2015 Delaware Code
Title 13 - Domestic Relations
CHAPTER 6. UNIFORM INTERSTATE FAMILY SUPPORT ACT
Subchapter III Civil Provisions of General Application
§ 6-310 Duties of state information agency.

(a) The Division of Child Support Enforcement is the state information agency under this chapter.

(b) The state information agency shall:

(1) Compile and maintain a current list, including addresses, of the tribunals in this State which have jurisdiction under this chapter and any support enforcement agencies in this State and transmit a copy to the state information agency of every other state;

(2) Maintain a register of names and addresses of tribunals and support enforcement agencies received from other states;

(3) Forward to the appropriate tribunal in the county in this State in which the obligee who is an individual or the obligor resides, or in which the obligor's property is believed to be located, all documents concerning a proceeding under this chapter received from another state or a foreign country; and

(4) Obtain information concerning the location of the obligor and the obligor's property within this State not exempt from execution, by such means as postal verification and federal or state locator services, examination of telephone directories, requests for the obligor's address from employers, and examination of governmental records, including, to the extent not prohibited by other law, those relating to real property, vital statistics, law enforcement, taxation, motor vehicles, driver's licenses, and Social Security.

69 Del. Laws, c. 238, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 216, § 138; 75 Del. Laws, c. 64, § 1; 80 Del. Laws, c. 60, § 3.;

§ 6-311 Pleadings and accompanying documents.

(a) In a proceeding under this chapter, a petitioner seeking to establish a support order, to determine parentage of a child, or to register and modify a support order of a tribunal of another state or a foreign country must file a petition. Unless otherwise ordered under § 6-312 of this title, the petition or accompanying documents must provide, so far as known, the name, residential address, and Social Security numbers of the obligor and the obligee or the parent and alleged parent, and the name, sex, residential address, Social Security number, and date of birth of each child for whose benefit support is sought or whose parentage is to be determined. Unless filed at the time of registration, the petition must be accompanied by a copy of any support order known to have been issued by another tribunal. The petition may include any other information that may assist in locating or identifying the respondent.

(b) The petition must specify the relief sought. The petition and accompanying documents must conform substantially with the requirements imposed by the forms mandated by federal law for use in cases filed by a support enforcement agency.

69 Del. Laws, c. 238, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 64, § 1; 80 Del. Laws, c. 60, § 3.;

§ 6-312 Nondisclosure of information in exceptional circumstances.

If a party alleges in an affidavit or a pleading under oath that the health, safety, or liberty of a party or child would be jeopardized by disclosure of specific identifying information, that information must be sealed and may not be disclosed to the other party or the public. After a hearing in which a tribunal takes into consideration the health, safety, or liberty of the party or child, the tribunal may order disclosure of information that the tribunal determines to be in the interest of justice.

69 Del. Laws, c. 238, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 64, § 1.;

§ 6-313 Costs and fees.

(a) The petitioner may not be required to pay a filing fee or other costs.

(b) If an obligee prevails, a responding tribunal of this State 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 or foreign country, 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.

69 Del. Laws, c. 238, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 64, § 1; 80 Del. Laws, c. 60, § 3.;

§ 6-314 Limited immunity of petitioner.

(a) Participation by a petitioner in a proceeding under this chapter before a responding tribunal, whether in person, by private attorney, or through services provided by the support enforcement agency, does not confer personal jurisdiction over the petitioner in another proceeding.

(b) A petitioner is not amenable to service of civil process while physically present in this State to participate in a proceeding under this chapter.

(c) The immunity granted by this section does not extend to civil litigation based on acts unrelated to a proceeding under this chapter committed by a party while physically present in this State to participate in the proceeding.

69 Del. Laws, c. 238, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 64, § 1.;

§ 6-315 Nonparentage as defense.

A party whose parentage of a child has been previously determined by or pursuant to law may not plead nonparentage as a defense to a proceeding under this chapter.

69 Del. Laws, c. 238, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 64, § 1.;

§ 6-316 Special rules of evidence and procedure.

