- Consolidated Laws - Family Court
Part 3. Civil provisions of general application.
S 580-301. Proceedings under article. (a) Except as otherwise
provided in this article, this part applies to all proceedings under
this article.
(b) This article provides for the following proceedings:
(1) establishment of an order for spousal support or child support
pursuant to part four;
(2) enforcement of a support order and income-withholding order of
another state without registration pursuant to part five;
(3) registration of an order for spousal support or child support of
another state for enforcement pursuant to part six;
(4) modification of an order for child support or spousal support
issued by a tribunal of this state pursuant to part two.B.;
(5) registration of an order for child support of another state for
modification pursuant to part six;
(6) determination of parentage pursuant to part seven; and
(7) assertion of jurisdiction over nonresidents pursuant to part
two.A.
(c) An individual petitioner or a support enforcement agency may
commence a proceeding authorized under this article by filing a petition
in an initiating tribunal for forwarding to a responding tribunal or by
filing a petition or a comparable pleading directly in a tribunal of
another state which has or can obtain personal jurisdiction over the
respondent.
S 580-302. Action by minor parent. A minor parent, or a guardian or
other legal representative of a minor parent, may maintain a proceeding
on behalf of or for the benefit of the minor`s child.
S 580-303. Application of law of state. Except as otherwise provided
by this article, a responding tribunal of this state:
(1) shall apply the procedural and substantive law, including the
rules on choice of law, generally applicable to similar proceedings
originating in this state and may exercise all powers and provide all
remedies available in those proceedings; and
(2) shall determine the duty of support and the amount payable in
accordance with the law and support guidelines of this state.
S 580-304. Duties of initiating tribunal. (a) Upon the filing of a
petition authorized by this article, an initiating tribunal of this
state shall forward three copies of the petition and its accompanying
documents:
(1) to the responding tribunal or appropriate support enforcement
agency in the responding state; or
(2) if the identity of the responding tribunal is unknown, to the
state information agency of the responding state with a request that
they be forwarded to the appropriate tribunal and that receipt be
acknowledged.
(b) If a responding state has not enacted this article or a law or
procedure substantially similar to this article, a tribunal of this
state may issue a certificate or other document and make findings
required by the law of the responding state. If the responding state is
a foreign jurisdiction, the tribunal may specify the amount of support
sought and provide other documents necessary to satisfy the requirements
of the responding state.
S 580-305. Duties and powers of responding tribunal. (a) When a
responding tribunal of this state receives a petition or comparable
pleading from an initiating tribunal or directly pursuant to subdivision
(c) of section 580-301 of this part (proceedings under this article), it
shall cause the petition or pleading to be filed and notify the
petitioner where and when it was filed.
(b) A responding tribunal of this state, to the extent otherwise
authorized by law, may do one or more of the following:
(1) issue or enforce a support order, modify a child support order, or
render a judgment to determine parentage;
(2) order an obligor to comply with a support order, specifying the
amount and the manner of compliance;
(3) order income-withholding;
(4) determine the amount of any arrearages, and specify a method of
payment;
(5) enforce orders by civil or criminal contempt, or both;
(6) set aside property for satisfaction of the support order;
(7) place liens and order execution on the obligor`s property;
(8) order an obligor to keep the tribunal informed of the obligor`s
current residential address, telephone number, employer, address of
employment, and telephone number at the place of employment;
(9) issue a warrant for an obligor who has failed after proper notice
to appear at a hearing ordered by the tribunal and enter the warrant in
any local and state computer systems for criminal warrants;
(10) order the obligor to seek appropriate employment by specified
methods;
(11) award reasonable attorney`s fees and other fees and costs; and
(12) grant any other available remedy.
(c) A responding tribunal of this state shall include in a support
order issued under this article, or in the documents accompanying the
order, the calculations on which the support order is based.
(d) A responding tribunal of this state may not condition the payment
of a support order issued under this article upon compliance by a party
with provisions for visitation.
(e) If a responding tribunal of this state issues an order under this
article, the tribunal shall send a copy of the order to the petitioner
and the respondent and to the initiating tribunal, if any.
