(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (c) and (d), a tribunal of this state shall recognize and enforce a foreign support agreement registered in this state.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-5-2710

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Foreign country: means a country, including a political subdivision thereof, other than the United States, that authorizes the issuance of support orders and:
    (A) Which has been declared under the law of the United States to be a foreign reciprocating country. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession under the jurisdiction of the United States. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • Support order: means a judgment, decree, order, decision, or directive, whether temporary, final, or subject to modification, issued in a state or foreign country for the benefit of a child, a spouse, or a former spouse, which provides for monetary support, health care, arrearages, retroactive support, or reimbursement for financial assistance provided to an individual obligee in place of child support. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
  • Tribunal: means a court, administrative agency, or quasi-judicial entity authorized to establish, enforce, or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. See Tennessee Code 36-5-2101
(b) An application or direct request for recognition and enforcement of a foreign support agreement must be accompanied by:

(1) A complete text of the foreign support agreement; and
(2) A record stating that the foreign support agreement is enforceable as an order of support in the issuing country.
(c) A tribunal of this state may vacate the registration of a foreign support agreement only if, acting on its own motion, the tribunal finds that recognition and enforcement would be manifestly incompatible with public policy.
(d) In a contest of a foreign support agreement, a tribunal of this state may refuse recognition and enforcement of the agreement if it finds:

(1) Recognition and enforcement of the agreement is manifestly incompatible with public policy;
(2) The agreement was obtained by fraud or falsification;
(3) The agreement is incompatible with a support order involving the same parties and having the same purpose in this state, another state, or a foreign country if the support order is entitled to recognition and enforcement under parts 20-29 of this chapter in this state; or
(4) The record submitted under subsection (b) lacks authenticity or integrity.
(e) A proceeding for recognition and enforcement of a foreign support agreement must be suspended during the pendency of a challenge to or appeal of the agreement before a tribunal of another state or a foreign country.
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