questions & answers

Question: I obtained a legal guardianship of my grandchild in California, but now my grandchild and I have moved to Arizona. I want to file a Registration of Foriegn Order. What information do I use to fill in the form where it says "Statute Reference"? How do I file the form once it is complete?

Answer:

A guardian of a minor is someone other than a parent who is appointed by the judge to make decisions for a child under the age of 18. Generally, the guardian of a minor has the same authority and responsibility that a parent has to provide food, housing, medical care, education and supervision. Unlike a parent, a guardian is not required to provide for the child from personal funds, and is not necessarily financially responsible to others for the actions of the child, just because of the guardianship.

Establishing a child support order is a legal process that results in an order that sets a monthly amount of money to be paid by the non-custodial parent for the support of the child, or by both parents, if the child is in foster care or in the care of a guardian or relative; the child support order also determines who will be responsible to provide medical support should the child need such care.

People have a tendency to move around a lot.  As a result, a uniform law was enacted that allows states to enforce child support orders from other states.  This law is called the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA).  In Arizona, the Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) generally may enforce other states’ support orders and income-withholding orders in the same manner as it does for Arizona orders. DCSE may also register other states’ orders with the court and request that the court enforce them. (A.R.S. 25-1244 and 1251).  A petition must be filed seeking registration of a support order of another state on a form that is available from the DCSE.