(a) When a responding tribunal of the District receives a petition or comparable pleading from an initiating tribunal or directly pursuant to § 46-303.01(c), it shall cause the petition or pleading to be filed and notify the petitioner as to where and when it was filed.
(b) A responding tribunal of the District, to the extent otherwise not prohibited by other law, may do one or more of the following:
(1) Issue or enforce a support order, modify a child-support order, determine the controlling child-support order, or determine parentage;
(2) Order an obligor to comply with a support order, specifying the amount and the manner of compliance;
(3) Order income withholding;
(4) Determine the amount of any arrearages and specify a method of payment;
(5) Enforce orders by civil or criminal contempt, or both;
(6) Set aside property for satisfaction of the support order;
(7) Place liens and order execution on the obligor's property;
(8) Order an obligor to keep the tribunal informed of the obligor's current residential address, telephone number, employer, address of employment, and telephone number at the place of employment;
(9) Issue a bench warrant for an obligor who has failed, after proper notice, to appear at a hearing ordered by the tribunal and enter the bench warrant in any local and state computer systems for criminal warrants;
(10) Order the obligor to seek appropriate employment by specified methods;
(11) Award reasonable attorney's fees and other fees and costs; and
(12) Grant any other available remedy.
(c) A responding tribunal of the District shall include in a support order issued under this chapter, or in the documents accompanying the order, the calculations on which the support order is based.
(d) A responding tribunal of the District may not condition the payment of a support order issued under this chapter upon compliance by a party with provisions for visitation.
(e) If a responding tribunal of the District issues an order under this chapter, the tribunal shall send a copy of the order to the petitioner and the respondent and to the initiating tribunal, if any.
(f) If requested to enforce a support order, arrears, or judgment or modify a support order stated in a foreign currency, a responding tribunal of the District shall convert the amount stated in the foreign currency to the equivalent amount in dollars under the applicable official or market exchange rate as publicly reported.
CREDIT(S)
(Feb. 9, 1996, D.C. Law 11-81, § 305, 42 DCR 6748; July 24, 1998, D.C. Law 12-131, § 2(e), 45 DCR 2924; June 22, 2006, D.C. Law 16-137, § 2(c)(5), 53 DCR 3634.)
HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 30-343.5.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 16-137, in the lead-in language of subsec. (b), substituted “not prohibited by other law” for “otherwise authorized by law”; added subsec. (f); and rewrote par. (b)(1), which had read as follows:
“(1) Issue or enforce a support order, modify a child support order, or render a judgment to determine parentage;”
Temporary Amendments of Section
For temporary (225 day) amendment of section, see § 2(e) of Uniform Interstate Family Support Temporary Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Law 12-94, April 29, 1998, law notification 45 DCR 2785).
Emergency Act Amendments
For temporary amendment of section, see § 2(e) of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Emergency Amendment Act of 1997 (D.C. Act 12-225, December 23, 1997, 45 DCR 151).
For temporary amendment of section, see § 2(e) of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 1998 (D.C. Act 12-310, March 20, 1998, 45 DCR 1950).
Legislative History of Laws
For legislative history of D.C. Law 11-81, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 46-301.01.
For legislative history of D.C. Law 12-131, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 46-301.01.
For Law 16-137, see notes following § 46-301.01.
Effective Dates
Applicability: Section 3 of D.C. Law 16-137 provides: “This act shall apply as of April 1, 2007.”
Uniform Law
This section is based upon § 305 of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (2001 Act). See Volume 9, Part IB Uniform Laws Annotated, Master Edition, or ULA Database on Westlaw.
