2014 -- H 7335 | |
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LC003586 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO DOMESTIC RELATIONS - DIVORCE AND SEPARATION | |
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Introduced By: Representatives MacBeth, McLaughlin, Dickinson, and Marcello | |
Date Introduced: February 06, 2014 | |
Referred To: House Judiciary | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 15-5-16.2 of the General Laws in Chapter 15-5 entitled "Divorce |
2 | and Separation" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 15-5-16.2. Child support. -- (a) In a proceeding for divorce, divorce from bed and board, |
4 | a miscellaneous petition without the filing of divorce proceedings, or child support, the court shall |
5 | order either or both parents owing a duty of support to a child to pay an amount based upon a |
6 | formula and guidelines adopted by an administrative order of the family court. There shall be a |
7 | rebuttable presumption that the amount of the guideline is appropriate. If, after calculating |
8 | support based upon court established formula and guidelines, the court, in its discretion, and |
9 | considering the best interests of the child, finds the order would be inequitable to the child or |
10 | either parent, the court shall make written findings of fact, the presumption shall be overcome and |
11 | the court shall order either or both parents owing a duty of support to pay an amount reasonable |
12 | or necessary for the child's support after considering all relevant factors including, but not limited |
13 | to: |
14 | (1) The financial resources of the child; |
15 | (2) The financial resources of the custodial parent; |
16 | (3) The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage not been |
17 | dissolved; |
18 | (4) The physical and emotional condition of the child and his or her educational needs; |
19 | and |
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1 | (5) The financial resources and needs of the non-custodial parent. |
2 | (b) The court may, if in its discretion it deems it necessary or advisable, order child |
3 | support and education costs for children attending high school at the time of their eighteenth |
4 | (18th) birthday and for ninety (90) days after graduation, but in no case beyond their nineteenth |
5 | (19th) birthday, subject to the exceptions set forth in subsection (c) of this section. |
6 | (c)(1) The court may make appropriate orders of maintenance, support and education of |
7 | any child who has attained the age of eighteen (18), but who has not attained the age of twenty- |
8 | one (21) and whose legal address is in the home of a parent, and is principally dependent upon |
9 | said parent for maintenance. |
10 | (2) The court may make appropriate orders of maintenance, support and education for |
11 | any child who has attained the age of twenty-one (21), but who has not attained the age of |
12 | twenty-three (23), if such child's legal address is in the home of a parent, and such child is |
13 | principally dependent upon said parent for maintenance due to the enrollment of such child in an |
14 | educational program excluding educational costs beyond an undergraduate degree. |
15 | Notwithstanding the foregoing, the court, in its discretion, may order child support, in |
16 | the case of a child with a severe physical or mental impairment still living with or under the care |
17 | of a parent, beyond the child's emancipation as defined above. The court shall consider the |
18 | following factors when making its determination: (1) the nature and extent of the disability; (2) |
19 | the cost of the extraordinary medical expenses; (3) the ability of the child to earn income; (4) the |
20 | financial resources of the child; (5) the financial resources of the parents; (6) the inability of the |
21 | primary caregiver of the child to sustain gainful employment on a full-time basis due to the care |
22 | necessitated by the child. The onset of the disability must have occurred prior to the emancipation |
23 | event. If a child support order for a child with a severe physical or mental impairment has been |
24 | terminated, suspended or expired, the court shall consider the factors in this paragraph and has the |
25 | discretion to order child support for this child prospectively based upon established child support |
26 | guidelines. The court may periodically review the case to determine if circumstances warrant the |
27 | continuation of child support. |
28 | (c) (d)(1) The court may, if in its discretion it deems it necessary or advisable, appoint an |
29 | attorney or a guardian ad litem to represent the interest of a minor or dependent child with respect |
30 | to his or her support, custody, and visitation. |
31 | (i) In determining whether an appointment should be made, the court shall consider the |
32 | extent to which a guardian ad litem may assist in providing information concerning the best |
33 | interest of the child; the age of the child; the wishes of the parents as well as their financial |
34 | resources; the nature of the proceeding including the level of contentiousness, allegations of child |
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1 | abuse or domestic violence and the risk of harm to the child if a guardian is not appointed; or |
2 | conflicts of interest between the child and parents or siblings; |
3 | (ii) The guardian ad litem shall be appointed from a list of persons properly credentialed |
4 | pursuant to administrative orders of the chief judge of the family court; |
5 | (iii) The court shall enter an order of appointment stating the specific assignment the |
6 | optional and mandatory duties of the guardian ad litem, the guardian's access to the child and |
