HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2322

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO CHILD SUPPORT GUIDELINES.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  Section 576D-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§576D-7  Guidelines in establishing amount of child support.  (a)  The family court, in consultation with the agency, shall establish guidelines to establish the amount of child support when an order for support is sought or being modified under this chapter.  The guidelines shall be based on specific descriptive and numeric criteria and result in a computation of the support obligation.

     The guidelines [may] shall include consideration of the following:

     (1)  All earnings, income, other evidence of ability to pay, and resources of both parents; provided that earnings be the net amount, after deductions for taxes, and social security.  Overtime and cost of living allowance may be deducted where appropriate;

     (2)  The earning potential, reasonable necessities, and borrowing capacity of both parents;

     (3)  The needs of the child for whom support is sought[;], including health care needs through private or public health care coverage and through cash medical support;

    [(4)  The amount of public assistance which would be paid for the child under the full standard of need as established by the department;

     (5)] (4)  The existence of other dependents of the obligor parent;

    [(6)  To foster incentives] (5)  Incentives for both parents to work;

    [(7)  To balance] (6)  Balancing the standard of living of both parents and child and avoid placing any below the poverty level whenever possible;

    [(8)  To avoid] (7)  Avoiding extreme and inequitable changes in either parent's income depending on custody; and

    [(9)  If any obligee parent (with a school age child or children in school), who is mentally and physically able to work, remains at home and does not work, thirty (or less) hours of weekly earnings at the minimum wage may be imputed to that parent's income.]

     (8)  If imputation of income is authorized, the age of the child and the specific circumstances of both parents to the extent known, including such factors as assets, residence, employment and earnings history, job skills, educational attainment, literacy, age, health, criminal record and other employment barriers, and record of seeking work, as well as the local job market, the availability of employers willing to hire the parent, prevailing earnings level in the local community, and other relevant background factors in the case.  Incarceration may not be treated as voluntary unemployment in establishing or modifying an order of support.

     (b)  The guidelines shall be:

     (1)  Applied statewide;

     (2)  [To] Established to simplify the calculations as much as practicable;

     (3)  Applied to ensure, at a minimum, that the child for whom support is sought benefits from the income and resources of the obligor parent on an equitable basis in comparison with any other minor child of the obligor parent;

     (4)  Established by October 1, 1986; and

     (5)  Transmitted to the agency and all family court judges when available or updated, and shall be considered by the judges in the establishment and modification of each child support order.  The most current guidelines shall be used to calculate the amount of the child support obligation.

     (c)  The family court [, in consultation with the agency, shall [update] shall convene a guidelines reviewing committee to review and revise, if appropriate, the guidelines at least once every four years[.] in consultation with the agency.  The review shall:

     (1)  Consider economic data on the cost of raising children, labor market data (such as unemployment rates, employment rates, hours worked, and earnings) by occupation and skill-level for the state and local job markets, the impact of guidelines policies and amounts on custodial and noncustodial parents who have family incomes below 200 per cent of the federal poverty level, and factors that influence employment rates among noncustodial parents and impacts compliance with an order of support.

     (2)  Analyze case data, gathered through sampling or other methods, on the application of and deviations from the child support guidelines, as well as the rates of default and imputed orders of support and orders that considered the basic subsistence needs of the parents and child, including orders determined using the minimum child support amount.  The analysis must also include a comparison of payments on child support orders by case characteristics, including whether the order was entered by default, based on imputed income, or based on consideration of the basic subsistence needs of the parents and child, including orders determined using the minimum child support amount.  The analysis of the data must be used in the review of the child support guidelines to ensure that deviations from the guidelines are limited and guideline amounts are appropriate; and

     (3)  Provide a meaningful opportunity for public input, including input from low-income custodial and noncustodial parents and their representatives.

All reports of the guidelines reviewing committee, the membership of the reviewing committee, the effective date of the guidelines, the date of the next quadrennial review, and the guidelines shall be published on the internet and be made accessible to the public by the family court.

     [(d)  The establishment of the guidelines or the adoption of any modifications made to the guidelines set forth in this section may constitute a change in circumstances sufficient to permit review of the support order.  A material change of circumstances will be presumed if support as calculated pursuant to the guidelines is either ten per cent greater or less than the support amount in the outstanding support order.  The most current guidelines shall be used to calculate the amount of the child support obligation.

     (e)  The responsible or custodial parent for which child support has previously been ordered shall have a right to petition the family court or the child support enforcement agency not more than once every three years for review and adjustment of the child support order without having to show a change in circumstances.  The responsible or custodial parent shall not be precluded from petitioning the family court or the child support enforcement agency for review and adjustment of the child support order more than once in any three-year period if the second or subsequent request is supported by proof of a substantial or material change of circumstances.]

     (d)  There shall be a rebuttable presumption, in any judicial or administrative proceeding for the establishment and modification of an order of support, that the amount of the order that would result from the application of the child support guidelines is the correct amount of child support to be ordered.  A written finding or specific finding on the record of a judicial or administrative proceeding for the establishment or modification of an order of support that the application of the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case shall be sufficient to rebut the presumption in that case, so long as the judicial or administrative tribunal considers the best interest of the child.  Findings that rebut the guidelines shall state the amount of support that would have been required under the guidelines and include a justification of why the order varies from the guidelines amount.

     (e)  The establishment of the guidelines or the adoption of any modifications made to the guidelines set forth in this section may constitute a change in circumstances sufficient to permit review of the order of support.  A material change of circumstances shall be presumed if support as calculated pursuant to the guidelines is either ten per cent greater or less than the support amount in the outstanding order of support.

     (f)  Both parents for which child support has previously been ordered shall have a right to petition the family court or the agency not more than once every three years for review and adjustment of the order of support without having to show a change in circumstances.  Both parents shall not be precluded from petitioning the family court or the agency for review and adjustment of order of support more than once in any three-year period if the second or subsequent request is supported by proof of a substantial or material change of circumstances."

     SECTION 2.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

BY REQUEST

 

 

Report Title:

Child Support Guidelines

 

Description:

Amends the child support guidelines requirements to provide for more opportunity for the public to be involved in the review of the guidelines and to require consideration of additional factors relating to the situation of the parents.

 

 

 

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