H.R. 1896 — what changed
International Child Support Recovery Improvement Act of 2013
From Introduced in House to Engrossed in House. 1 section amended between Introduced in House and Engrossed in House.
Sec. 2 Amendments to ensure access to child support services for international child support cases
changed
Authority of the secretary of hhs HHS To ensure compliance with multilateral child support conventions—
In general— Section 452 (42 U.S.C. 652) is amended—
by redesignating the second subsection (l) (as added by section 7306 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005) as subsection (m); and
by adding at the end the following:
“(n) The Secretary shall use the authorities otherwise provided by law to ensure the compliance of the United States with any multilateral child support convention to which the United States is a party.”
Conforming amendment— Section 453(k)(3) (42 U.S.C. 653(k)(3)) is amended by striking “452(l)” and inserting “452(m)”.
Access to the federal parent locator service— Section 453(c) (42 U.S.C. 653(c)) is amended—
by striking “and” at the end of paragraph (3);
by striking the period at the end of paragraph (4) and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(5) an entity designated as a Central Authority for child support enforcement in a foreign reciprocating country or a foreign treaty country for purposes specified in section 459A(c)(2).”
State option To require individuals in foreign countries To apply through their country’s appropriate central authority— Section 454 (42 U.S.C. 654) is amended—
in paragraph (4)(A)(ii), by inserting before the semicolon “(except that, if the individual applying for the services resides in a foreign reciprocating country or foreign treaty country, the State may opt to require the individual to request the services through the Central Authority for child support enforcement in the foreign reciprocating country or the foreign treaty country, and if the individual resides in a foreign country that is not a foreign reciprocating country or a foreign treaty country, a State may accept or reject the application)”; and
in paragraph (32)—
in subparagraph (A), by inserting “, a foreign treaty country,” after “a foreign reciprocating country”; and
in subparagraph (C), by striking “or foreign obligee” and inserting “, foreign treaty country, or foreign individual”.
Amendments to international support enforcement provisions— Section 459A (42 U.S.C. 659a) is amended—
by adding at the end the following:
“(e) References—In this part:
“(1) Foreign reciprocating country—The term foreign reciprocating country means a foreign country (or political subdivision thereof) with respect to which the Secretary has made a declaration pursuant to subsection (a).
“(2) Foreign treaty country—The term foreign treaty country means a foreign country for which the 2007 Family Maintenance Convention is in force.
“(3) 2007 family maintenance convention—The term 2007 Family Maintenance Convention means the Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance.”
in subsection (c)—
in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “foreign countries that are the subject of a declaration under this section” and inserting “foreign reciprocating countries or foreign treaty countries”; and
in paragraph (2), by inserting “and foreign treaty countries” after “foreign reciprocating countries”; and
in subsection (d), by striking “the subject of a declaration pursuant to subsection (a)” and inserting “foreign reciprocating countries or foreign treaty countries”.
Collection of past-Due support from federal tax refunds— Section 464(a)(2)(A) (42 U.S.C. 664(a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking “under section 454(4)(A)(ii)” and inserting “under paragraph (4)(A)(ii) or (32) of section 454”.
changed
State law requirement concerning the uniform interstate family support act (uifsa)—(UIFSA)—
In general— Section 466(f) (42 U.S.C. 666(f)) is amended—
by striking “on and after January 1, 1998,”;
by striking “and as in effect on August 22, 1996,”; and
by striking “adopted as of such date” and inserting “adopted as of September 30, 2008”.
Conforming amendments to title 28, united states code— Section 1738B of title 28, United States Code, is amended—
in subsection (d), by striking “individual contestant” and inserting “individual contestant or the parties have consented in a record or open court that the tribunal of the State may continue to exercise jurisdiction to modify its order,”;
in subsection (e)(2)(A), by striking “individual contestant” and inserting “individual contestant and the parties have not consented in a record or open court that the tribunal of the other State may continue to exercise jurisdiction to modify its order”; and
in subsection (b)—
by striking ““child” means” and inserting “(1) The term child means”;
by striking ““child’s State” means” and inserting “(2) The term child’s State means”;
by striking ““child’s home State” means” and inserting “(3) The term child’s home State means”;
by striking ““child support” means” and inserting “(4) The term child support means”;
by striking ““child support order”” and inserting “(5) The term child support order”;
by striking ““contestant” means” and inserting “(6) The term contestant means”;
by striking ““court” means” and inserting “(7) The term court means”;
by striking ““modification” means” and inserting “(8) The term modification means”; and
by striking ““State” means” and inserting “(9) The term State means”.
Effective date; grace period for state law changes—
Paragraph (1)—
The amendments made by paragraph (1) shall take effect with respect to a State no later than the effective date of laws enacted by the legislature of the State implementing such paragraph, but in no event later than the first day of the first calendar quarter beginning after the close of the first regular session of the State legislature that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act.
For purposes of clause (i), in the case of a State that has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session shall be deemed to be a separate regular session of the State legislature.
Paragraph (2)—
The amendments made by subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) shall take effect on the date on which the Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance enters into force for the United States.
The amendments made by subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.