March 28, 2019

Before a group of California family law advocates, Judge GLORIA ELENA PTACNIK PRECIADO provided an overview on how to serve foreign summons, court orders and obtain evidence through letter rogatory, glimpsing into the possibility of implementing an expedited process between the County of San Diego and the State of Baja California by way of a judicial cooperation agreement just like the one operating with Imperial County since 2016.

Judge Ptacnik (Family Court Judge in Ensenada) indicated that currently summons and court orders originating from the United States (with exception to Imperial County) follow the traditional procedure through diplomatic channels in the form of “letter rogatory.” These procedures can translate into long periods of time because the petitions are forwarded to the central authorities with the implied bureaucracy.

However, child support collections can speed-up significantly in the border region with San Diego through a judicial cooperation agreement like the one in place with Imperial County, allowing the enforcement and collections without having to go through the conventional protocols and procedures. The “BC-Imperial County” judicial agreement is first-of-its-kind in the United States and Mexico executed on May 26, 2016 between the Judicial Board of Baja California and Imperial County Board of Supervisors.

The event LETTER ROGATORIES: Child Support and Summons was organized by the Binational Bar Association (BBA) and the San Diego Family Law Bar Association (SDFLBA) at National University.