Who decides whether a foreign country like South Korea is a reciprocating state for enforcing Florida child support orders?

Plain-English summary

A Duval County circuit judge asked the Attorney General's office to decide whether South Korea is a "state" under section 88.1011(19), the definition that, for child support enforcement, includes a foreign jurisdiction with support-order procedures substantially similar to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act or its predecessors, "as determined by the Attorney General."

Assistant Attorney General Joslyn Wilson walked through how that determination used to work and how it works now. Before July 1, 1997, section 88.0405 authorized the Attorney General to declare a foreign nation a reciprocating state for purposes of Chapter 88 once reciprocal enforcement was shown to be available there. Under that procedure, requests went through the state child-support agency, which obtained translations and asked the Attorney General to declare reciprocity. The letter listed the many countries and Canadian provinces with which the office had declared reciprocity (for example, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom), and noted the office had declined to do so for Mexico, Belgium, and Chile, and that it did not appear reciprocity had been declared with South Korea. Effective July 1, 1997, section 88.0405 was repealed when the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act took effect. The Department of Revenue advised that requests for reciprocity should now go to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement, and the letter passed along the relevant contacts. In short, the office did not make a fresh determination about South Korea; it explained that the declaration mechanism had moved to the federal level.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2009. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Does the Florida Attorney General decide whether a foreign country is a reciprocating state for child support?
A: The letter explained that the Attorney General had that role under former section 88.0405, but that statute was repealed effective July 1, 1997. After that, the Department of Revenue advised that reciprocity requests go to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement.

Q: Had Florida declared reciprocity with South Korea?
A: According to the letter, it did not appear that the office had declared reciprocity with South Korea, and the office did not make that determination in this letter.

Q: Which countries had Florida declared reciprocity with?
A: The letter listed many, including Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Jamaica, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and numerous Canadian provinces. It noted reciprocity had been declined for Mexico, Belgium, and Chile.

Q: Where do these requests go now?
A: The letter directed them to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement, and provided contact information through the Florida Department of Revenue.

Background and statutory framework

This was an informal advisory letter responding to a judge's inquiry. The governing definition is in section 88.1011(19), part of Chapter 88 on interstate family support, which treats a foreign jurisdiction as a "state" if it has support-order procedures substantially similar to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, or the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, as determined by the Attorney General.

The historical mechanism was section 88.0405, which let the Attorney General declare foreign nations reciprocating states based on a finding that reciprocal enforcement of Florida support orders was available. That section was repealed by Chapter 96-189, Laws of Florida, effective July 1, 1997, when the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act became effective. The letter relied on guidance from the Department of Revenue that responsibility for handling reciprocity requests had shifted to the U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement, which is why the office pointed the judge to the federal agency rather than issuing a new state-level declaration.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• Section 88.1011(19), Florida Statutes (definition of State, including foreign reciprocating jurisdictions)
• Section 88.0405, Florida Statutes (former authority to declare reciprocating states; repealed 1997)
• Chapter 88, Florida Statutes (uniform interstate family support)
• Chapter 96-189, Laws of Florida (repeal of the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/child-support-declarations-of-reciprocity
• Original PDF: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/8217

Original opinion text

The Honorable Brad Stetson

Circuit Judge

Duval County Courthouse

330 East Bay Street

Jacksonville, Florida 32202

Dear Judge Stetson:

The Office of Attorney General Bill McCollum has received your letter requesting this office determine whether South Korea is a "state" as defined in section 88.1011(19)(b), Florida Statutes. The statute defines "State" as including a "foreign jurisdiction that has enacted a law or established procedures for issuance and enforcement of support orders which are substantially similar to the procedures under [the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act], the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, or the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, as determined by the Attorney General."

Prior to July 1, 1997, section 88.0405, Florida Statutes, authorized the Attorney General to declare a foreign nation or state of a foreign nation to be a reciprocating state for purposes of Chapter 88, Florida Statutes, relating to uniform reciprocal enforcement of support. Such a declaration was dependent upon a finding by the Attorney General that reciprocal provisions were available in the foreign nation or state for the enforcement of support orders issued in the State of Florida. In light of the duties of the former Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services and then the Department of Children and Families, and finally the Department of Revenue relating to child support, a procedure for declaring reciprocity was established. Requests for reciprocity would be sent to the department which would determine whether a need for reciprocity to be declared with a foreign state or nation existed. The department would obtain a translation of that state's or nation's procedures for the enforcement of support orders issued in foreign nations and would request this office to declare reciprocity with that state or nation. This office has declared reciprocity with the following countries on child support issues:

Australia United Kingdom:

Austria England

Bermuda Northern Ireland

Czech Republic Scotland

Fiji[1] Wales

Finland Canadian Provinces:

France Alberta

Germany British Columbia

Hungary Manitoba

Ireland New Brunswick

Jamaica Newfoundland/Labrador

Norway Northwest Territories

Poland Nova Scotia

Slovak Republic Nunavut

South Africa Ontario

Sweden Prince Edward Island

                Quebec

                Saskatchewan

                Yukon Territory

This office, however, declined to declare reciprocity with Mexico, Belgium, and the Republic of Chile. It does not appear that this office declared reciprocity with South Korea.

Effective July 1, 1997, section 88.0405 was repealed.[2] At that time, the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act became effective, providing procedures for the enforcement of a state's support orders. As noted above, the term "state," as defined in section 88.1011(19), Florida Statutes, includes a "foreign jurisdiction that has enacted a law or established procedures for issuance and enforcement of support orders which are substantially similar to the procedures under this act, the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, or the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act, as determined by the Attorney General."

Upon contacting the Department of Revenue regarding your request, I have been advised that such requests should now be sent to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Support, now is responsible for handling requests for reciprocity. I am attaching a copy of the letter and attachments from Mr. Thorburn, Senior Attorney, Florida Department of Revenue, which advises that Ms. Lily Matheson, Director of Policy, U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement, may be contacted at:

Department of Health and Human Services

370 L'Enfant Promenade SW

Washington D.C. 20447

Should you wish to contact Mr. Thorburn on this matter, he may be reached at:

Office of the General Counsel

Department of Revenue

Post Office Box 8030

Tallahassee, Florida 32314-8030

telephone: 850-921-8980

fax: 850-922-6665

I hope that the enclosed information may be of assistance. Thank you for contacting the Attorney General’s Office.

Sincerely,

Joslyn Wilson

Assistant Attorney General

JW/tsh

Enclosures

[1] This office has been informed by the Department of Revenue that while this office has declared reciprocity with Fiji, it has not declared reciprocity with Florida.

[2] See section 10, Chapter 96-189, Laws of Florida, effective July 1, 1997, which repealed sections 88.011 to 88.371, comprising the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (1968). Since the sections were not repealed by a "current session" of the Legislature, they may be omitted from the Florida Statutes 1999 only through a reviser's bill duly enacted by the Legislature. See section 11.242(5)(b) and (i), Florida Statutes, and Chapter 99-4, Laws of Florida.