The Covid-19 pandemic has been hard for millions of people across the country including many people in Iowa. Thousands in Iowa have faced being laid off or terminated from their employment due to the pandemic. While you may be able to call your bank to negotiate payments in the event that you are laid off or terminate, the same is not true for child or spousal support. Generally speaking, there are no exceptions to support obligations in times of pandemic or natural disaster. So long as a court order remains in place and hasn’t been suspended, the spouse obligated to pay (known as the “Obligor”) must fulfill his or her obligation.

When an order for child support is entered, the state where the order was entered will have continued exclusive jurisdiction over the order. Only that state may enforce or modify the order. Therefore, the obligations generally do not change unless all parties have left the state and a modification to the order has been made. Furthermore, if one party has left the state, a number of tools are available to enforce the child support order.

In this article we explain interstate child support jurisdiction and how to determine which state has jurisdiction to modify or enforce an existing child support order. Understanding child support is a complex issue, especially when multiple jurisdiction issues arise. Illinois abides by the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. This act sets the rules in determining whether a specific state court has standing to hear or adjudicate on an order that was rendered in another state.