7 | confidential information regarding the child, and a provision for payment of the costs and fees of |
8 | the guardian ad litem; |
9 | (iv) Communications made to a guardian, including those made by a child, are not |
10 | privileged and may or may not be disclosed to the parties, the court or to professionals providing |
11 | services to the child or the family; |
12 | (v) The guardian ad litem shall meet with the child, conduct an investigation and upon |
13 | request of the court shall prepare an oral or written report that contains the procedural background |
14 | of the case, identification of all persons interviewed and other sources of information, a statement |
15 | of the child's emotional, medical, educational and social service needs, the child's wishes and |
16 | other factors relevant to the court's determination regarding the best interests of the child; |
17 | (vi) Any written report of the guardian ad litem shall be marked as a full exhibit in the |
18 | proceedings, subject to cross-examination; |
19 | (vii) If the guardian ad litem requests confidential health care information and consent is |
20 | withheld, he or she shall apply to the court for leave to obtain such information after compliance |
21 | with section 5-37.3-6.1; |
22 | (viii) The guardian ad litem shall be given notice of and should appear at all proceedings |
23 | in family court that affect the interests of the child; |
24 | (ix) A person serving as a guardian ad litem under this section acts as the court's agent |
25 | and is entitled to quasi-judicial immunity for acts performed within the scope of the duties of the |
26 | guardian ad litem; |
27 | (x) The chief judge of the family court shall issue, through administrative orders, rules |
28 | governing the appointment and performance of guardians ad litem in domestic proceedings. |
29 | (2) After a decree for support has been entered, the court may from time to time upon the |
30 | petition of either party review and alter its decree relative to the amount of support and the |
31 | payment of it, and may make any decree relative to it which it might have made in the original |
32 | suit. The decree may be made retroactive in the court's discretion only to the date that notice of a |
33 | petition to modify was given to the adverse party if the court finds that a substantial change in |
34 | circumstances has occurred; provided, that the court shall set forth in its decision the specific |
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1 | findings of fact which show a substantial change in circumstances and upon which findings of |
2 | facts the court has decided to make the decree retroactive. The child support order shall continue |
3 | in full force and effect, by wage withholding, after the youngest child is emancipated, and shall |
4 | be applied towards any arrearage due and owing, as indicated on the child support computer |
5 | system. Upon satisfaction of the arrears due and owing the child support order shall be |
6 | automatically suspended and wage withholding terminated without the necessity of returning to |
7 | family court. |
8 | (d)(e)(1) In a proceeding to enforce a child support order, or a spousal support order for a |
9 | custodial parent having custody of a minor child, the court or its magistrate may assign to the |
10 | obligee such tangible personal property of the obligor that will be sufficient to satisfy the child or |
11 | spousal support arrearage owed. The court or its magistrate, after a hearing, shall establish the |
12 | amount of the child or spousal support arrearage, and the nature and value of the tangible |
13 | personal property. To effect the assignment, the court or its magistrate may order the obligor to |
14 | execute and deliver the documents of title which may be necessary to complete the transfer of |
15 | title to the property, and may order the obligor to deliver possession of the property to the |
16 | obligee. Whenever the obligor fails to comply with the order assigning the property, the order of |
17 | assignment shall be regarded as a judgment vesting title to the property in the obligor as fully and |
18 | completely as if the obligor had executed and delivered the documents of title. |
19 | (2) Any order for child support issued by the family court shall contain a provision |
20 | requiring either or both parents owing a duty of support to a child to obtain health insurance |
21 | coverage for the child when coverage is available to the parent or parents through their |
22 | employment without cost or at a reasonable cost. "Reasonable cost" shall be defined in |
23 | accordance with guidelines adopted by administrative order of the family court in conjunction |
24 | with the child support guidelines. |
25 | (3) Any existing child support orders may be modified in accordance with this |
26 | subsection unless the court makes specific written findings of fact that take into consideration the |
27 | best interests of the child and conclude that a child support order or medical order would be |
28 | unjust or inappropriate in a particular case. |
29 | (4) In addition, the national medical support notice shall be issued with respect to all |
30 | orders issued, enforced, or modified on or after October 1, 2002, in accordance with chapter 29 of |
31 | title 15. The notice shall inform the employer of provisions in the child support order, for health |
32 | care coverage for the child, and contain instructions on how to implement this coverage. In lieu of |
33 | the court ordering the non-custodial parent to obtain or maintain health care coverage for the |
34 | child, the court may order the non-custodial parent to contribute a weekly cash amount towards |
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1 | the medical premium for health care coverage paid by the state of Rhode Island and/or the |
