| Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act |
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| In 1980 Congress enacted the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA) to close existing gaps and bring greater uniformity to interstate child-custody practice. The PKPA requires state courts to enforce and not modify custody and visitation determinations made by sister states unless the original state either no longer has jurisdiction or declined to exercise jurisdiction.More... |
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| Requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act |
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| The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for the removal of Native American children from their homes. The ICWA applies to foster care placements, terminations of parental rights, and adoption and pre-adoption placements. When the ICWA applies to a proceeding, a state court must comply with the requirements of the act.
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| Enforcement of Alimony or Spousal Support Orders |
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| Alimony and spousal support are terms that are used interchangeably to refer to an obligation of one spouse to provide a financial contribution to the other spouse's cost of living and maintenance. The person who receives support is called the recipient spouse. The person who pays support to a recipient is called the obligor spouse. In some states, the term spousal maintenance is also used. In no instance, do the terms involve a division of property.
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| Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 |
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| In 2003, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act was enacted. The Act authorizes fines and/or jail terms of up to two years for any doctor who performs a partial birth abortion. A partial birth abortion is defined as an abortion in which the baby is delivered past the baby's navel outside the body of the mother or after the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother. Most partial birth abortions are performed between 20 and 26 weeks. More... |
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| Exclusive Jurisdiction of Original State Under UIFSA |
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| Under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), there is only one controlling support order even when multiple states are involved in enforcing it. Once a support order is established, the issuing state has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction to modify that order. The issuing state retains exclusive jurisdiction to modify, upon proper petition, so long as one of the individual parties or the child continue to reside in that state. Modification jurisdiction may be sought in child support cases only when all individual parties and the child have left the issuing state or when the parties have agreed in writing for another state to exercise jurisdiction. More... |
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