Chapter 311
2017 -- H 5553 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 09/27/2017

A N   A C T
RELATING TO DOMESTIC RELATIONS -- DIVORCE AND SEPARATION

Introduced By: Representatives Diaz, Slater, Williams, Almeida, and Maldonado
Date Introduced: February 16, 2017

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
     SECTION 1. Sections 15-5-16.2 and 15-5-16.7 of the General Laws in Chapter 15-5
entitled "Divorce and Separation" are hereby amended to read as follows:
     15-5-16.2. Child support.
     (a) In a proceeding for divorce, divorce from bed and board, a miscellaneous petition
without the filing of divorce proceedings, or child support, the court shall order either or both
parents owing a duty of support to a child to pay an amount based upon a formula and guidelines
adopted by an administrative order of the family court. If, after calculating support based upon
court established formula and guidelines, the court, in its discretion, finds the order would be
inequitable to the child or either parent, the court shall make findings of fact and shall order either
or both parents owing a duty of support to pay an amount reasonable or necessary for the child's
support after considering all relevant factors including, but not limited to:
     (1) The financial resources of the child;
     (2) The financial resources of the custodial parent;
     (3) The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage not been
dissolved;
     (4) The physical and emotional condition of the child and his or her educational needs;
and
     (5) The financial resources and needs of the non-custodial parent;, provided, that in
establishing a child-support order, incarceration may not be treated as voluntary unemployment.
     (b) The court may, if in its discretion it deems it necessary or advisable, order child
support and education costs for children attending high school at the time of their eighteenth
(18th) birthday and for ninety (90) days after graduation, but in no case beyond their nineteenth
(19th) birthday.
     Notwithstanding the foregoing, the court, in its discretion, may order child support, in the
case of a child with a severe physical or mental impairment still living with or under the care of a
parent, beyond the child's emancipation as defined above. The court shall consider the following
factors when making its determination: (1) tThe nature and extent of the disability; (2) tThe cost
of the extraordinary medical expenses; (3) tThe ability of the child to earn income; (4) tThe
financial resources of the child; (5) tThe financial resources of the parents; (6) tThe inability of
the primary caregiver of the child to sustain gainful employment on a full-time basis due to the
care necessitated by the child. The onset of the disability must have occurred prior to the
emancipation event. If a child support order for a child with a severe physical or mental
impairment has been terminated, suspended, or expired, the court shall consider the factors in this
paragraph and has the discretion to order child support for this child prospectively based upon
established child support guidelines. The court may periodically review the case to determine if
circumstances warrant the continuation of child support.
     (c) (1) The court may, if in its discretion it deems it necessary or advisable, appoint an
attorney or a guardian ad litem to represent the interest of a minor or dependent child with respect
to his or her support, custody, and visitation.
     (i) In determining whether an appointment should be made, the court shall consider the
extent to which a guardian ad litem may assist in providing information concerning the best
interest of the child; the age of the child; the wishes of the parents, as well as their financial
resources; the nature of the proceeding including the level of contentiousness, allegations of child
abuse, or domestic violence and the risk of harm to the child if a guardian is not appointed; or
conflicts of interest between the child and parents or siblings;
     (ii) The guardian ad litem shall be appointed from a list of persons properly credentialed
pursuant to administrative orders of the chief judge of the family court;
     (iii) The court shall enter an order of appointment stating the specific assignment, the
optional and mandatory duties of the guardian ad litem, the guardian's access to the child and
confidential information regarding the child, and a provision for payment of the costs and fees of
the guardian ad litem;
     (iv) Communications made to a guardian, including those made by a child, are not
privileged and may or may not be disclosed to the parties, the court, or to professionals providing
services to the child or the family;
     (v) The guardian ad litem shall meet with the child, conduct an investigation, and upon
request of the court, shall prepare an oral or written report that contains the procedural
background of the case, identification of all persons interviewed and other sources of information,
a statement of the child's emotional, medical, educational, and social service needs, the child's
wishes, and other factors relevant to the court's determination regarding the best interests of the
child;
     (vi) Any written report of the guardian ad litem shall be marked as a full exhibit in the
proceedings, subject to cross-examination;
     (vii) If the guardian ad litem requests confidential health care information and consent is
withheld, he or she shall apply to the court for leave to obtain such information after compliance
with § 5-37.3-6.1;
     (viii) The guardian ad litem shall be given notice of and should appear at all proceedings
in family court that affect the interests of the child;
     (ix) A person serving as a guardian ad litem under this section acts as the court's agent
and is entitled to quasi-judicial immunity for acts performed within the scope of the duties of the
guardian ad litem;
     (x) The chief judge of the family court shall issue, through administrative orders, rules
governing the appointment and performance of guardians ad litem in domestic proceedings.
