§ 446a. Applicability
This article applies only to a support proceeding under the Convention. In such a proceeding, if a provision of this article is inconsistent with Articles A through F, this article controls.
§ 446b. Relationship of the Virgin Islands Department of Justice, Division of Paternity and Child Support to United States Central Authority
The Virgin Islands Department of Justice, Division of Paternity and Child Support is recognized as the agency designated by the United States Central Authority to perform specific functions under the Convention.
§ 446c. Initiation by Virgin Islands Department of Justice, Division of Paternity and Child Support of proceeding under Convention
(a) In a support proceeding under this article the Division of Paternity and Child Support shall: (1) transmit and receive applications; and (2) initiate or facilitate the institution of a proceeding regarding an application in a tribunal of the Virgin Islands. (b) The following support proceedings are available to an obligee under the Convention: (1) […]
§ 446d. Direct request
(a) A petitioner may file a direct request seeking establishment or modification of a support order or determination of parentage of a child. In the proceeding, the law of the Virgin Islands applies. (b) A petitioner may file a direct request seeking recognition and enforcement of a support order or support agreement. In the proceeding, […]
§ 446e. Registration of Convention support order
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this article, a party who is an individual or a support enforcement agency seeking recognition of a Convention support order shall register the order in Virgin Islands as provided in Article F. (b) Notwithstanding sections 411 and 433(a), a request for registration of a Convention support order must be […]
§ 446f. Contest of registered Convention support order
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this article, sections 436 through 439 apply to a contest of a registered Convention support order. (b) A party contesting a registered Convention support order shall file a contest not later than 30 days after notice of the registration, but if the contesting party does not reside in the […]
§ 446g. Recognition and enforcement of registered Convention support order
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), a tribunal of the Virgin Islands shall recognize and enforce a registered Convention support order. (b) The following grounds are the only grounds on which a tribunal of the Virgin Islands may refuse recognition and enforcement of a registered Convention support order: (1) recognition and enforcement of […]
§ 446h. Partial enforcement
If a tribunal of the Virgin Islands does not recognize and enforce a Convention support order in its entirety, it shall enforce any severable part of the order. An application or direct request may seek recognition and partial enforcement of a Convention support order.
§ 444. Jurisdiction to modify child-support order of another state when individual parties reside in the Virgin Islands
(a) If all of the parties who arc individuals reside in the Virgin Islands and the child does not reside in the issuing state, a tribunal of the Virgin Islands has jurisdiction to enforce and to modify the issuing state’s child-support order in a proceeding to register that order. (b) A tribunal of the Virgin […]
§ 445. Notice to issuing tribunal of modification
Within 30 days after issuance of a modified child-support order, the party obtaining the modification shall file a certified copy of the order with the issuing tribunal that had continuing, exclusive jurisdiction over the earlier order, and in each tribunal in which the party knows the earlier order has been registered. A party who obtains […]