Colorado § 14-5-401 - Establishment of support order.

§ 14-5-401. Establishment of support order.

(a) If a support order entitled to recognition under this article has not been issued, a responding tribunal of this state with personal jurisdiction over the parties may issue a support order if:

(1) The individual seeking the order resides outside this state; or

(2) The support enforcement agency seeking the order is located outside this state.

(b) The tribunal may issue a temporary child support order if the tribunal determines that such an order is appropriate and the individual ordered to pay is:

(1) A presumed father of the child;

(2) Petitioning to have his paternity adjudicated;

(3) Identified as the father of the child through genetic testing;

(4) An alleged father who has declined to submit to genetic testing;

(5) Shown by clear and convincing evidence to be the father of the child;

(6) An acknowledged father as provided by section 19-4-105 (1)(e), C.R.S.;

(7) The mother of the child; or

(8) An individual who has been ordered to pay child support in a previous proceeding and the order has not been reversed or vacated.

(c) Upon finding, after notice and opportunity to be heard, that an obligor owes a duty of support, the tribunal shall issue a support order directed to the obligor and may issue other orders pursuant to section 14-5-305.

Source: L. 93: Entire article R&RE, p. 1594, § 1, effective January 1, 1995. L. 2003: Entire section amended, p. 1255, § 26, effective July 1, 2004. L. 2015: Entire part amended, (HB 15-1198), ch. 173, p. 553, § 27, effective July 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 14-5-105 as it existed prior to 1993.

COMMENT

This section authorizes a responding tribunal of this state to issue temporary and permanent support orders binding on an obligor over whom the tribunal has personal jurisdiction when the person or entity requesting the order is "outside this state," i.e., anywhere else in the world. UIFSA does not permit such orders to be issued when another support order entitled to recognition exists, thereby prohibiting a second tribunal from establishing another support order and the accompanying continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over the matter. See Sections 205 and 206.

Related to Convention: art. 11. Application contents; art. 14. Effective access to procedures; art. 15. Free legal assistance for child support applications; art. 16. Declaration to permit use of child-centered means test; art. 17. Applications not qualifying under 15 or 16; art. 20. Bases for recognition and enforcement; art. 25. Documents; art. 27. Findings of fact; art. 28. No review of the merits; art. 37. Direct requests to competent authorities; art. 56. Transitional provisions.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. Since § 14-5-401 is similar to § 14-5-105 as it existed prior to the 1993 repeal and reenactment of this article, relevant cases construing that provision have been included in the annotations to this section.

No independent duty of support. This article does not create an independent duty of support but only a means of enforcing a duty arising out of either a foreign support order or the law of the state where the obligor resides. Com. of Pa. v. Barta, 790 P.2d 895 (Colo. App. 1990).

Applied in County of Clearwater v. Petrash, 41 Colo. App. 143, 589 P.2d 1370 (1978), aff'd in part, rev'd on other grounds, 198 Colo. 231, 598 P.2d 138 (1979).