S 580-306. Inappropriate tribunal. If a petition or comparable
pleading is received by an inappropriate tribunal of this state, it
shall forward the pleading and accompanying documents to an appropriate
tribunal in this state or another state and notify the petitioner where
and when the pleading was sent.
S 580-307. Duties of support enforcement agency. (a) A support
enforcement agency of this state, upon request, shall provide services
to a petitioner which shall, for the purposes of this section, be
defined as a petitioner in receipt of services under article six-a of
the social services law, in a proceeding under this article.
(b) A support enforcement agency that is providing services to the
petitioner as appropriate shall:
(1) take all steps necessary to enable an appropriate tribunal in this
state or another state to obtain jurisdiction over the respondent;
(2) request an appropriate tribunal to set a date, time, and place for
a hearing;
(3) make a reasonable effort to obtain all relevant information,
including information as to income and property of the parties;
(4) within ten days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal
holidays, after receipt of a written notice from an initiating,
responding, or registering tribunal, send a copy of the notice to the
petitioner;
(5) within ten days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal
holidays, after receipt of a written communication from the respondent
or the respondent`s attorney, send a copy of the communication to the
petitioner; and
(6) notify the petitioner if jurisdiction over the respondent cannot
be obtained.
(c) This article does not create or negate a relationship of attorney
and client or other fiduciary relationship between a support enforcement
agency or the attorney for the agency and the individual being assisted
by the agency.
S 580-308. Duty of attorney general. If the attorney general
determines that the support enforcement agency is neglecting or refusing
to provide services to an individual, the attorney general may order the
agency to perform its duties under this article or may provide those
services directly to the individual.
S 580-309. Private counsel. An individual may employ private counsel
to represent the individual in proceedings authorized by this article.
S 580-310. Duties of state information agency. (a) The state
department of social services pursuant to section one hundred eleven of
the social services law is the state information agency under this
article.
(b) The state information agency shall:
(1) compile and maintain a current list, including addresses, of the
tribunals in this state which have jurisdiction under this article and
any support enforcement agencies in this state and transmit a copy to
the state information agency of every other state;
(2) maintain a register of tribunals and support enforcement agencies
received from other states;
(3) forward to the appropriate tribunal in the place in this state in
which the individual obligee or the obligor resides, or in which the
obligor`s property is believed to be located, all documents concerning a
proceeding under this article received from an initiating tribunal or
the state information agency of the initiating state; and
(4) obtain information concerning the location of the obligor and the
obligor`s property within this state not exempt from execution, by such
means as postal verification and federal or state locator services,
examination of telephone directories, requests for the obligor`s address
from employers, and examination of governmental records, including, to
the extent not prohibited by other law, those relating to real property,
vital statistics, law enforcement, taxation, motor vehicles, driver`s
licenses, and social security.
S 580-311. Pleadings and accompanying documents. (a) A petitioner
seeking to establish or modify a support order or to determine parentage
in a proceeding under this article must verify the petition. Unless
otherwise ordered under section 580-312 (nondisclosure of information in
exceptional circumstances), the petition or accompanying documents must
provide, so far as known, the name, residential address, and social
security numbers of the obligor and the obligee, and the name, sex,
residential address, social security number, and date of birth of each
child for whom support is sought. The petition must be accompanied by a
certified copy of any support order in effect. The petition may include
any other information that may assist in locating or identifying the
respondent.
(b) The petition must specify the relief sought. The petition and
accompanying documents must conform substantially with the requirements
imposed by the forms mandated by federal law for use in cases filed by a
support enforcement agency.
S 580-312. Nondisclosure of information in exceptional circumstances.
Upon a finding, which may be made ex parte, that the health, safety, or
liberty of a party or child would be unreasonably put at risk by the
disclosure of identifying information, or if an existing order so
provides, a tribunal shall order that the address of the child or party
or other identifying information not be disclosed in a pleading or other
document filed in a proceeding under this article.
S 580-313. Costs and fees. (a) The petitioner may not be required to
pay a filing fee or other costs.