     (2) After a decree for support has been entered, the court may, from time to time upon the
petition of either party, or by the state in accordance with subsection (c)(3) of this section, review
and alter its decree relative to the amount of support and the payment of it, and may make any
decree relative to it which that it might have made in the original suit. The decree may be made
retroactive in the court's discretion only to the date that notice of a petition to modify was given
to the adverse party if the court finds that a substantial change in circumstances has occurred;
provided, that the court shall set forth in its decision the specific findings of fact which that show
a substantial change in circumstances and upon which findings of facts the court has decided to
make the decree retroactive. In modifying the order, incarceration may not be treated as voluntary
unemployment which that would prevent the motion from being heard or result in a denial of the
motion. The child-support order shall continue in full force and effect, by wage withholding, after
the youngest child is emancipated, and shall be applied towards any arrearage due and owing, as
indicated on the child-support computer system. Upon satisfaction of the arrears due and owing
the child-support order shall be automatically suspended and wage withholding terminated
without the necessity of returning to family court.
     (3) When the department of human services, office of child support services, becomes
aware of the fact, through an electronic data exchange of information with the department of
corrections, or by any other means, that the noncustodial parent is or will be incarcerated for one
hundred eighty (180) days or more, the department may automatically file a motion to modify or
a motion for relief, to be heard before the court via a video conference hearing or other type of
hearing. A specific request for the filing of this motion need not be made in writing or otherwise
by the incarcerated, noncustodial parent, but the parent shall be notified of the hearing and
provided a meaningful opportunity to respond. The court shall schedule a hearing to determine
the noncustodial, parent's ability to pay, taking into consideration the assets and financial
resources and any benefits the noncustodial parent may be receiving, the length of the sentence,
and shall modify or suspend all child-support orders, after setting forth in its decision specific
findings of fact, which that show circumstances upon which the court has decided to modify or
suspend all child-support orders during the period of incarceration. Upon the obligor's release, the
department of human services, office of child support services, shall file a motion for support, and
a hearing shall be scheduled to determine the obligor's ability to begin paying child support
pursuant to the child support guidelines in effect. This section does not apply to those individuals
who are serving a sentence for criminal nonsupport in state or federal prison, or who are found to
be in civil contempt for failure to pay child support and incarcerated for that reason.
     (d) (1) In a proceeding to enforce a child-support order, or a spousal-support order for a
custodial parent having custody of a minor child, the court or its magistrate may assign to the
obligee such tangible personal property of the obligor that will be sufficient to satisfy the child or
spousal-support arrearage owed. The court or its magistrate, after a hearing, shall establish the
amount of the child-or spousal-support arrearage, and the nature and value of the tangible
personal property. To effect the assignment, the court or its magistrate may order the obligor to
execute and deliver the documents of title which that may be necessary to complete the transfer
of title to the property, and may order the obligor to deliver possession of the property to the
obligee. Whenever the obligor fails to comply with the order assigning the property, the order of
assignment shall be regarded as a judgment vesting title to the property in the obligor as fully and
completely as if the obligor had executed and delivered the documents of title.
     (2) Any order for child support issued by the family court shall contain a provision
requiring either or both parents owing a duty of support to a child to obtain health insurance
coverage for the child when coverage is available to the parent or parents through their
employment without cost or at a reasonable cost. "Reasonable cost" shall be defined in
accordance with guidelines adopted by administrative order of the family court in conjunction
with the child support guidelines.
     (3) Any existing child-support orders may be modified in accordance with this subsection
unless the court makes specific written findings of fact that take into consideration the best
interests of the child and conclude that a child-support order or medical order would be unjust or
inappropriate in a particular case.
     (4) In addition, the national medical support notice shall be issued with respect to all
orders issued, enforced, or modified on or after October 1, 2002, in accordance with chapter 29 of
title 15. The notice shall inform the employer of provisions in the child support order, for health
care coverage for the child, and contain instructions on how to implement this coverage. In lieu of
the court ordering the non-custodial parent to obtain or maintain health care coverage for the
child, the court may order the non-custodial parent to contribute a weekly cash amount towards
the medical premium for health care coverage paid by the state of Rhode Island and/or the
custodial parent. The method to determine a reasonable weekly amount shall be addressed in the
family court administrative order pertaining to the child support guidelines.
     (e) In a proceeding to establish support, the court in its discretion may, after opportunity
for a hearing, issue a temporary order for child support payable into the registry of the court and
to be held pending entry of judgment. In the event of a final adjudication requiring no payment or
payments in an amount less than those payments which that have been made pursuant to a
temporary order under this section, the defendant shall be entitled to a refund of all or a portion of
the amounts paid.
