Legal Question in Family Law in Pennsylvania

There should not be open child support cases in two different states. One state has to make a determination that they have jurisdiction over the case and apply that state's laws (including the child support guidelines) to the award of child support. This whole process is governed by the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act ("UIFSA" or the "Act"), which addresses the non-payment of child support obligations and has been adopted by every U.S. state.

Whenever more than one state is involved in the establishing, enforcing or modifying a child or spousal support order, the Act is implemented to determine the jurisdiction and power of the courts in the different states. The Act also establishes which state's law will be applied in proceedings under the Act, an important factor as support laws vary greatly among the states.

The Act establishes rules requiring every state to defer to child support orders entered by the state courts of the child's home state. The place where the order was originally entered holds continuing exclusive jurisdiction (CEJ), and only the law of that state can be applied to requests to modify the order of child support, unless the original tribunal loses CEJ under the Act.

The Act also provides various direct interstate enforcement mechanisms. For example, it allows a caretaker parent to have an order mailed to the employer of the obligated parent, which will require that employer to withhold pay for the benefit of the child. Furthermore, it allows the caretaker parent to have an order mailed to an out-of-state court to get the other state to enforce the order.