§ 19-11-184.3.Grounds for refusal of recognition and enforcement of registered convention support order
Chapter 11. Enforcement of Duty of Support · Article 3. Uniform Interstate Family Support Act · Part 7. Determination of Parentage · Last amended 2013 · Last verified October 9, 2026
Full Text of § 19-11-184.3
Plain-English Summary
The starting point is mandatory: a Georgia tribunal shall recognize and enforce a registered convention support order. Subsection (b) then lists the only grounds on which it may refuse. The contesting party must prove them (§ 19-11-184.2), and even when one is proved, the word is “may,” not “shall.”
The ten grounds are: (1) recognition and enforcement is manifestly incompatible with public policy, including the issuing tribunal’s failure to observe minimum due process standards such as notice and a chance to be heard; (2) the issuing tribunal lacked personal jurisdiction consistent with § 19-11-110, Georgia’s list of bases for jurisdiction over a nonresident; (3) the order is not enforceable in the issuing country; (4) the order was obtained by fraud in connection with a matter of procedure; (5) a record sent under § 19-11-184.1 lacks authenticity or integrity; (6) a proceeding between the same parties for the same purpose is pending in Georgia and was filed first; (7) the order conflicts with a more recent order between the same parties for the same purpose that is itself entitled to recognition and enforcement in Georgia; (8) payment, to the extent the alleged arrears have been paid in whole or in part; (9) when the respondent neither appeared nor was represented abroad, a lack of proper notice — of the proceedings if the issuing country’s law provides for prior notice, or of the order and a chance to challenge or appeal it if that law does not; and (10) the order was made in violation of § 19-11-184.6, which limits modification of convention child support orders.
Note how narrow the fraud ground is. The ordinary defense list for registered orders in § 19-11-166 includes an order “obtained by fraud”; here the fraud must concern a matter of procedure.
Subsection (c) keeps support from falling through the cracks. If recognition is refused under ground (2), (4) or (9), the tribunal may not dismiss without allowing a reasonable time for a party to request a new convention support order, and the Department of Human Services shall take all appropriate measures to request a child support order for the obligee if the application came in under § 19-11-183. That matches the obligee’s right in § 19-11-183(b)(4) to seek a new order after such a refusal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Georgia court refuse to enforce a child support order from another country?
Only on limited grounds. For a registered Hague convention support order, a Georgia tribunal shall recognize and enforce it unless one of the ten grounds in subsection (b) applies — the only grounds on which it may refuse. They include public policy, lack of personal jurisdiction, procedural fraud, lack of notice and payment. Under § 19-11-184.2, the person contesting the order bears the burden of proof.
Is it a defense that I already paid some of the support?
Yes, to the extent of the payment. Ground (8) allows refusal of recognition and enforcement for payment, to the extent the alleged arrears have been paid in whole or in part. It reaches only what was paid. Under § 19-11-184.4, the tribunal shall still enforce any severable part of the order that remains.
What if I never got notice of the foreign support case?
That may be a ground for refusal if you neither appeared nor were represented. Under ground (9), if the issuing country’s law provides for prior notice, the question is whether you had proper notice of the proceedings and a chance to be heard. If its law does not, the question is whether you had proper notice of the order and a chance to be heard in a challenge or appeal. Ground (1) also covers failures of minimum due process.
Does a foreign support order lose out if there is already a Georgia case?
It can. Ground (6) allows refusal if a proceeding between the same parties and with the same purpose is pending in Georgia and was filed first. Ground (7) allows refusal if the foreign order is incompatible with a more recent support order between the same parties, for the same purpose, that is itself entitled to recognition and enforcement in Georgia. Both use “may,” so the tribunal decides.
If Georgia refuses a foreign support order, is the support case over?
Not necessarily. If refusal rests on lack of personal jurisdiction, procedural fraud or lack of notice — grounds (2), (4) or (9) — subsection (c) bars dismissal without a reasonable time for a party to request a new convention support order. And if the application came in through § 19-11-183, the Department of Human Services shall take all appropriate measures to request a child support order for the obligee.
Amendment History
Laws 2013, Act 224, § 1, eff. July 1, 2013.