uniform interstate family support act
Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. A 1992 model statute establishing a one-order system by which an alimony or child-support decree issued by one state can be enforced against a former spouse who resides in another state. • This statute has been adopted in every state and is the basis of jurisdiction in child-support suits. The purpose of the Act is to make the pursuit of interstate child support and paternity more effective, consistent, and efficient by requiring all states to consistently recognize and enforce support orders issued in other states. Before its enactment, there was considerable disparity among the states in the way they handled interstate child-support proceedings, since each state had differing versions of the earlier uniform law, the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act. The Act was revised in 1996. — Abbr. UIFSA.
