Moving to another state: what happens to a child support order

This guide is for parents who already have a child support order and one or both of them move to another state. If there is no order yet, or the question is how to enforce an order across state lines, see parents in different states.

The rules come from two laws that work together: the federal Full Faith and Credit for Child Support Orders Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1738B, and the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), which each state has enacted in its own code. Texas’s version is Family Code chapter 159; Virginia’s is Code of Virginia Title 20, Chapter 5.3. Section numbers below are Texas’s unless another law is named.

Does a child support order change when a parent moves to another state?

No. Federal law requires every state to enforce another state’s child support order according to its terms and forbids modifying it except as § 1738B allows (§ 1738B(a)). The amount, the payment terms and the end date stay as they are until a court with jurisdiction modifies the order.

Which state can modify the order after a move?

The state that issued it, for as long as it keeps continuing, exclusive jurisdiction. A Texas court that issued the controlling order keeps that jurisdiction if, when a modification is requested (§ 159.205(a)):

• Texas is still the residence of the paying parent, the parent receiving support, or the child; or
• the parties consent in a record or in open court that the Texas court may continue to exercise jurisdiction to modify its order.

The federal rule is the same (§ 1738B(d)). So if one parent moves away and the other stays with the child, the original state keeps the case.

The issuing state loses that jurisdiction if all the individual parties file written consent for a court in another state to take over (one with jurisdiction over at least one party, or in the state where the child lives), or if its order is not the controlling order (§ 159.205(b)).

What happens when both parents and the child have left the issuing state?

The issuing state can no longer modify the order, unless the parties consented to it keeping jurisdiction. The order stays in force and can still be enforced, but a modification has to be sought elsewhere:

• The party asking for the change registers the order in a state that has jurisdiction over the other party (§ 1738B(i)). In practice, that is usually the state where the other parent lives.
• Texas follows the same rule: a Texas court may modify another state’s registered order when the child and both parents no longer live in the issuing state, the person asking is not a Texas resident, and the other party is subject to Texas jurisdiction (§ 159.611(a)(1)).
• Alternatively, a state where the child lives or that has jurisdiction over a party can modify if all parties have filed consent in the issuing court (§ 159.611(a)(2)).

What if everyone now lives in the same new state?

That state can take over. In Texas, if all the individual parties live in Texas and the child does not live in the issuing state, a Texas court can enforce and modify the other state’s order after it is registered, applying Texas law (§ 159.613; also § 156.408(b)).

Which state’s guideline applies after a modification?

The modifying state’s. A modification is subject to the same requirements, procedures and defenses as a modification of that state’s own order (§ 159.611(b)), so the new amount comes from its guideline, and the modifying state then has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction (§ 159.611(e)).

Guidelines differ a lot from state to state. One family, with the parent the children live with earning $4,000 a month and the other parent $6,000, one child and no shared time:

State	Guideline model	Support a month	Paid by
Texas	Percentage of net resources	$991.37	the other parent
Virginia	Income shares	$750.60	the other parent
New York	Combined income, up to a cap	$941.97	the other parent

Does moving change how long child support lasts?

No. In a modification, the law of the state that issued the initial controlling order governs the duration of the support obligation, and a modifying state may not change any aspect that the issuing state’s law makes non-modifiable (§ 159.611(c) and (d)). Federal law says the same: courts apply the issuing state’s law to the duration of current payments (§ 1738B(h)(2)). A Texas order that runs until 18 or high school graduation keeps that end date even if it is later modified in a state with a different age; see how long Texas support lasts.

How is the order enforced in the new state?

Enforcement does not need a modification. The order can be registered for enforcement in the state where the paying parent now lives and is then enforced like a local order, but that state cannot change it (§§ 159.601 to 159.603). An income withholding order can also be sent directly to an employer in another state (§ 159.501). The parents in different states guide covers registration.

Does a move affect custody and possession orders?

Custody follows a separate law, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, Texas Family Code chapter 152. A Texas court that made a custody order generally keeps exclusive continuing jurisdiction until the child and parents no longer have a significant connection with Texas, or until the child and both parents have left (§ 152.202).

Within Texas orders:

• a joint managing conservatorship order sets a geographic area for the child’s primary residence or says there is none (§ 153.134(b));
• the standard possession order has a different schedule when the parents live more than 100 miles apart (§ 153.313);
• the cost of travel to exercise possession is a factor a court can weigh when deciding whether to vary from the support guideline (§ 154.123(b)(14)).

Open this family in the Texas calculator

What this guide does not cover

This guide describes the general rules in federal law and in Texas’s and Virginia’s versions of UIFSA. It does not cover relocation disputes, international moves beyond one Texas rule (§ 159.611(f) keeps Texas jurisdiction when one party lives in another state and the other outside the United States), military moves, or the procedure of any particular court. States can differ on deadlines and forms. The calculator compares guideline amounts only; it does not decide which state has jurisdiction.

The figures are estimates of the guideline amount. A court can order a different amount, and an existing order only changes when it is modified.