Bill Text: FL S1210 | 2013 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Family Law
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)
Status: (Failed) 2013-05-03 - Died in Messages [S1210 Detail]
Download: Florida-2013-S1210-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Family Law
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)
Status: (Failed) 2013-05-03 - Died in Messages [S1210 Detail]
Download: Florida-2013-S1210-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2013 CS for SB 1210 By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senator Soto 590-03363-13 20131210c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to family law; amending s. 61.30, 3 F.S.; providing for consideration of time-sharing 4 schedules as a factor in the adjustment of awards of 5 child support; amending s. 90.204, F.S.; authorizing 6 judges in family cases to take judicial notice of 7 certain court records without prior notice to the 8 parties when imminent danger to persons or property 9 has been alleged and it is impractical to give prior 10 notice; providing for a deferred opportunity to 11 present evidence; requiring a notice of such judicial 12 notice having been taken to be filed within a 13 specified period; providing that the term “family 14 cases” has the same meaning as provided in the Rules 15 of Judicial Administration; amending s. 409.2564, 16 F.S.; providing that the Department of Revenue may not 17 undertake certain actions regarding paternity or 18 support except in certain circumstances; providing 19 that a parent is not eligible to receive assistance 20 from the department for certain actions if the parent 21 is being represented by a private attorney unless 22 public assistance is being received; amending ss. 23 741.30, 784.046, and 784.0485, F.S.; creating an 24 exception to a prohibition against using evidence 25 other than the verified pleading or affidavit in an ex 26 parte hearing for a temporary injunction for 27 protection against domestic violence, repeat violence, 28 sexual violence, dating violence, or stalking; 29 amending ss. 61.14, 61.1814, and 61.30, F.S.; 30 conforming cross-references; providing an effective 31 date. 32 33 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 34 35 Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (11) of 36 section 61.30, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 37 61.30 Child support guidelines; retroactive child support.— 38 (11)(a) The court may adjust the total minimum child 39 support award, or either or both parents’ share of the total 40 minimum child support award, based upon the following deviation 41 factors: 42 1. Extraordinary medical, psychological, educational, or 43 dental expenses. 44 2. Independent income of the child, not to include moneys 45 received by a child from supplemental security income. 46 3. The payment of support for a parent which has been 47 regularly paid and for which there is a demonstrated need. 48 4. Seasonal variations in one or both parents’ incomes or 49 expenses. 50 5. The age of the child, taking into account the greater 51 needs of older children. 52 6. Special needs, such as costs that may be associated with 53 the disability of a child, that have traditionally been met 54 within the family budget even though fulfilling those needs will 55 cause the support to exceed the presumptive amount established 56 by the guidelines. 57 7. Total available assets of the obligee, obligor, and the 58 child. 59 8. The impact of the Internal Revenue Service Child & 60 Dependent Care Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, and 61 dependency exemption and waiver of that exemption. The court may 62 order a parent to execute a waiver of the Internal Revenue 63 Service dependency exemption if the paying parent is current in 64 support payments. 65 9. An application of the child support guidelines schedule 66 that requires a person to pay another person more than 55 67 percent of his or her gross income for a child support 68 obligation for current support resulting from a single support 69 order. 70 10. The particular parenting plan, court-ordered time 71 sharing schedule, or particular time-sharing schedule exercised 72 by agreement of the parties, such as where the child spends a 73 significant amount of time, but less than 20 percent of the 74 overnights, with one parent, thereby reducing the financial 75 expenditures incurred by the other parent; or the refusal of a 76 parent to become involved in the activities of the child. 77 11. Any other adjustment that is needed to achieve an 78 equitable result which may include, but not be limited to, a 79 reasonable and necessary existing expense or debt. Such expense 80 or debt may include, but is not limited to, a reasonable and 81 necessary expense or debt that the parties jointly incurred 82 during the marriage. 