When Does North Carolina Have Subject Matter Jurisdiction for Child Support Orders?

Subject matter jurisdiction is the right of a specific court to hear a case and make rulings on the issues. In child custody cases, North Carolina uses the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), which says that jurisdiction can be established in the following ways:

• Initial child custody jurisdiction
• Exclusive, continuing jurisdiction
• Jurisdiction to modify determination
• Temporary emergency jurisdiction

Jurisdiction can affect child custody, but support issues are also impacted by jurisdictional decisions.

Sinclair v. Sinclair

In the case of Sinclair v. Sinclair, Mother and Father entered into a settlement agreement in 2019 as part of their divorce. At that time, the parties were living in Fairfax, Virginia. The agreement included terms for child support and custody, and when the final divorce was entered approximately one month later in Virginia, the agreement was incorporated into that order.

The divorce order listed Mother’s address as Okinawa, Japan, and Father’s as Fairfax, and no support was owed by either parent. In 2021, Mother filed to have the child custody order from Virginia registered in North Carolina, and an order confirming this was entered. It did not address the issue of child support modification, only custody.

Later in 2021, Father filed a motion to modify child support in North Carolina, where he had moved with the child while Mother was in Japan. He claimed there had been a substantial change in circumstances due to Mother’s return from Japan and her subsequently accepting another overseas position. The parties had not originally anticipated that Mother’s residence overseas would be permanent when the agreement was made regarding child support, but Mother’s foreign residency in Japan had become permanent with her new job offer.

The trial court found that there was a substantial change and that Father now had full-time custody and the added expense of childcare. Mother was ordered to pay $777 per month in child support. She appealed.

In her appeal, Mother claimed the trial court erred in concluding a substantial change had occurred. Upon review, the Court of Appeals determined that the lower court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to modify support.

The appellate court stated that subject matter jurisdiction cannot be created by the consent of both parties. Because Mother did not file a petition to register the child support order and because the out-of-state order registration requirements had not been met for the support issue, the appellate court had to review subject matter jurisdiction first.

North Carolina law allows subject matter jurisdiction to be established if all parties live in the state. For support cases, the primary focus is on the residence of the paying parent. Neither of these factors was met in the Sinclair case since Mother lived in Japan.

The order was vacated due to a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. An experienced North Carolina family law attorney can answer questions regarding child support and child custody for you.