(a) The petitioner may not be required to pay a filing fee or other costs.
(b) If an obligee prevails, a responding tribunal may assess against an obligor filing fees, reasonable attorney's fees, other costs, and necessary travel and other reasonable expenses incurred by the obligee and the obligee's witnesses. The tribunal may not assess fees, costs, or expenses against the obligee or the support enforcement agency of either the initiating or the responding state, except as provided by other law. Attorney's fees may be taxed as costs and may be ordered paid directly to the attorney, who may enforce the order in the attorney's own name. Payment of support owed to the obligee has priority over fees, costs, and expenses.
(c) The tribunal shall order the payment of costs and reasonable attorney's fees if it determines that a hearing was requested primarily for delay. In a proceeding under subchapter VI of this chapter, a hearing is presumed to have been requested primarily for delay if a registered support order is confirmed or enforced without change.
CREDIT(S)
(Feb. 9, 1996, D.C. Law 11-81, § 312, 42 DCR 6748; redesignated § 313, June 22, 2006, D.C. Law 16-137, § 2(c)(13), 53 DCR 3634.)
HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 30-343.12.
2001 Ed., § 46-303.12
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 16-137, in subsec. (c), deleted “(enforcement and modification of support order after registration)” following “this chapter”.
Legislative History of Laws
For legislative history of D.C. Law 11-81, 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.”
Editor's Notes
Former § 46-303.13 has been recodified as § 46-303.14 by D.C. Law 16-137, § 2(c)(14).
Uniform Law
This section is based upon § 313 of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (2001 Act). See Volume 9, Part IB Uniform Laws Annotated, Master Edition, or ULA Database on Westlaw.