(b) If an obligee prevails, a responding tribunal may assess against
an obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney`s fees, other costs, and
necessary travel and other reasonable expenses incurred by the obligee
and the obligee`s witnesses. The tribunal may not assess fees, costs,
or expenses against the obligee or the support enforcement agency of
either the initiating or the responding state, except as provided by
other law. Attorney`s fees may be taxed as costs, and may be ordered
paid directly to the attorney, who may enforce the order in the
attorney`s own name. Payment of support owed to the obligee has
priority over fees, costs and expenses.
(c) The tribunal shall order the payment of costs and reasonable
attorney`s fees if it determines that a hearing was requested primarily
for delay. In a proceeding under part six of this article (enforcement
and modification of support order after registration), a hearing is
presumed to have been requested primarily for delay if a registered
support order is confirmed or enforced without change.
S 580-314. Limited immunity of petitioner. (a) Participation by a
petitioner in a proceeding before a responding tribunal, whether in
person, by private attorney, or through services provided by the support
enforcement agency, does not confer personal jurisdiction over the
petitioner in another proceeding.
(b) A petitioner is not amenable to service of civil process while
physically present in this state to participate in a proceeding under
this article.
(c) The immunity granted by this section does not extend to civil
litigation based on acts unrelated to a proceeding under this article
committed by a party while present in this state to participate in the
proceeding.
S 580-315. Nonparentage as defense. A party whose parentage of a
child has been previously determined by or pursuant to law may not plead
nonparentage as a defense to a proceeding under this article.
S 580-316. Special rules of evidence and procedure. (a) The physical
presence of the petitioner in a responding tribunal of this state is not
required for the establishment, enforcement, or modification of a
support order or the rendition of a judgment determining parentage.
(b) A verified petition, affidavit, document substantially complying
with federally mandated forms, and a document incorporated by reference
in any of them, not excluded under the hearsay rule if given in person,
is admissible in evidence if given under oath by a party or witness
residing in another state.
(c) A copy of the record of child support payments certified as a true
copy of the original by the custodian of the record may be forwarded to
a responding tribunal. The copy is evidence of facts asserted in it,
and is admissible to show whether payments were made.
(d) Copies of bills for testing for parentage, and for prenatal and
postnatal health care of the mother and child, furnished to the adverse
party at least ten days before trial, are admissible in evidence to
prove the amount of the charges billed and that the charges were
reasonable, necessary, and customary.
(e) Documentary evidence transmitted from another state to a tribunal
of this state by telephone, telecopier, or other means that do not
provide an original writing may not be excluded from evidence on an
objection based on the means of transmission.
(f) In a proceeding under this article, a tribunal of this state may
permit a party or witness residing in another state to be deposed or to
testify by telephone, audiovisual means, or other electronic means at a
designated tribunal or other location in that state. A tribunal of this
state shall cooperate with tribunals of other states in designating an
appropriate location for the deposition or testimony.
(g) If a party called to testify at a civil hearing refuses to answer
on the ground that the testimony may be self-incriminating, the trier of
fact may draw an adverse inference from the refusal.
(h) A privilege against disclosure of communications between spouses
does not apply in a proceeding under this article.
(i) The defense of immunity based on the relationship of husband and
wife or parent and child does not apply in a proceeding under this
article.
S 580-317. Communications between tribunals. A tribunal of this state
may communicate with a tribunal of another state in writing, or by
telephone or other means, to obtain information concerning the laws of
that state, the legal effect of a judgment, decree, or order of that
tribunal, and the status of a proceeding in the other state. A tribunal
of this state may furnish similar information by similar means to a
tribunal of another state.
S 580-318. Assistance with discovery. A tribunal of this state may:
(1) request a tribunal of another state to assist in obtaining
discovery; and
(2) upon request, compel a person over whom it has jurisdiction to
respond to a discovery order issued by a tribunal of another state.
S 580-319. Receipt and disbursement of payments. A support
enforcement agency or tribunal of this state shall disburse promptly any
amounts received pursuant to a support order, as directed by the order.
The agency or tribunal shall furnish to a requesting party or tribunal
of another state a certified statement by the custodian of the record of
the amounts and dates of all payments received.
