How can a custodial parent collect child support if their ex-spouse lives in a different state?

Once New Jersey has entered a child support order, any state within the United States will enforce that order under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, also known as UIFSA. If New Jersey enters a support award and the payor parent is not making the payments that they’re supposed to make, the recipient can go down to their county court, file a petition under UIFSA, then UIFSA will contact the payor’s state. Let’s say we’re talking about New Jersey and Florida. If mom lives in New Jersey and she went to the courthouse and asked for a UIFSA enforcement, then New Jersey would contact Florida and ask Florida to enforce the order. A UIFSA officer will then be assigned to the case and they would enforce that order through Florida.

Abigale M. Stolfe is a partner at Stolfe Zeigler, a boutique family law firm that obtains favorable outcomes for high-net-worth, complex, and litigious cases.