(a) The physical presence of a nonresident party who is an individual in a tribunal of this State is not required for the establishment, enforcement, or modification of a support order or the rendition of a judgment determining parentage of a child.

(b) An affidavit, a document substantially complying with federally mandated forms, or a document incorporated by reference in any of them, which would not be excluded under the hearsay rule if given in person, is admissible in evidence if given under penalty of perjury by a party or witness residing outside this State.

(c) A copy of the record of child-support payments certified as a true copy of the original by the custodian of the record may be forwarded to a responding tribunal. The copy is evidence of facts asserted in it, and is admissible to show whether payments were made.

(d) Copies of bills for testing for parentage of a child, and for prenatal and postnatal health care of the mother and child, furnished to the adverse party at least 10 days before trial, are admissible in evidence to prove the amount of the charges billed and that the charges were reasonable, necessary, and customary.

(e) Documentary evidence transmitted from outside this State, or the support enforcement agency of this State, to a tribunal of this State by telephone, telecopier, or other electronic means that do not provide an original record may not be excluded from evidence on an objection based on the means of transmission.

(f) In a proceeding under this chapter, a tribunal of this State shall permit a party or witness residing outside this State to be deposed or to testify under penalty of perjury by telephone, audiovisual means, or other electronic means at a designated tribunal or other location. A tribunal of this State shall cooperate with other tribunals in designating an appropriate location for the deposition or testimony.

(g) If a party called to testify at a civil hearing refuses to answer on the ground that the testimony may be self-incriminating, the trier of fact may draw an adverse inference from the refusal.

(h) A privilege against disclosure of communications between spouses does not apply in a proceeding under this chapter.

(i) The defense of immunity based on the relationship of husband and wife or parent and child does not apply in a proceeding under this chapter.

(j) A voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, certified as a true copy, is admissible to establish parentage of the child.

69 Del. Laws, c. 238, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 216, § 139; 75 Del. Laws, c. 64, § 1; 79 Del. Laws, c. 389, § 1; 80 Del. Laws, c. 60, § 3.;

§ 6-317 Communications between tribunals.

A tribunal of this State may communicate with a tribunal outside this State in a record or by telephone, electronic mail, or other means, to obtain information concerning the laws, the legal effect of a judgment, decree, or order of that tribunal, and the status of a proceeding. A tribunal of this State may furnish similar information by similar means to a tribunal outside this State.

69 Del. Laws, c. 238, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 64, § 1; 80 Del. Laws, c. 60, § 3.;

§ 6-318 Assistance with discovery.

A tribunal of this State may:

(1) Request a tribunal outside this State to assist in obtaining discovery; and

(2) Upon request, compel a person over which it has jurisdiction to respond to a discovery order issued by a tribunal outside this State.

69 Del. Laws, c. 238, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 64, § 1; 80 Del. Laws, c. 60, § 3.;

§ 6-319 Receipt and disbursement of payments.

(a) A support enforcement agency or tribunal of this State shall disburse promptly any amounts received pursuant to a support order, as directed by the order. The agency or tribunal shall furnish to a requesting party or tribunal of another state or a foreign country a certified statement by the custodian of the record of the amounts and dates of all payments received.

(b) If neither the obligor, nor the obligee who is an individual, nor the child resides in this State, upon request from the support enforcement agency of this State or another state, the Division of Child Support Enforcement or a tribunal of this State shall:

(1) Direct that the support payment be made to the support enforcement agency in the state in which the obligee is receiving services; and

(2) Issue and send to the obligor's employer a conforming income-withholding order or an administrative notice of change of payee, reflecting the redirected payments.

(c) The support enforcement agency of this State receiving redirected payments from another state pursuant to a law similar to subsection (b) of this section shall furnish to a requesting party or tribunal of the other state a certified statement by a custodian of the record of the amount and dates of all payments received.

69 Del. Laws, c. 238, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 64, § 1; 80 Del. Laws, c. 60, § 3.;