     (f) In any proceeding to establish support, or in any case in which an obligor owes past-
due support, for a child or children receiving public assistance pursuant to chapter 5.1 of title 40,
the court or its magistrate, upon a finding that an able-bodied absent parent obligor is
unemployed, underemployed, or lacks sufficient income or resources from which to make
payment of support equal to the public assistance payment for the child or children, or is unable
to pay the arrearages in accordance with a payment plan, may order that parent to perform unpaid
community service for at least twenty (20) hours per week through community service
placements arranged and supervised by the department of human services or to participate in any
work activities that the court deems appropriate. The performance of community service shall not
be a basis for retroactive suspension of arrears due and owing.
     (g) (1) In any proceeding to establish support for a minor child whose adjudicated parent
is a minor (minor-parent), the court or its magistrate may order a grandparent of the minor child
to reimburse the department of human services in an amount not to exceed the total amount of
cash assistance benefits paid to or for the minor child pursuant to chapter 5.1 of title 40 until the
minor-parent reaches the age of eighteen (18), less any payment made to the department by the
minor parent.
     (2) The obligation of reimbursement for the minor child shall be the joint and several
responsibility of the minor parent and the grandparent(s) until the minor parent reaches the age of
eighteen (18); provided, that each joint obligor shall have a right of contribution against each joint
obligor, which right shall be enforceable by an action in the family court.
     (h) (1) All support orders established or modified in the state on or after October 1, 1998,
shall be recorded with the Rhode Island family court department of human services child-support-
computer enforcement computer system, which maintains the official registry of support orders
entered in accordance with applicable administrative orders issued by the Rhode Island family
court. The support order shall be recorded whether or not services are being provided under the
IV-D state plan.
     (2) The obligee to a paternity or child-support proceeding shall be required to file with
the family court, upon the entry of the order, the appropriate form as provided by family court
which that includes the full name of the parties, residential and mailing address, telephone
number, drivers license number, social security number, and the name, address, and telephone
number of the employer. The form shall also include the full order amount and date and amount
of arrearages if any, the name of the child(ren), their date of birth, address, and social security
number, and any other information as required by administrative order.
     (3) After this, each party is required to file an amended form, whenever any of the
information contained on the original form has been changed in any way, within ten (10) days of
the change. The information shall be entered in the child-support-enforcement computer system
within five (5) business days of receipt of the amended form.
     (i) In any subsequent child-support-enforcement action between the parties, upon
sufficient showing that diligent effort has been made to ascertain the location of such a party, the
court may deem state due process requirements for notice and service of process to be met with
respect to the party, upon service by first class mail or, where appropriate, by service as specified
in the Rhode Island rules of procedure for domestic relations for the Ffamily Ccourt of Rhode
Island, of written notice to the most recent residential or employer address of record.
     [See § 12-1-15 of the General Laws.]
     15-5-16.7. Review of child support orders.
     (a) For purposes of this section, a "child-support order" means a child-support order
enforceable pursuant to the Rhode Island state plan for support enforcement as further defined in
§ 15-16-5(a).
     (b) Every three (3) years from the date the child-support order was established or
modified, and upon the request of either party, or if there is an assignment under § 40-6-9 upon
the request of the state pursuant to §15-5-16.2(c)(3), the court shall review and, if appropriate,
adjust the order in accordance with the child-support guidelines if the amount of the child-support
award under the order differs from the amount that would be awarded in accordance with the
guidelines. The adjustment of the order shall be made under this subsection without a requirement
for proof or showing of a change in circumstances. In adjusting the order, incarceration may not
be treated as voluntary unemployment which that would prevent the motion from being heard or
result in a denial of the motion. The periodic review of child support orders as provided in this
subsection is in addition to the opportunity for review provided in § 15-5-16.2(c).
     (c) In the case of a request for a review before the three- (3) year (3) period, upon the
request of either party, or upon the request of the state pursuant to §15-5-16.2(c)(3), the amount
of support may, in the court's discretion, be modified if the court finds that a substantial change in
circumstances has occurred in accordance with § 15-5-16.2. The court, in its discretion, may
modify a child-support order retroactively only to the date that notice of a petition to modify was
given to the adverse party if the court finds that a substantial change in circumstances has
occurred; provided, that the court shall set forth in its decision the specific findings of fact which
that show a substantial change in circumstances and upon which findings of facts the court has
decided to make the decree retroactive.
     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
========
LC001445/SUB A/2
========