2 | custodial parent. The method to determine a reasonable weekly amount shall be addressed in the |
3 | family court administrative order pertaining to the child support guidelines. |
4 | (e)(f) In a proceeding to establish support, the court in its discretion may, after |
5 | opportunity for a hearing, issue a temporary order for child support payable into the registry of |
6 | the court and to be held pending entry of judgment. In the event of a final adjudication requiring |
7 | no payment or payments in an amount less than those payments which have been made pursuant |
8 | to a temporary order under this section, the defendant shall be entitled to a refund of all or a |
9 | portion of the amounts paid. |
10 | (f)(g) In any proceeding to establish support, or in any case in which an obligor owes |
11 | past due support, for a child or children receiving public assistance pursuant to chapter 5.1 of title |
12 | 40, the court or its magistrate, upon a finding that an able bodied absent parent obligor is |
13 | unemployed, underemployed or lacks sufficient income or resources from which to make |
14 | payment of support equal to the public assistance payment for the child or children, or is unable |
15 | to pay the arrearages in accordance with a payment plan, may order that parent to perform unpaid |
16 | community service for at least twenty (20) hours per week through community service |
17 | placements arranged and supervised by the department of human services or to participate in any |
18 | work activities that the court deems appropriate. The performance of community service shall not |
19 | be a basis for retroactive suspension of arrears due and owing. |
20 | (g)(h)(1) In any proceeding to establish support for a minor child whose adjudicated |
21 | parent is a minor (minor-parent), the court or its magistrate may order a grandparent of the minor |
22 | child to reimburse the department of human services in an amount not to exceed the total amount |
23 | of cash assistance benefits paid to or for the minor child pursuant to chapter 5.1 of title 40 until |
24 | the minor-parent reaches the age of eighteen (18), less any payment made to the department by |
25 | the minor parent. |
26 | (2) The obligation of reimbursement for the minor child shall be the joint and several |
27 | responsibility of the minor parent and the grandparent(s) until the minor parent reaches the age of |
28 | eighteen (18); provided, that each joint obligor shall have a right of contribution against each joint |
29 | obligor, which right shall be enforceable by an action in the family court. |
30 | (h)(i)(1) All support orders established or modified in the state on or after October 1, |
31 | 1998, shall be recorded with the Rhode Island family court department of human services child |
32 | support computer enforcement system, which maintains the official registry of support orders |
33 | entered in accordance with applicable administrative orders issued by the Rhode Island family |
34 | court. The support order shall be recorded whether or not services are being provided under the |
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1 | IV-D state plan. |
2 | (2) The obligee to a paternity or child support proceeding shall be required to file with |
3 | the family court, upon the entry of the order, the appropriate form as provided by family court |
4 | which includes the full name of the parties, residential and mailing address, telephone number, |
5 | drivers license number, social security number and the name, address and telephone number of |
6 | the employer. The form shall also include the full order amount and date and amount of |
7 | arrearages if any, the name of the child(ren), their date of birth, address and social security |
8 | number and any other information as required by administrative order. |
9 | (3) After this, each party is required to file an amended form whenever any of the |
10 | information contained on the original form has been changed in any way, within ten (10) days of |
11 | the change. The information shall be entered in the child support enforcement computer system |
12 | within five (5) business days of receipt of the amended form. |
13 | (i)(j) In any subsequent child support enforcement action between the parties, upon |
14 | sufficient showing that diligent effort has been made to ascertain the location of such a party, the |
15 | court may deem state due process requirements for notice and service of process to be met with |
16 | respect to the party, upon service by first class mail or, where appropriate, by service as specified |
17 | in the Rhode Island rules of procedure for domestic relations for the Family Court of Rhode |
18 | Island, of written notice to the most recent residential or employer address of record. |
19 | [See section 12-1-15 of the General Laws.] |
20 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO DOMESTIC RELATIONS - DIVORCE AND SEPARATION | |
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1 | This act would provide that if a child is between the ages of eighteen (18) and twenty-one |
2 | (21) and whose legal address is in the home of a parent and is principally dependent upon that |
3 | parent for maintenance then the court may make an order for maintenance support and education |
4 | for the child. If the child is between the age of twenty-one (21) and to twenty-three (23) and legal |
5 | address is in the home of a parent and dependent on that parent for maintenance due to enrollment |
6 | in an undergraduate program then the court may make an order of maintenance support and |
7 | education for him or her. |
8 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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