West Virginia Code 48-16-704 – Initiation by Bureau for Child Support Enforcement proceeding under convention
(a) In a support proceeding under this article, the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement of this state shall:
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 48-16-704
- Child: means an individual, whether over or under the age of majority, who is or is alleged to be owed a duty of support by the individual'. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Convention: means the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, concluded at The Hague on November 23, 2007. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- 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 support order: means a support order of a foreign tribunal. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Obligee: means :
(A) An individual to whom a duty of support is or is alleged to be owed or in whose favor a support order or a judgment determining parentage of a child has been issued. See West Virginia Code 48-16-102
- Obligor: means an individual or the estate of a decedent that:
(A) Owes or is alleged to owe a duty of support. 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 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 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) Transmit and receive applications; and
(2) Initiate or facilitate the institution of a proceeding regarding an application in a tribunal of this state.
(b) The following support proceedings are available to an obligee or under the convention:
(1) Recognition or recognition and enforcement of a foreign support order;
(2) Enforcement of a support order issued or recognized in this state;
(3) Establishment of a support order if there is no existing order, including, if necessary, determination of parentage of a child;
(4) Establishment of a support order if recognition of a foreign support order is refused under section 708(b)(2) [§48-16-708(b)(2)], (4) [§48-16-708(b)(4)], or (9) [§48-16-708(b)(9).
(5) Modification of a support order of a tribunal of this state; and
(6) Modification of a support order of a tribunal of another state or a foreign country.
(c) The following support proceedings are available under the convention to an obligor against which there is an existing support order;
(1) Recognition of an order suspending or limiting enforcement of an existing support order of a tribunal of this state;
(2) Modification of a support order of a tribunal of this state; and
(3) Modification of a support order of a tribunal of another state or a foreign country.
(d) A tribunal of this state may not require security, bond or deposit, however described, to guarantee the payment of costs and expenses in proceedings under the convention.