§ 19-11-117.Enforcement of two or more child support orders, at least one of which was issued by another state or foreign country
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 3. Uniform Interstate Family Support Act · Part 2. Jurisdiction; Cooperation Between States · Last amended 2013 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-117
Plain-English Summary
A parent may owe support under several orders at once — say, to children of different relationships living in different states. This section makes sure a Georgia tribunal treats every one of those orders the same way.
It applies when a Georgia tribunal is responding to registrations or petitions for enforcement of two or more child support orders that are in effect at the same time, against the same obligor, in favor of different individual obligees, where at least one order came from a tribunal of another state or a foreign country. In that situation, the Georgia tribunal shall enforce the orders in the same manner as if a Georgia tribunal had issued them. An out-of-state or foreign order gets no lesser treatment.
Don’t confuse this with Code Section 19-11-116. That section deals with two or more orders for the same obligor and the same child, and makes a tribunal pick one controlling order. Here the obligees are different people, so every order can stand, and none has to give way.
Orders reach a Georgia tribunal for enforcement either by petition or by registration under Part 6 of the article, which begins at Code Section 19-11-160. When an employer receives two or more income withholding orders for the same obligor, Code Section 19-11-152 says the employer satisfies them by following the law of the state of the obligor’s principal place of employment on priorities and allocation among child support obligees. The section was amended in 2013.
Frequently Asked Questions
My ex owes child support to me and to another parent in a different state. Can Georgia enforce both orders?
Yes. When a Georgia tribunal responds to registrations or petitions to enforce two or more child support orders in effect at the same time against the same obligor for different individual obligees, it shall enforce them as if a Georgia tribunal had issued them. That holds even when at least one came from another state or a foreign country.
Does Georgia have to pick just one order when a parent owes support to different families?
No. Picking a single controlling order under Code Section 19-11-116 applies to orders for the same obligor and the same child. This section covers orders for different individual obligees, and it tells the Georgia tribunal to enforce all of them in the same manner as Georgia orders.
Does an out-of-state child support order get less weight in Georgia than a Georgia order?
Not in this situation. The section requires a Georgia tribunal to enforce child support orders from another state or a foreign country, in effect alongside other orders for different obligees, in the same manner as if a Georgia tribunal had issued them. The tribunal can’t favor the Georgia order over the others for that reason.
How does an employer handle several withholding orders for the same parent?
Code Section 19-11-152 says an employer that receives two or more income withholding orders for the earnings of the same obligor satisfies them by complying with the law of the state of the obligor’s principal place of employment. That law sets the priorities for withholding and allocating income among child support obligees.
Does this section cover alimony orders too?
No. Its words reach only child support orders. Spousal support follows other provisions of the act, including Code Section 19-11-119.1 on Georgia’s jurisdiction over spousal support orders and Code Section 19-11-160, which allows a support order issued in another state to be registered in Georgia for enforcement.
Amendment History
Laws 1997, p. 1613, § 33; Laws 2013, Act 224, § 1, eff. July 1, 2013.