child support payment record;(4) A copy of a notice, with the address of the nonrequesting party, to be sent by the clerk of the registering court or the department in Title IV-D child support cases to the nonrequesting party pursuant to § 36-5-3105, that states:
(A) That a registered order is enforceable as of the date of registration in the same manner as an order issued by a court of the registering county;(B) That a hearing to contest the validity or enforcement of the registered order must be requested to the registering court within fifteen (15) days after the date of mailing of the notice;(C) That failure to contest the validity or enforcement of the registered order in a timely manner will result in confirmation of the order by operation of law, will result in enforcement of the order and the alleged arrearages, and will preclude further contest of that order with respect to any matter that could have been asserted;(D) The amount of any alleged arrearages; and(E) That, if the registered order is confirmed by operation of law or by court order, all payments made under the order shall be made to the clerk of the registering court or to the department of human services, or another clerk, as appropriate.(b) On receipt of a request for registration, the registering court shall cause the order to be filed, together with one (1) copy of the documents and information, regardless of their form.(c) A petition seeking a remedy that must be affirmatively sought may be filed at the same time as the request for registration or may be filed later.(d) All payments received by the issuing court after the order has been registered shall be sent by the clerk of the issuing court to the clerk of the registering court, or the department of human services if the clerk of the registering court is not participating in the child support enforcement system, without credit being given to the obligor by the clerk of the issuing court.
