North Dakota Code 14-12.2-19 – (307) Duties of support enforcement agency
1. A support enforcement agency of this state, upon request, shall provide services to a petitioner in a proceeding under this chapter.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 14-12.2-19
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Individual: means a human being. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Property: includes property, real and personal. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
2. A support enforcement agency of this state that is providing services to the petitioner shall:
a. Take all steps necessary to enable an appropriate tribunal of this state or another state or foreign country to obtain jurisdiction over the respondent; b. Request an appropriate tribunal to set a date, time, and place for a hearing; c. Make a reasonable effort to obtain all relevant information, including information as to income and property of the parties; d. Within two days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after receipt of notice in a record from an initiating, responding, or registering tribunal, send a copy of the notice to the petitioner; e. Within two days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after receipt of communication in a record from the respondent or the respondent’s attorney, send a copy of the communication to the petitioner; and
f. Notify the petitioner if jurisdiction over the respondent cannot be obtained.
3. A support enforcement agency of this state which requests registration of a child support order in this state for enforcement or for modification shall make reasonable efforts:
a. To ensure that the order to be registered is the controlling order; or
b. If two or more child support orders exist and the identity of the controlling order has not been determined, to ensure that a request for such a determination is made in a tribunal having jurisdiction to do so.
4. A support enforcement agency of this state which requests registration and enforcement of a support order, arrears, or judgment stated in a foreign currency shall convert the amounts stated in the foreign currency into the equivalent amounts in dollars under the applicable official or market exchange rate as publicly reported.
5. A support enforcement agency of this state shall request a tribunal of this state to issue a child support order and an income withholding order that redirect payment of current support, arrears, and interest if requested to do so by a support enforcement agency of another state pursuant to section 14-12.2-31.
6. This chapter 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.