Identifying the Controlling Order and Which State has CEJ

The controlling order is the one order that must be used for enforcement or modification in a given child support case. Continuing, exclusive jurisdiction (CEJ) is a type of authority that allows a state to modify a child support order, and only one state at a time has this authority.

If the controlling order has already been properly determined by a tribunal, that order is the controlling order for the case. (It does not need to be and cannot be re-determined.)

If there has not been a determination by a tribunal then you need to identify the order entitled to be the controlling order.

Only one state at a time has CEJ. The individual obligee and obligor can agree to move CEJ from one state to another. For this, they must both notify, in writing, the tribunal of the state that they are asking to give up CEJ. If they do that, the state that then has CEJ is whichever state they have chosen it to go to. But if there is no written agreement from both parties
(and usually they don’t agree), the state that has CEJ is automatically designated by operation of law. Then, if someone wants modification, you need to identify which state has CEJ.

The charts, or chart descriptions, below can be used to identify which order in a case must be recognized as the controlling order, and which state in a case has CEJ. These charts are based directly on the rules set forth in UIFSA (sections 205 and 207) and the federal Full Faith and Credit for Child Support Orders Act (28 USC 1738B).

How to use the charts or chart descriptions:

First make a list of all the child support orders that are now in effect for current child support in the case. A “child support order” is defined as including an order, judgment, or decree for the benefit of a child, whether temporary or final. Therefore, a
divorce decree that establishes a child support obligation is also a “child support order,” as are family court orders, orders that were established under URESA, and orders issued by an administrative agency that is a tribunal. Also, once an order is issued, it remains in effect until it is formally terminated, vacated, or determined by a tribunal to not be the controlling order. (In other words, an order does not cease to be in effect just because the obligor leaves the state that issued it.)

Second, after making a list of the orders, go to the chart for the appropriate number of orders in the case. There is a chart for each of these three possible situations: no (0) child support order; only one (1) order; and, two (2) or more orders.

Third, work through the charts until you reach the box that indicates which order in the case is entitled to be the controlling order, if any, and which state in the case has CEJ, if any.

CHART DESCRIPTION – IF THERE IS 0 CHILD SUPPORT ORDERS

There is no order entitled to be the controlling order, and no state has Continuing Exclusive Jurisdiction (CEJ).

Once an order is issued, that order is then the controlling order, and the state that issued it has CEJ.

CHART DESCRIPTION – IF THERE IS 1 CHILD SUPPORT ORDER

Does the child, or the individual obligee, or the obligor now live in the state that issued the order?

If YES –

The order is entitled to be the controlling order, and the state that issued it has CEJ.

If NO –

The order is entitled to be the controlling order, but no state has CEJ. (If a party wants to modify the order, it must be registered for modification in the other party’s state.  If the order is in fact modified, that state then gains CEJ. That state then has CEJ as long as one of the people involved in the case is in that state.)

1. Is there an order issued by the state where the child now lives? If Yes, Go to 2. If No, Go to 4.
2. Has the child lived in that state with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least the past six months (or since birth, if the child is less than six months old)? If Yes, Go to 3.  The answer will very rarely be No, but when it is, Go to 11.
3. Order issued by child’s state, child has been in that state with a parent or a person acting as a parent for at least the past six months (or since birth). The order issued by the state where the child now lives is entitled to be the controlling order, and the state that issued it has CEJ. 
4. Is there an order issued by the state where the individual obligee now lives? The answer will very rarely be Yes but when it is Go to 7.
5. Is there an order issued by the state where the obligor now lives? If Yes, Go to 7.  If No, Go to 6.
6. Two or more orders, but no order was issued by a state where the child, the individual obligee, or the obligor now lives. No order is entitled to be controlling, and no state has CEJ. (A new order must be issued, where will be the controlling order, and the state that issued it will have CEJ.) For more information on CEJ, check out the CSQuest article Continuing Exclusive Jurisdiction (CEJ) Cheat Sheet.
7. Order issued in child’s state, child has been in that state with a parent or person acting as a parent for at least six months (or since birth.) The order issued by the obligor’s state is entitled to be the controlling order, and the state that issued it has CEJ.
8. If the answer to number 4 is Yes, Is there an order issued by the obligor’s state? If Yes, Go to 9. If No, Go to 10.
9. If the answer to number 8 is Yes. Of the order issued by the individual obligee’s state and the order issued by the obligor’s state, the more recently issued order is entitled to be the controlling order, and the state that issued it has CEJ.
10. If the answer to number 8 is No. The order issued by the individual obligee’s state is entitled to be the controlling order, and the state that issued it has CEJ.
11. Is there an order issued by the individual obligee’s state? If Yes, Go to 12. If No, Go to 14.
12. Is there an order issued by the obligor’s state? If Yes, Go to 13.  If No, Go to 17.
13. If the answers to number 11 and 12 are Yes. Of the order issued by the child’s state, the order issued by the individual obligee’s state, and the order issued by the obligor’s state, the most recently issued order is entitled to be the controlling order, and the state that issued it has CEJ. (If the individual obligee and the child are in the same state, and that state’s order is the recent order, the order of that state is entitled to be the controlling order and that state has CEJ.) 
14. If the answer to number 11 is No. Is there an order issued by the obligor’s state? If Yes, Go to 15.  If No. Go to 16.
15. If the answer to number 14 is Yes. Of the order issued by the child’s state and the order issued by the obligor’s state, the more recently issued order is entitled to be the controlling order, and the state that issued it has CEJ. 
16. If the answer to number 14 is No. The order issued by the child’s state is entitled to be the controlling order, and the state that issued it has CEJ.
17. If the answer to number 12 is No.  Of the order issued by the child’s state, the order issued by the individual obligee’s state, and the order issued by the obligor’s state, the most recently issued order is entitled to be the controlling order, and the state that issued it has CEJ.  (If the individual obligee and the child are in the same state, and that state’s order is the recent order, the order of that state is entitled to be the controlling order and that state has CEJ.)  End.

There are charts in other CSQuest articles that list what you should then do for enforcement, modification, or both, based on the controlling order and/or CEJ situation that applies to the case.  Take a look at Intergovernmental Cases Relevant Possibilities and Their Processes, Determination of the Controlling Order, and the four Paperwork Checklists for Intergovernmental Actions.

You may also want to review the CSQuest articles Concepts of UIFSA and the Long-arm Conditions Checklist.

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