How and where would I get the child support order revised?
Full Question:
Answer:
Venue is the local area in which a court, that has jurisdiction, may try a case. Jurisdiction is the geographical area within which a court has the right and power to operate. A court system may have jurisdiction to take a case in a wide geographical area, but the proper venue for the case may be one place within that area for the convenience of the parties. Jurisdiction is subject to fixed rules; however, venue is often left to the discretion of the judge.
The first state to impose a support order retains "continuing exclusive jurisdiction" as long as one of the parties continues to reside in that state or if both parties agree to transfer jurisdiction to another state. Another state may modify the decree only if the original state no longer has jurisdiction over the case or has declined jurisdiction to modify the decree.
In making a determination on whether a change of venue motion should be granted, the judge will consider things such as:
• Where each party lives
• The financial situations of the people involved
• The nature and location of the evidence needed in the case (including child testimony and other witnesses)
• Any other things that the judge thinks are important
When a divorce decree is issued by a court, that court retains jurisdiction to modify its order. A court may grant a motion for a modification of a divorce decree when the parties consent to the modification or when a significant change of circumstances justifies the modification. Certain aspects of the decree are modifiable, while others are not. The property division is not modifiable by the court. It is final. Child support may be modified if there is a significant change of circumstances. A significant change of circumstances may include, among others, a substantial increase or decrease in income, emancipation of a child, or contribution to expenses by another due to cohabitation or remarriage. The court's decision to grant a modification is based on the best interests of the child. A motion and petition are generally the same thing, they are formals requests to the court for something. If granted, the court will issue an order. When the order is made, the requests in the motion/petition become enforceable.
The following are FL statutes:
88.2061 Enforcement and modification of support order by tribunal having continuing jurisdiction.--
(1) A tribunal of this state may serve as an initiating tribunal to request a tribunal of another state to enforce or modify a support order issued in that state.
(2) A tribunal of this state having continuing exclusive jurisdiction over a support order may act as a responding tribunal to enforce or modify the order. If a party subject to the continuing exclusive jurisdiction of the tribunal no longer resides in the issuing state, in subsequent proceedings the tribunal may apply s. 88.3161 (special rules of evidence and procedure) to receive evidence from another state and s. 88.3181 (assistance with discovery) to obtain discovery through a tribunal of another state.
(3) A tribunal of this state which lacks continuing exclusive jurisdiction over a spousal support order may not serve as a responding tribunal to modify a spousal support order of another state.
88.2071 Recognition of controlling child support order.--
(1) If a proceeding is brought under this act and only one tribunal has issued a child support order, the order of that tribunal controls and must be so recognized.
(2) If a proceeding is brought under this act, and two or more child support orders have been issued by tribunals of this state or another state with regard to the same obligor and child, a tribunal of this state shall apply the following rules in determining which order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction:
(a) If only one of the tribunals would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under this act, the order of that tribunal controls and must be so recognized.
(b) If more than one of the tribunals would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under this act, an order issued by a tribunal in the current home state of the child controls and must be so recognized, but if an order has not been issued in the current home state of the child, the order most recently issued controls and must be so recognized.
(c) If none of the tribunals would have continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under this act, the tribunal of this state having jurisdiction over the parties shall issue a child support order, which controls and must be so recognized.
(3) If two or more child support orders have been issued for the same obligor and child and if the obligor or the individual obligee resides in this state, a party may request a tribunal of this state to determine which order controls and must be so recognized under subsection (2). The request must be accompanied by a certified copy of every support order in effect. The requesting party shall give notice of the request to each party whose rights may be affected by the determination.
(4) The tribunal that issued the controlling order under subsection (1), subsection (2), or subsection (3) is the tribunal that has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction under s. 88.2051.
(5) A tribunal of this state which determines by order the identity of the controlling order under paragraph (2)(a) or paragraph (2)(b) or which issues a new controlling order under paragraph (2)(c) shall state in that order the basis upon which the tribunal made its determination.
(6) Within 30 days after issuance of an order determining the identity of the controlling order, the party obtaining the order shall file a certified copy of it with each tribunal that issued or registered an earlier order of child support. A party who obtains the order and fails to file a certified copy is subject to appropriate sanctions by a tribunal in which the issue of failure to file arises. The failure to file does not affect the validity or enforceability of the controlling order.