§ 19-11-116.Governing tribunal when conflicting orders; determination of controlling order

When a family has lived in several places, more than one tribunal may have issued a child support order for the same child. The interstate support act settles on one controlling order. Subsection (a) handles the easy case: if only one tribunal has issued a child support order, that order controls and must be recognized.

Subsection (b) handles two or more orders — from Georgia, another state or a foreign country — for the same obligor and the same child. A Georgia tribunal that has personal jurisdiction over both the obligor and the individual obligee shall apply these rules and decide by order which one controls. If only one of the issuing tribunals would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under the act, its order controls. If more than one would, an order from the child’s current home state controls; if none was issued there, the most recently issued order controls. If none of them would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction, the Georgia tribunal shall issue a new child support order, and that order controls. Continuing, exclusive jurisdiction generally depends on whether a party or the child still lives in the issuing state or the parties consented, as Code Section 19-11-114 explains for Georgia orders.

Subsection (c) says who can ask. A party who is an individual, or a support enforcement agency, may request the determination from a Georgia tribunal with personal jurisdiction over both the obligor and the individual obligee, which shall decide it. The request may accompany a registration for enforcement or modification under Part 6 of the article, or be filed as a separate proceeding. Under subsection (d), the request must include a copy of every child support order in effect and the applicable record of payments, and the requesting party shall notify each party whose rights may be affected.

The tribunal’s order must state the basis for its decision, the amount of prospective support if any, and the total consolidated arrears and accrued interest, if any, under all the orders after payments are credited as Code Section 19-11-118 requires. Within 30 days after the order issues, the party who obtained it shall file a certified copy in each tribunal that issued or registered an earlier child support order. A party or support enforcement agency that fails to file is subject to appropriate sanctions from a tribunal where the failure comes up, though the failure doesn’t affect the controlling order’s validity or enforceability. Subsection (e) gives the tribunal that issued the controlling order continuing jurisdiction to the extent Code Sections 19-11-114 and 19-11-115 provide. Subsection (h) requires proceedings under the article to recognize the controlling order and any judgment for consolidated arrears and interest. The section was amended in 2013.