Child support when parents live in different states

This guide is for parents who live in different states and need a support order set, or need an order from one state enforced in another. If an order already exists and the question is who can change it after a move, see moving to another state.

Interstate support runs on the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), which each state has enacted in its own code, and the federal Full Faith and Credit for Child Support Orders Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1738B. Texas’s version of UIFSA is Family Code chapter 159; section numbers below are Texas’s unless another law is named.

Which state’s child support guidelines apply when parents live in different states?

The guideline of the state whose court decides the case. Under § 159.303, a Texas court responding to a case from another state applies Texas procedural and substantive law and determines “the duty of support and the amount payable in accordance with the law and support guidelines of this state.” Other states’ versions of UIFSA say the same for their courts.

So where the case is heard matters. The same family under the three guidelines on this site, with the parent the children live with earning $4,000 a month and the other parent $6,000, two children and no shared time:

State	Guideline model	Support a month	Paid by
Texas	Percentage of net resources	$1,239.21	the other parent
Virginia	Income shares	$1,094.40	the other parent
New York	Combined income, up to a cap	$1,385.25	the other parent

For an order that already exists and is only being enforced in another state, the issuing state’s law still governs the amount and how long it lasts (§ 159.604(a)).

Where can a child support case be filed?

In a state that has personal jurisdiction over the parent who would pay. A Texas court can make a support order against a parent who lives elsewhere if (§ 159.201(a)):

• the parent is personally served with citation in Texas;
• the parent consents, enters a general appearance, or files a document that waives a jurisdiction challenge;
• the parent lived with the child in Texas;
• the parent lived in Texas and paid prenatal expenses or support for the child;
• the child lives in Texas as a result of that parent’s acts or directives;
• the child may have been conceived in Texas;
• the parent asserted parentage in the Texas paternity registry; or
• there is any other constitutional basis for jurisdiction.

If none applies, the case is sent to a court in the other parent’s state: a Texas court can act as the initiating court that forwards a case and as the responding court for cases from elsewhere (§ 159.203). If cases are filed in two states at once, § 159.204 decides which one goes ahead, giving weight to the child’s home state.

How do you get child support from a parent in another state?

Through either state’s child support agency or a private case. The Texas Attorney General’s Child Support Division states that it works with other state agencies to establish, enforce and modify orders when parents live in different states, and that parents can apply through its online Child Support Interactive service. In a Texas UIFSA case, the person asking for support cannot be required to pay a filing fee or other costs (§ 159.313(a)).

Once there is an order, an income withholding order can be sent straight to the paying parent’s employer in another state, and the employer must withhold as if it were a local order (§§ 159.501 and 159.502).

How is an out-of-state child support order registered in Texas?

By sending the Texas court that will register it (§ 159.602):

1. a letter asking for registration and enforcement;
2. two copies of the order, one of them certified, including any modification;
3. a sworn statement of any arrears;
4. the paying parent’s name and, if known, address, Social Security number, employer and property in Texas; and
5. the name and address of the parent receiving support.

The order is registered when it is filed, and it is then enforceable like a Texas order, though Texas cannot modify it on that basis (§ 159.603).

How long is there to contest a registered order?

In Texas, 30 days after notice. The court notifies the other party, and the notice must say that a hearing to contest the validity or enforcement of the order must be requested within 30 days (§ 159.605(b)(2)). Texas changed this period from 20 to 30 days in 2021 (S.B. 286). Other states can differ: Virginia’s notice gives 20 days (Code of Virginia § 20-88.70).

If no hearing is requested in time, the order is confirmed by operation of law (§ 159.606(b)), and confirmation bars any later challenge that could have been raised at registration (§ 159.608). The defenses are listed in § 159.607, including that the issuing court lacked jurisdiction, fraud, that the order was vacated or modified, payment, and the statute of limitations.

Which state’s law governs a registered order?

• The issuing state’s law governs the nature, extent, amount and duration of current payments, and the computation of arrears and interest (§ 159.604(a)).
• For arrears, the longer of the two states’ statutes of limitation applies (§ 159.604(b); 28 U.S.C. § 1738B(h)(3)).
• The registering state’s procedures and remedies are used to enforce it (§ 159.604(c)).

What if there are two support orders from different states?

Only one controls. If more than one state has issued an order for the same parent and child, the controlling order is the one from the only state that still has continuing, exclusive jurisdiction; if several do, the one from the child’s current home state, or failing that the most recent; and if none does, the court issues a new order that controls (§ 159.207(b); 28 U.S.C. § 1738B(f)). The child’s home state is where the child lived with a parent for at least six consecutive months before the case was filed (28 U.S.C. § 1738B(b)(3)).

Does Texas deduct state income tax for a parent who lives in another state?

Yes, in principle. Texas net resources are worked out after state income tax as well as federal tax, Social Security and Medicare (§ 154.062(d)(3)). Texas has no state income tax, but a parent living in a state that has one would have it deducted when a Texas court sets support. The calculator on this site does not deduct state income tax.

Can support depend on visitation across state lines?

No. A Texas court acting under UIFSA may not make the payment of support conditional on a party complying with visitation provisions (§ 159.305(d)). Possession and support are separate orders.

Open the Texas figure in the calculator

What this guide does not cover

This guide covers the general rules in federal law and in Texas’s version of UIFSA, with Virginia’s registration deadline for comparison. It does not cover international cases under the Hague Convention (§§ 159.701 to 159.713), paternity across state lines, or any court’s local procedure. Other states’ deadlines and forms can differ from Texas’s. 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.