Bill Text: CA AB610 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Child support: suspension of support order.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 629, Statutes of 2015. [AB610 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB610-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 610 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 629
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 8, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 8, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 31, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 16, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brown and Cristina Garcia)
FEBRUARY 24, 2015
An act to repeal and add Section 4007.5 of the Family Code,
relating to child support, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 610, Jones-Sawyer. Child support: suspension of support order.
Prior law required, until July 1, 2015, the obligation of a
person to pay child support pursuant to an order that is being
enforced by a local child support agency under Title IV-D of the
Social Security Act to be suspended for the period of time exceeding
90 days in which the person required to pay support is incarcerated
or involuntarily institutionalized, with specified exceptions. Prior
law required that, upon the release of the obligor, the obligation to
pay child support immediately resume in the amount otherwise
specified in the child support order prior to the suspension of that
obligation. Prior law required the court to provide notice to the
parties of the support obligation suspension at the time the order
was issued or modified. Prior law authorized an obligor, upon release
from incarceration or involuntary institutionalization, to petition
the court for an adjustment of the arrears pursuant to the suspension
of the support obligation.
This bill would enact similar provisions to require the suspension
of a child support order to occur by operation of law when an
obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized, unless
the obligor has the means to pay support, or the obligor was
incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized for either an offense
constituting domestic violence or the failure to pay child support.
The bill would also authorize the local child support agency to
administratively adjust account balances for a money judgment or
order for support of a child that is suspended by operation of law if
the agency verifies that arrears and interest were accrued in
violation of these provisions, that specified conditions relating to
the obligor's inability to pay while incarcerated and the underlying
offense for which he or she was incarcerated do not exist, and
neither the obligor nor the obligee object to the adjustment. The
bill would require the local child support agency to give notice, as
prescribed, of the adjustment to the obligor and obligee. If either
the obligor or the obligee objects to the adjustment, the bill would
require the agency to file a motion with the court to adjust the
arrears and would allow the adjustment only after approval by the
court. The bill would require the child support obligation to resume
on the first day of the first full month after the release of the
person owing support. The bill would require the Department of Child
Support Services, in consultation with the Judicial Council, to
develop forms to implement these provisions, and would require them
to report specified information relating to these provisions to the
Assembly Judiciary Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee on or
before January 1, 2019. The bill would make these provisions
operative only until January 1, 2020.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4007.5 of the Family Code is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 4007.5 is added to the Family Code, to read:
4007.5. (a) Every money judgment or order for support of a child
shall be suspended, by operation of law, for any period exceeding 90
consecutive days in which the person ordered to pay support is
incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized, unless either of the
following conditions exist:
(1) The person owing support has the means to pay support while
incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized.
(2) The person owing support was incarcerated or involuntarily
institutionalized for an offense constituting domestic violence, as
defined in Section 6211, against the supported party or supported
child, or for an offense that could be enjoined by a protective order
pursuant to Section 6320, or as a result of his or her failure to
comply with a court order to pay child support.
(b) The child support obligation shall resume on the first day of
the first full month after the release of the person owing support in
the amount previously ordered, and that amount is presumed to be
appropriate under federal and state law. This section does not
preclude a person owing support from seeking a modification of the
child support order pursuant to Section 3651, based on a change in
circumstances or other appropriate reason.
(c) (1) A local child support agency enforcing a child support
order under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 651
et seq.) may, upon written notice of the proposed adjustment to the
support obligor and obligee along with a blank form provided for the
support obligor or obligee to object to the administrative adjustment
to the local child support agency, administratively adjust account
balances for a money judgment or order for support of a child
suspended pursuant to subdivision (a) if all of the following occurs:
(A) The agency verifies that arrears and interest were accrued in
violation of this section.
(B) The agency verifies that neither of the conditions set forth
in paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) exist.
(C) Neither the support obligor nor obligee objects, within 30
days of receipt of the notice of proposed adjustment, whether in
writing or by telephone, to the administrative adjustment by the
local child support agency.
(2) If either the support obligor or obligee objects to the
administrative adjustment set forth in this subdivision, the agency
shall not adjust the order, but shall file a motion with the court to
seek to adjust the arrears and shall serve copies of the motion on
the parties, who may file an objection to the agency's motion with
the court. The obligor's arrears shall not be adjusted unless the
court approves the adjustment.
(3) The agency may perform this adjustment without regard to
whether it was enforcing the child support order at the time the
parent owing support qualified for relief under this section.
(d) This section does not prohibit the local child support agency
or a party from petitioning a court for a determination of child
support or arrears amounts.
(e) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) "Incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized" includes,
but is not limited to, involuntary confinement to the state prison, a
county jail, a juvenile facility operated by the Division of
Juvenile Facilities in the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, or a mental health facility.
(2) "Suspend" means that the payment due on the current child
support order, an arrears payment on a preexisting arrears balance,
or interest on arrears created during a qualifying period of
incarceration pursuant to this section is, by operation of law, set
to zero dollars ($0) for the period in which the person owing support
is incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized.
(f) This section applies to every money judgment or child support
order issued or modified on or after the enactment of this section.
(g) The Department of Child Support Services shall, by January 1,
2016, and in consultation with the Judicial Council, develop forms to
implement this section.
(h) On or before January 1, 2019, the Department of Child Support
Services and the Judicial Council shall conduct an evaluation of the
effectiveness of the administrative adjustment process authorized by
this section and shall report the results of the review, as well as
any recommended changes, to the Assembly Judiciary Committee and the
Senate Judiciary Committee. The evaluation shall include a review of
the ease of the process to both the obligor and obligee, as well as
an analysis of the number of cases administratively adjusted, the
number of cases adjusted in court, and the number of cases not
adjusted.
(i) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to limit the duration of the interruption in the
protections provided by former Section 4007.5 of the Family Code, it
is necessary that this bill take effect immediately.
