West Virginia Code 48-16-304 – Duties of initiating tribunal
(a) Upon the filing of a petition authorized by this article, an initiating tribunal of this state shall forward the petition and its accompanying documents:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 48-16-304
- 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 West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Foreign tribunal: means a court, administrative agency or quasi-judicial entity of a foreign country which is authorized to establish, enforce or modify support orders or to determine parentage of a child. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Initiating tribunal: means the tribunal of a state or foreign country from which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded or in which a petition or comparable pleading is filed for forwarding to another state or foreign country. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Law: includes decisional and statutory law and rules and regulations having the force of law. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Responding state: means a state in which a petition or comparable pleading for support or to determine parentage of a child is filed or to which a petition or comparable pleading is forwarded for filing from another state or a foreign country. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Responding tribunal: means the authorized tribunal in a responding state or foreign country. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- 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 subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Support enforcement agency: means a public official or governmental entity, or private agency authorized to:
(A) Seek enforcement of support orders or laws relating to the duty of support. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- 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 West Virginia Code 48-16-102
(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 requested by the responding tribunal, a tribunal of this state shall issue a certificate or other document and make findings required by the law of the responding state. If the responding tribunal is in a foreign country, upon request, the tribunal of this state shall specify the amount of support sought, convert that amount into the equivalent amount in the foreign currency under applicable official or market exchange rate as publicly reported and provide any other documents necessary to satisfy the requirements of the responding foreign tribunal.