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Department of Human Services v. Leifester

Maine Supreme Judicial Court

721 A.2d 189 (1998)

Facts

Julie Young (defendant) and Gregory Leifester (plaintiff), unmarried, had a child, Travis, in 1982. Julie never sought child support from Leifester until 1996, when the Maine Department of Human Services (DHS) filed a uniform support petition against Gregory on Julie’s behalf at the request of the State Attorney’s Office of Maryland pursuant to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA). The uniform support petition originally sought a paternity determination and a child-support award but was later amended to also include a request for retroactive child support and arrears. Gregory stipulated to paternity and an ongoing amount of weekly child support. The superior court ordered Gregory to pay Julie retroactive child support of approximately $21,000, and Gregory appealed, arguing that the court should not have allowed Julie to amend her petition, that UIFSA does not authorize the court to order payment of retroactive child support, and that the court improperly calculated the amount of retroactive child support owed.

Rule of Law

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Issue

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Holding and Reasoning (Wathen, C.J.)

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