<p>^^^ Illinois HAS adopted and MUST conform its actions to the provisions of The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA)! (This has been adopted in all 50 states since Congress said any state that doesn’t adopt it would lose federal funds - extortion works.)</p>
<p>The New Jersey case was quoted since it reads well and explains the topic briefly for the average reader and I didn’t have time to do an extended search for Illinois cases. However, the FEDERAL expectation, is summarized in the following from the Department of Health and Human Services Website.</p>
<p>“Choice of law. When a State properly assumes jurisdiction to modify, it must apply its own law regarding modification procedures and defenses.[66] It also applies its own support guidelines.[67] Pursuant to UIFSA, however, even if a tribunal has jurisdiction to modify a support order issued by another State, it cannot modify any aspect of the order that would be nonmodifiable in the State that issued the order established as controlling under Section 207 of the Act.[68] An example of a nonmodifiable term in most States is the duration of the support obligation.[69]”</p>
<p>[CHAPTER</a> 11: MODIFICATION OF CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pubs/2002/reports/essentials/c11.html[/url]”>http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pubs/2002/reports/essentials/c11.html](<a href=“http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pubs/2002/reports/essentials/c11.html]CHAPTER”>http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/pubs/2002/reports/essentials/c11.html)</a></p>
<p>So - since Florida law does not allow for college expenses to be assessed against a parent, Illinois is PROHIBITED by UIFSA from modifying the order to include them. While a circuit court judge can make any ruling he/she wants, the courts of appeal will follow such clearly indicated requirements - especially when the intention of Congress is obvious. </p>
<p>While our natural tendency is to be sympathetic to the student, the treatment for out of state orders under UIFSA is logical. Anything else would result in chaos given the differences in state policies concerning college expenses. Is it in the national interest to have people from the approximately 36 states that do not require college costs to be included in support decrees running across the border to modify the support orders? Congress thought not.</p>
<p>If you don’t like your state’s policy, lobby your state representatives. However, if anything in the current economic environment, the tide seem to be more towards repeal of such requirements than expansion to new states.</p>