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My hubby has a WA support order that is not enforced. His job is going down the tubes (hasn’t been paid in 4 pay periods (2 months) so he wants to put in for a temporary reduction until he can secure new employment.

Both parties no longer live in WA (Custodial Mom in CA and Dad in AZ). When my husband called the Tacoma office to find out how to go about some sort of temporary relief, they told him he could put in for the reduction via the forms on their site, and that if he secured new employment at a much reduced salary, he could also put in for a review.

Now I thought because both parties didn’t live there, that WA didn’t have jurisdiction and therefore the case would have to be moved (and if yes, where do you move it to?). But hubby insists the guy told him since it wasn’t ‘enforced’ (taken automatically out of his pay) that WA is just bookkeepers and if both parties agree they would make the change. Of course, this makes no sense for the temporary relief.

Anyone have insight into this type of situation?

He's probably right in that the WA court has jurisdiction until an explicit request is made to move it. Right now, if there were a battle over jurisdiction, I believe CA would win.

Beaver is correct.

No, no, no! lol I'm kidding.

It's true that WA can retain jurisdiction if they chose, and both parents agree. They should be prepared for a WA judge disagreeing, though. Any particular judge could decide that the jurisdiction is not in their hands and close the case with instructions to the parents to move it.

Both new states will honor the terms of the originating order, but I believe that whoever moves first to change jurisdiction within their respective state will have precedence.

A general excerpt from a law site:

Once both parents and the child have moved out of the state that issued any initial child support order, the original state automatically loses its jurisdiction to modify any orders for child support (although it may continue to enforce the child support orders issued by it or any other court having jurisdiction). Instead, the parent seeking to modify child support must file the request for modification in the state in which that other parent lives. Notwithstanding the fact that the amount of child support will then be determined by that new state, the duration that child support would be paid is conclusively established by the laws of the state in which the child support order originated.