Opinion ID: 1646734
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether the chancellor erred in determining the applicable age of majority under Canadian law.

Text: ¶ 23. With some exceptions inapplicable to this issue, Mississippi Code Annotated section 93-25-87 calls for the issuing state's law to apply under the Uniform Interstate Support Act (UIFSA). See Miss.Code Ann. § 93-25-87(1) (Rev.2004). That act defines state to include [a] foreign country or political subdivision jurisdiction that ... has enacted a law or established procedures for issuance and enforcement of support orders which are substantially similar to the procedures under this chapter. Miss.Code Ann. § 93-25-3(u)(ii) (Rev.2004). Saskatchewan enacted the Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders Act in 1996. See The Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders Act, S.S., ch. R-4.2 (1996). ¶ 24. After reviewing the Canadian Divorce Act and the Family Maintenance Act, [5] the chancellor determined that the age of majority in Saskatchewan is eighteen. Shelnut argued an outdated version of the Canadian divorce act which stated: 1. This Act may be cited as the Divorce Act. 2. (1) In this Act, ... child of the marriage means a child of two spouses or former spouses who, at the material time, (a) is under the age of sixteen years, or (b) is sixteen years of age or over and under their charge but unable, by reason of illness, disability or other cause, to withdraw from their charge or to obtain the necessaries of life; .... However, the current version of this Act states the following: 2. (1) In this Act, ... age of majority, in respect of a child, means the age of majority as determined by the laws of the province where the child ordinarily resides. ... Divorce Act, 1985 R.S.C., 1985, ch. 3 (2nd Supp) (Can.) (emphasis added). ¶ 25. Saskatchewan's Age of Majority Act makes eighteen the age of majority in that province: Every person attains the age of majority and ceases to be a minor on attaining the age of eighteen years. The Age of Majority Act, R.S.S., ch. A-6, s.2 (1978). ¶ 26. The 1990 divorce judgment cites the authority of the Canadian Divorce Act, a federal law applicable in Saskatchewan. Margaret-Anne has been a resident of Saskatchewan since 1989, so the Age of Majority Act, a Saskatchewan provincial statute, would apply to her. Thus, we conclude that the chancellor did not err in determining that eighteen is the applicable age of majority.