The Recovery of Maintenance (United States of America) (Scotland) Order 2007
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 25th day of July 2007
Present,
The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Her Majesty is satisfied that arrangements have been made in the United States of America to ensure that applications by persons in the United Kingdom for the recovery of maintenance from persons in the United States of America can be entertained by courts in the United States of America.
Her Majesty is also satisfied that in the interest of reciprocity it is desirable to ensure that applications by persons in the United States of America for the recovery of maintenance from persons in the United Kingdom can be entertained by courts in the United Kingdom.
Accordingly, Her Majesty is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order as follows.
Citation, commencement and extent1.
(1)
This Order may be cited as the Recovery of Maintenance (United States of America) (Scotland) Order 2007 and shall come into force on 1st October 2007.
(2)
It extends to Scotland only.
Interpretation2.
In this Order–
“the applicant” means the applicant under section 26 of the Act;
“maintenance” includes aliment and any sums which are payable, following divorce, by one former spouse for the support of the other; and
“the United States of America” means the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands and any other jurisdiction of the United States participating in Title IV-D of the Social Security Act (Title 42, United States Code, Chapter 7, subchapter IV, Part D).
Scope – devolved competence3.
(a)
who is the applicant claiming the maintenance; or
(b)
where the applicant claiming the maintenance is another person in relation to whom the Secretary of State has arranged for the collection of payments for that child’s benefit.
Application of Part II of the Act to the United States of America4.
(1)
(2)
“(3A)
An application under subsection (1) or (2) above, for the purpose of recovering maintenance from a person in the United States of America within the meaning of the Recovery of Maintenance (United States of America) (Scotland) Order 20076, and a certificate signed by the sheriff to the effect that the application sets forth facts from which it may be determined that the respondent owes a duty to maintain the applicant and any other person named in the application and that a court in the United States of America may obtain jurisdiction of the respondent or the respondent’s property, shall be registered in the court in the prescribed manner by the appropriate officer in the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1972 Register7.”.
Transitional arrangements5.
(1)
This Order applies to–
(a)
an application made on or after 1st October 2007 to the Scottish Ministers under section 26(1) of the Act for a claim for the recovery of maintenance from a person in the United States of America to be transmitted to the United States of America;
(b)
an application made on or after 1st October 2007 to the Scottish Ministers under section 26(2) of the Act for the variation of provision made in the United States of America for the payment by another person of maintenance to the applicant, and for the application to be transmitted to the United States of America;
(c)
an application received by the Scottish Ministers on or after 1st October 2007 from the appropriate authority in the United States of America under section 31(1) of the Act for the recovery of maintenance from a person who is for the time being residing in Scotland; or
(d)
an application made under Part II of the Act in respect of an application falling within paragraph (a), (b) or (c).
(2)
This Order provides for reciprocal enforcement between Scotland and the United States of America (as defined in article 2) of claims for the recovery of maintenance falling outwith the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State in respect of child support (specified in article 3).
It applies, by article 4, the provisions of Part II of the Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1972 in relation to the United States of America, with the modification set out in article 4(2).
The Order comes into force on 1st October 2007.
By virtue of article 5, the arrangements under the Recovery of Maintenance (United States of America) Order 1993 between the United Kingdom and specified States of the United States of America as individual reciprocating territories continue in full force and effect for Part II matters commenced before 1st October 2007.
The Recovery of Maintenance (United States of America) Order 2007 S.I. 2007/2006 provides for reciprocal enforcement between the United States of America and Scotland (in relation to claims for the recovery of maintenance other than those to which this Order applies as specified in article 3) and for such enforcement in relation to the rest of the United Kingdom.