CIDIP:
This
Convention was adopted at the Fourth Inter-American
Specialized Conference on Private International Law (CIDIP
IV), held in Montevideo, Uruguay, July 1989.
Ratifications:
To date, the following countries have ratified this
Convention: [click
here]
Objective:
The
purpose of this Convention is to establish the law
applicable to support obligations, as well as that
applicable to jurisdiction and international procedural
cooperation in those cases in which the support creditor
is domiciled or habitually resides in one State Party
and the debtor is domiciled or habitually resides in
another.
Summary:
This
Convention applies to child support obligations and
to spousal support obligations arising from the
matrimonial relationship between spouses or former
spouses.
The States may, through a declaration, restrict
or extend the scope of this Convention to child support
obligations.
Support
obligations, as well as the definitions of support
creditor and debtor, shall be governed by the laws of
the State of domicile or habitual residence of the
creditor or the laws of the State of domicile or
habitual residence of the debtor, whichever the
competent authority finds the most favorable to the
creditor.
The
applicable law will regulate the amount of support due
and the timing of and conditions for payment, the
ability of a person to bring a support claim, and any
other condition necessary for enjoyment of the right to
support.
The
Convention establishes that a support obligation decree
will have extraterritorial effect if it meets the
following requirements: 1) the judicial or
administrative authority issuing the order must have
jurisdiction to hear and decide the matter; 2) the order
and the documents attached thereto must be translated
into the official language of the State in which the
order is to be enforced; 3) the order and the documents
must be certified in accordance with the law of the
State in which the order is to be enforced; 4) the
documents must be certified in accordance with the law
of the State of origin; 5) the defendant must be served
with notice or summoned to appear in due legal form
substantially equivalent to that established by the law
of the State in which the order is to be enforced; 6)
the parties had the opportunity to present their
defense; 7) the orders are final in the State in which
they were rendered; and 8) pending appeal from such
order shall not delay its enforcement.