83 (b) Whenever a particular parenting plan, court-ordered 84 time-sharing schedule, or particular time-sharing schedule 85 exercised by agreement of the parties provides that each child 86 spend a substantial amount of time with each parent, the court 87 shall adjust any award of child support, as follows: 88 1. In accordance with subsections (9) and (10), calculate 89 the amount of support obligation apportioned to each parent 90 without including day care and health insurance costs in the 91 calculation and multiply the amount by 1.5. 92 2. Calculate the percentage of overnight stays the child 93 spends with each parent. 94 3. Multiply each parent’s support obligation as calculated 95 in subparagraph 1. by the percentage of the other parent’s 96 overnight stays with the child as calculated in subparagraph 2. 97 4. The difference between the amounts calculated in 98 subparagraph 3. shall be the monetary transfer necessary between 99 the parents for the care of the child, subject to an adjustment 100 for day care and health insurance expenses. 101 5. Pursuant to subsections (7) and (8), calculate the net 102 amounts owed by each parent for the expenses incurred for day 103 care and health insurance coverage for the child. 104 6. Adjust the support obligation owed by each parent 105 pursuant to subparagraph 4. by crediting or debiting the amount 106 calculated in subparagraph 5. This amount represents the child 107 support which must be exchanged between the parents. 108 7. The court may deviate from the child support amount 109 calculated pursuant to subparagraph 6. based upon the deviation 110 factors in paragraph (a), as well as the obligee parent’s low 111 income and ability to maintain the basic necessities of the home 112 for the child, the likelihood that either parent will actually 113 exercise the time-sharing schedule set forth in the parenting 114 plan granted by the court, and whether all of the children are 115 exercising the same time-sharing schedule. 116 8. For purposes of adjusting any award of child support 117 under this paragraph, “substantial amount of time” means that a 118 parent exercises time-sharing at least 20 percent of the 119 overnights of the year. 120 Section 2. Subsection (4) is added to section 90.204, 121 Florida Statutes, to read: 122 90.204 Determination of propriety of judicial notice and 123 nature of matter noticed.— 124 (4) In family cases, the court may take judicial notice of 125 any matter described in s. 90.202(6) when imminent danger to 126 persons or property has been alleged and it is impractical to 127 give prior notice to the parties of the intent to take judicial 128 notice. Opportunity to present evidence relevant to the 129 propriety of taking judicial notice under subsection (1) may be 130 deferred until after judicial action has been taken. If judicial 131 notice is taken under this subsection, the court shall, within 2 132 business days, file a notice in the pending case of the matters 133 judicially noticed. For purposes of this subsection, the term 134 “family cases” has the same meaning as provided in the Rules of 135 Judicial Administration. 136 Section 3. Subsections (4) through (13) of section 137 409.2564, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (5) 138 through (14), respectively, and a new subsection (4) is added to 139 that section, to read: 140 409.2564 Actions for support.— 141 (4)(a) The Department of Revenue shall not undertake an 142 action to determine paternity, to establish an obligation of 143 support, or to enforce or modify an obligation of support 144 unless: 145 1. Public assistance is being received by one of the 146 parents, both parents, or the dependent child or children; or 147 2. The custodial parent or the parent entitled to receive 148 support has requested the Department of Revenue’s assistance in 149 enforcing or modifying a child support order and has filed a 150 signed application for services under Title IV-D of the Social 151 Security Act. 152 (b) Notwithstanding subparagraph (a)2., a parent is not 153 eligible to receive assistance from the Department of Revenue to 154 determine paternity, to establish an obligation of support, or 155 to enforce or modify an obligation of support, whichever is 156 applicable, if that parent is being represented by a private 157 attorney in proceedings to determine paternity, to establish an 158 obligation of support, or to enforce or modify an obligation of 159 support, whichever is applicable, unless public assistance is 160 being received by that parent, the other parent, or the 161 dependent child or children. 162 Section 4. Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section 163 741.30, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 164 741.30 Domestic violence; injunction; powers and duties of 165 court and clerk; petition; notice and hearing; temporary 166 injunction; issuance of injunction; statewide verification 167 system; enforcement; public records exemption.