Interstate Cases
Interstate Support Actions
If either parent leaves Michigan, it doesn't mean the child support obligation ends. The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) helps states handle cases where a party or source of income is in another state. Under UIFSA, only one state has the authority to establish or change support. Several procedures are available under UIFSA. A Michigan order can be registered in another state for the enforcement and modification of the support amount. Interstate income withholding allows the friend of the court to send a withholding order directly to an employer in another state. UIFSA also provides some help in obtaining information needed for support hearings if one party lives in a different state.
Dealing with other states can be complicated. If you have questions about how to handle child support between states, please email us.
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Interstate Child Support
If you have a Michigan support order and the payer of support moves to another state, we will continue to enforce the collection of your support through direct income withholding to the payer's out-of-state employer or if the payer pays on his own. We can also continue other enforcement such as tax offset, show cause hearings, license suspensions and bench warrants. However, certain in-state remedies are not as effective if the payer is living out of state. If our enforcement is not effective, it may be best to register your order for enforcement in the payer's new state.
If we are unsuccessful at collection after the payer leaves the state, you may want to ask that we register your order by calling us. Registration means that the other state will enforce your order for us as if it were their own order.
If you receive child support, you are encouraged to sign up for services at your local child support office. Should enforcement other than income withholding be necessary in the future, the case will already be established in their new state and may save time while initiating enforcement action.
In addition, the Michigan support order cannot be modified in Michigan if neither party nor the children live in Michigan. If you and the other parent both live outside Michigan, the party that wants to change the order must register the order in the other party's state for modification. Dealing with other states can be complicated.
If you have questions about how to handle child support between states, please contact us at 231-843-4791.