When can foreign law be used in a retroactive child support case?

This concerns a long-term friend of mine who had tried to support his child. His ex-wife told him that she was rich and didn’t need any money. Now, she is suing him for retroactive child support. The child is now 23 years old. According to the law in his state, four years after the child’s 18th birthday, a person cannot claim retroactive child support. He asked me if he can use US law in a Taiwan court. Both are Americans.

There’s a law for this sort of thing, but I would advise your friend to seek professional advice.

http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=B0000007

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Is the ex-wife also a ROC citizen?

Irrespective of established practices in International Private Law, Taiwan courts tend to assume priority of domestic ROC law in such cases regardless of any foreign nationality or long-term residence in overseas jurisdictions involved.

If OP’s friend is in the US and he does not plan to visit Taiwan then it should not affect him too much though as US courts follow established IPR principles.

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He had a stroke a while back and he’s partially incapacitated, so it is hard for him to find jobs. I don’t think she will get any money from him, but if she got a little, it would be almost cruel.