— 168 (5) 169 (b) Except as provided in s. 90.204, in a hearing ex parte 170 for the purpose of obtaining such ex parte temporary injunction, 171 no evidence other than verified pleadings or affidavits shall be 172 used as evidence, unless the respondent appears at the hearing 173 or has received reasonable notice of the hearing. A denial of a 174 petition for an ex parte injunction shall be by written order 175 noting the legal grounds for denial. When the only ground for 176 denial is no appearance of an immediate and present danger of 177 domestic violence, the court shall set a full hearing on the 178 petition for injunction with notice at the earliest possible 179 time. Nothing herein affects a petitioner’s right to promptly 180 amend any petition, or otherwise be heard in person on any 181 petition consistent with the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. 182 Section 5. Paragraph (b) of subsection (6) of section 183 784.046, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 184 784.046 Action by victim of repeat violence, sexual 185 violence, or dating violence for protective injunction; dating 186 violence investigations, notice to victims, and reporting; 187 pretrial release violations; public records exemption.— 188 (6) 189 (b) Except as provided in s. 90.204, in a hearing ex parte 190 for the purpose of obtaining such temporary injunction, no 191 evidence other than the verified pleading or affidavit shall be 192 used as evidence, unless the respondent appears at the hearing 193 or has received reasonable notice of the hearing. 194 Section 6. Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section 195 784.0485, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 196 784.0485 Stalking; injunction; powers and duties of court 197 and clerk; petition; notice and hearing; temporary injunction; 198 issuance of injunction; statewide verification system; 199 enforcement.— 200 (5) 201 (b) Except as provided in s. 90.204, in a hearing ex parte 202 for the purpose of obtaining such ex parte temporary injunction, 203 evidence other than verified pleadings or affidavits may not be 204 used as evidence, unless the respondent appears at the hearing 205 or has received reasonable notice of the hearing. A denial of a 206 petition for an ex parte injunction shall be by written order 207 noting the legal grounds for denial. If the only ground for 208 denial is no appearance of an immediate and present danger of 209 stalking, the court shall set a full hearing on the petition for 210 injunction with notice at the earliest possible time. This 211 paragraph does not affect a petitioner’s right to promptly amend 212 any petition, or otherwise be heard in person on any petition 213 consistent with the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. 214 Section 7. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 215 61.14, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 216 61.14 Enforcement and modification of support, maintenance, 217 or alimony agreements or orders.— 218 (1) 219 (c) For each support order reviewed by the department as 220 required by s. 409.2564(12)409.2564(11), if the amount of the 221 child support award under the order differs by at least 10 222 percent but not less than $25 from the amount that would be 223 awarded under s. 61.30, the department shall seek to have the 224 order modified and any modification shall be made without a 225 requirement for proof or showing of a change in circumstances. 226 Section 8. Paragraph (e) of subsection (2) of section 227 61.1814, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 228 61.1814 Child Support Enforcement Application and Program 229 Revenue Trust Fund.— 230 (2) With the exception of fees required to be deposited in 231 the Clerk of the Court Child Support Enforcement Collection 232 System Trust Fund under s. 61.181(2)(b) and collections 233 determined to be undistributable or unidentifiable under s. 234 409.2558, the fund shall be used for the deposit of Title IV-D 235 program income received by the department. Each type of program 236 income received shall be accounted for separately. Program 237 income received by the department includes, but is not limited 238 to: 239 (e) Fines imposed under ss. 409.256(7)(b), 409.2464(8) 240409.2564(7), and 409.2578; and 241 Section 9. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 242 61.30, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 243 61.30 Child support guidelines; retroactive child support.— 244 (1) 245 (c) For each support order reviewed by the department as 246 required by s. 409.2564(12)409.2564(11), if the amount of the 247 child support award under the order differs by at least 10 248 percent but not less than $25 from the amount that would be 249 awarded under this section, the department shall seek to have 250 the order modified and any modification shall be made without a 251 requirement for proof or showing of a change in circumstances. 252 Section 10. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.