Effective October 1, 2010, there were much needed changes to child support orders. Many of you either pay or receive child support through an employer wage deduction. The Order mandating an employer to deduct child support is called an Income Deduction Order (IDO). All support orders must now provide:
a. For child support to terminate on a child's 18th birthday unless otherwise agreed to by the parties;
b. A schedule stating the amount of the monthly child support obligation for all the minor children at the time of the order and the amount of child support that will be owed for any remaining children after one or more of the children are no longer entitled to receive child support; and
c. The month, day, and year that the reduction or termination of child support becomes effective.
There are 2 other important changes in terms of how we calculate child support which took effect on January 1, 2011:
1. Substantial time-sharing adjustment:
The number of overnights a child spends with each parent are utilized in the child support guidelines. The theory has always been that the more time a child spends with one parent over the other, the more expense that child is to that parent for basic necessities of life and therefore, the more support the parent with less time sharing should be paying to the parent who has the child more of the time. It used to be that substantial time sharing was defined as a parent having 40% or more (146 nights or more) of the calendar year overnights with a child. No more. The new law changes have reduced the substantial time sharing from 40% to 20% or more of the calendar year overnights. This is important to each parent in terms of how many actual child support dollars will flow from one parent to the other for the use of the child. The 25% discount on day care to the paying parent has also been eliminated, thus leveling the playing field even further.
2. Imputation of Income to an unemployed or underemployed parent:
It is always a task dealing with determining the income to be used for the underemployed or unemployed parent. The law now provides a more bright line test and application for those parents who are under or unemployed.
Income shall now be automatically imputed. There is a rebuttable presumption that the parent has income equivalent to the median income of year-round full-time workers as derived from current population reports or replacement reports published by the United States Bureau of the Census when:
a) Information concerning a parent's income is unavailable;
b) a parent fails to participate in a child support proceeding, or
c) a parent fails to supply adequate financial information in a child support proceeding.
In order for the court to impute income at an amount other than the median income of year-round full-time workers, the court must make specific findings of fact which are legal reasons for doing so. The party seeking to impute income has the burden to prove by competent, substantial evidence that:
a. The unemployment or underemployment is voluntary; and
b. Identifies the amount and source of the imputed income, through evidence of income from available employment for which the party is suitably qualified by education, experience, current licensure, or geographic location, with due consideration being given to the parties' time-sharing schedule and their historical exercise of the time-sharing provided in the parenting plan or relevant order.
Except as set forth in above paragraph income may not be imputed based upon:
a. Income records that are more than 5 years old at the time of the hearing or trial at which imputation is sought; or
b. Income at a level that a party has never earned in the past, unless recently degreed, licensed, certified, relicensed, or recertified and thus qualified for, subject to geographic location, with due consideration of the parties' existing time-sharing schedule and their historical exercise of the time-sharing provided in the parenting plan or relevant order.
The above may sound a little complicated and it can be; however, if you are faced with support being attempted to be set or modified and you or the other parent are either unemployed or underemployed, you need the advice of an attorney. Let me know if I can help and I'll be glad to in any way I can.
a. For child support to terminate on a child's 18th birthday unless otherwise agreed to by the parties;
b. A schedule stating the amount of the monthly child support obligation for all the minor children at the time of the order and the amount of child support that will be owed for any remaining children after one or more of the children are no longer entitled to receive child support; and
c. The month, day, and year that the reduction or termination of child support becomes effective.
There are 2 other important changes in terms of how we calculate child support which took effect on January 1, 2011:
1. Substantial time-sharing adjustment:
The number of overnights a child spends with each parent are utilized in the child support guidelines. The theory has always been that the more time a child spends with one parent over the other, the more expense that child is to that parent for basic necessities of life and therefore, the more support the parent with less time sharing should be paying to the parent who has the child more of the time. It used to be that substantial time sharing was defined as a parent having 40% or more (146 nights or more) of the calendar year overnights with a child. No more. The new law changes have reduced the substantial time sharing from 40% to 20% or more of the calendar year overnights. This is important to each parent in terms of how many actual child support dollars will flow from one parent to the other for the use of the child. The 25% discount on day care to the paying parent has also been eliminated, thus leveling the playing field even further.
2. Imputation of Income to an unemployed or underemployed parent:
It is always a task dealing with determining the income to be used for the underemployed or unemployed parent. The law now provides a more bright line test and application for those parents who are under or unemployed.
Income shall now be automatically imputed. There is a rebuttable presumption that the parent has income equivalent to the median income of year-round full-time workers as derived from current population reports or replacement reports published by the United States Bureau of the Census when:
a) Information concerning a parent's income is unavailable;
b) a parent fails to participate in a child support proceeding, or
c) a parent fails to supply adequate financial information in a child support proceeding.
In order for the court to impute income at an amount other than the median income of year-round full-time workers, the court must make specific findings of fact which are legal reasons for doing so. The party seeking to impute income has the burden to prove by competent, substantial evidence that:
a. The unemployment or underemployment is voluntary; and
b. Identifies the amount and source of the imputed income, through evidence of income from available employment for which the party is suitably qualified by education, experience, current licensure, or geographic location, with due consideration being given to the parties' time-sharing schedule and their historical exercise of the time-sharing provided in the parenting plan or relevant order.
Except as set forth in above paragraph income may not be imputed based upon:
a. Income records that are more than 5 years old at the time of the hearing or trial at which imputation is sought; or
b. Income at a level that a party has never earned in the past, unless recently degreed, licensed, certified, relicensed, or recertified and thus qualified for, subject to geographic location, with due consideration of the parties' existing time-sharing schedule and their historical exercise of the time-sharing provided in the parenting plan or relevant order.
The above may sound a little complicated and it can be; however, if you are faced with support being attempted to be set or modified and you or the other parent are either unemployed or underemployed, you need the advice of an attorney. Let me know if I can help and I'll be glad to in any way I can.
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