Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Navigating International Case Processing under the Hague Convention


By Elizabeth Stomski, Management Analyst, Friend of the Court Bureau

The Hague Convention of 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (“Convention”) came into force in the United States on January 1, 2017. 

Countries displayed in blue have signed the Hague Convention’s treaty on International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (as of September 2018).

According to the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), the Convention is the first global child support treaty ratified by the United States. The Convention brings about uniform and effective procedures for processing international child support cases across nearly 40 countries. The list of countries under the Convention or currently in the process of ratifying the Convention is in this table online. A summary list of this information – as of the date of this article - is included at the end of the article.

The United States of America ratifies the 2007 Hague Convention on Child Support. At the ceremony, which took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Sharla Draemel, Legal Counselor, represented the Embassy of the United States of America. Christophe Bernasconi, Secretary General and Philippe Lortie, First Secretary, represented the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference. Coos ‘t Hoen, Head of the Treaties Division, and Mark Groen, Senior Legal Officer, attended the ceremony on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

When developing the treaty, the Convention countries assigned a group to develop a set of uniform forms to process any new cases involving Convention countries. The forms were developed to comply with the Convention and to assist in efficiently processing international child support matters between Convention countries. 

When Michigan is working with another Convention country on a child support matter, Michigan child support offices must first check the form and language requirements of the country. Form and language requirements are on the Hague Convention’s Country Profile website or on OCSE’s summary page. For information on countries that do not have a profile, caseworkers should contact regional OCSE staff or reach out to the Hague Permanent Bureau at https://www.hcch.net/en/contact.

Once language requirements are determined, Michigan must then submit the proper forms and associated documentation to the other country’s Central Authority. 

The documents must be translated into the country’s approved language, and the initiating country must pay for the translation costs. Document translation costs incurred by Michigan friend of the court (FOC) offices for Convention country cases can be submitted for IV-D reimbursement, but the initial cost must be fronted by the initiating FOC office. There is no federally mandated type of translation provider that offices must use. All Convention countries sending a case to the U.S. must use the Convention forms in English. 

While documents and forms must be translated into a country’s approved language, most countries have determined that routine communication is permitted in English.

The forms for Hague Convention cases are not located in the MiCSES case management system; rather, users must access the Convention forms online. All forms can be accessed through OCSE’s webpage announcing the release of the forms. 

As is the case with Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) forms, the type of action will determine which forms to send to the other Convention country. Under the Convention, there are four general types of applications that can be made to another country: 

Within those categories, there are several outcomes that a state can request when working a Convention case, each with its own forms and packet requirements. Every type of action under the Convention has a mandatory application that must be used when communicating with the other Convention country. The application must be transmitted with the mandatory Transmittal Form. When a Convention country receives the packet, the country is required to send an Acknowledgement Form back to the original country, showing receipt of the packet. 

All of the Convention forms can be found online through the Hague Convention’s website dedicated to the child support Convention. Forms include:
  • Transmittal Form
  • Acknowledgement Form
  • All four Applications (listed above)
  • Abstract of a Decision
  • Statement of Enforceability of a Decision
  • Statement of Proper Notice
  • Status of Application Report
  • Financial Circumstances Form.

Convention countries can also ask other Hague Convention partners for assistance when there has not yet been a maintenance decision. However, these “Requests for Specific Measures” are discretionary by the responding country. The specific measures that can be requested are assistance in:
  • Locating a party.
  • Obtaining information about the income, financial circumstances, and/or financial assets for a party.
  • Facilitating obtaining evidence.
  • Establishing parentage.
  • Initiating or facilitating provisional measures while waiting for a final order.
  • Facilitating the service of documents. 

A form has not yet been developed for a Request for Specific Measure, however there is discussion on developing a form in the future. Right now, a country may use its own forms for the request, meaning Michigan may use the Transmittal #3 UIFSA form for requests. 

The Hague Convention Committee created a guide for caseworkers to use when a Convention action arises. The Practical Handbook for Caseworkers Under the 2007 Child Support Convention walks caseworkers through the completion of each form, how to assemble a proper packet to send to the other Convention country involved, and even provides examples of each type of process that can be conducted under the Convention. 

While Hague Convention child support cases do require different forms, the process is very similar to the processing of interstate cases under UIFSA. If caseworkers have any questions about Hague Convention forms or processes, please contact Elizabeth Stomski at stomskie@courts.mi.gov. 

Elizabeth Stomski has her undergraduate degree in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy from Michigan State University’s James Madison College, and her Juris Doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley – Western Michigan University Law School. She has been with the Friend of the Court Bureau for 10 years and focuses on intergovernmental case processing, customer service, and publications.




This table lists all countries that have ratified the Convention’s child support treaty (as of the date of this article’s publication),  along with the date the treaty is scheduled to enter into force in that country. Please pay attention to dates and note that some countries have signed the treaty, but it is not yet in effect in that country.  
For an up-to-date list, please refer to the Hague Convention’s webpage listing the status of the Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance.

Country
Entry into Force Date
Albania
1/1/2013
Austria
8/1/2014
Belarus
6/1/2018
Belgium
8/1/2014
Bosnia and Herzegovina
2/1/2013
Brazil
11/1/2017
Bulgaria
8/1/2014
Burkina Faso

Canada

Croatia
8/1/2014
Cyprus
8/1/2014
Czech Republic
8/1/2014
Estonia
8/1/2014
European Union
8/2/2014
Finland
8/3/2014
France
8/4/2014
Germany
8/5/2014
Greece
8/6/2014
Honduras
10/19/2018
Hungary
8/1/2014
Ireland
8/1/2014
Italy
8/1/2014
Kazakhstan
6/14/2019
Latvia
8/1/2014
Lithuania
8/1/2014
Luxembourg
8/1/2014
Malta
8/1/2014
Montenegro
1/1/2017
Netherlands
8/1/2014
Norway
1/1/2013
Poland
8/1/2014
Portugal
8/1/2014
Romania
8/1/2014
Slovakia
8/1/2014
Slovenia
8/1/2014
Spain
8/1/2014
Sweden
8/1/2014
Turkey
2/1/2017
Ukraine
11/1/2013
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
8/1/2014
United States of America
1/1/2017

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