Bill Text: NH HB1647 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended

New Hampshire House Bill 1647 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relative to the calculation of child support.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-04-21 - Refer to Interim Study, Motion Adopted, Voice Vote; 04/21/2022; Senate Journal 9 [HB1647 Detail]

Download: New_Hampshire-2022-HB1647-Amended.html

HB 1647-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE

16Feb2022... 0566h

31Mar2022... 1171h

2022 SESSION

22-2221

07/05

HOUSE BILL 1647-FN

AN ACT relative to the calculation of child support.

SPONSORS: Rep. Abrami, Rock. 19; Rep. Yokela, Rock. 33; Rep. Kofalt, Hills. 4

COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law

-----------------------------------------------------------------

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill revises the child support guideline percentages, defines a shared parenting plan, establishes a new formula for the calculation of child support in cases involving shared parenting plans, and permits the court to modify the presumptive child support amount as justice and the best interest of the child may require.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

16Feb2022... 0566h

31Mar2022... 1171h 22-2221

07/05

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two

AN ACT relative to the calculation of child support.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Child Support Guidelines; Definition of Self-Support Reserve. Amend RSA 458-C:2 to read as follows:

458-C:2 Definitions. In this chapter:

I. "Adjusted gross income" means gross income, less:

(a) Court-ordered or administratively ordered support actually paid to others, for adults or children.

(b) Fifty percent of actual self-employment tax paid.

(d) Actual state income taxes paid.

(e) Amounts actually paid by the obligor for allowable child care expenses or the medical support obligation for the minor children to whom the child support order applies.

I-a. "Allowable child care expenses" means actual work-related child care expenses for the children to whom the order applies and includes necessary work-related education and training costs.

I-b. "Parent's adjusted gross income" means the adjusted gross income less standard deductions published on an annual basis by the department of health and human services and based on federal Internal Revenue Service withholding table amounts for federal income tax, F.I.C.A., and Medicare, which an employer withholds from the monthly income of a single person who has claimed a withholding allowance for 2 people.

II. "Child support obligation" means the proportion of total support obligation which the obligor parent is ordered to pay in money to the obligee parent as child support.

III. "Court" means issuing authority, including the office of fair hearings, department of health and human services, having jurisdiction to issue a child support order.

IV. "Gross income" means all income from any source, whether earned or unearned, including, but not limited to, wages, salary, commissions, tips, annuities, social security benefits, trust income, lottery or gambling winnings, interest, dividends, investment income, net rental income, self-employment income, alimony, business profits, pensions, bonuses, and payments from other government programs (except public assistance programs, including aid to families with dependent children, aid to the permanently and totally disabled, supplemental security income, food stamps, and general assistance received from a county or town), including, but not limited to, workers' compensation, veterans' benefits, unemployment benefits, and disability benefits; provided, however, that no income earned at an hourly rate for hours worked, on an occasional or seasonal basis, in excess of 40 hours in any week shall be considered as income for the purpose of determining gross income; and provided further that such hourly rate income is earned for actual overtime labor performed by an employee who earns wages at an hourly rate in a trade or industry which traditionally or commonly pays overtime wages, thus excluding professionals, business owners, business partners, self-employed individuals and others who may exercise sufficient control over their income so as to recharacterize payment to themselves to include overtime wages in addition to a salary. In addition, the following shall apply:

(a) The court, in its discretion, may consider as gross income the difference between the amount a parent is earning and the amount a parent has earned in cases where the parent voluntarily becomes unemployed or underemployed, unless the parent is physically or mentally incapacitated.

(b) The income of either parent's current spouse shall not be considered as gross income to the parent unless the parent resigns from or refuses employment or is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, in which case the income of the spouse shall be imputed to the parent to the extent that the parent had earned income in his or her usual employment.

(c) The court, in its discretion, may order that child support based on one-time or irregular income be paid when the income is received, rather than be included in the weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly child support calculation. Such support shall be based on the applicable percentage of net income.

IV-a. "Medical support obligation" means the obligation of either or both parents to provide health care coverage for a dependent child, whether in the form of private health insurance or public health care, and/or to pay a monetary sum toward the cost of health care coverage provided by a public entity, parent, or other person.

V. "Minimum support order" means an order of support equal to $50 per month, unless the court determines that a lesser amount is appropriate under the particular circumstances of the case.

VI. "Net income" means the total of the combined parent's adjusted gross income [parents' combined adjusted gross income less standard deductions published on an annual basis by the department of health and human services and based on federal Internal Revenue Service withholding table amounts for federal income tax, F.I.C.A., and Medicare, which an employer withholds from the monthly income of a single person who has claimed a withholding allowance for 2 people.

(a) Federal income tax;

(b) F.I.C.A].

VI-a. "Reasonable medical support obligation" means the amount established under RSA 458-C:3, V.

VII. "Obligor" means the parent [responsible for the payment of child support under the terms of a child support order] or person for which the child support obligation calculation results in a negative number.

VIII. "Obligee" means the parent or person [who receives the payment of child support under the terms of the child support order] for which the child support obligation calculation results in a positive number.

VIII-a. "Parental support obligation" means the [proportional amount of the total support obligation allocated to each parent under RSA 458-C:3, II(b) and (c)] resulting amount of the child support obligation calculation of the obligee which is, also, the absolute value of the resulting amount of the child support obligation calculation of the obligor.

IX. "Percentage" means the numerical figure that is applied to net income to determine the amount of child support.

X. "Self-support reserve" means 115 percent of the federal poverty guideline for a single person living alone, as determined annually by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

XI. "Total support obligation" means net income multiplied by the appropriate percentage of combined net income devoted to child support derived from RSA 458-C:3.

XII. "Child support obligation calculation" means the parent's household responsibility minus the parent's financial responsibility.

XIII. "Household responsibility" means the parent's household responsibility percentage multiplied by the total support obligation.

XIV. "Household responsibility percentage" means the percentage of household responsibility designated by the parenting plan.

XV. "Financial responsibility" means parent's financial responsibility percentage multiplied by total support obligation.

XVI. "Financial responsibility percentage" means the parent's adjusted gross income divided by the net income.

2 Child Support Guidelines; Child Support Formula. RSA 458-C:3, I(a) is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

(a) The child support guidelines shall be based on the following:

Percent of Combined Net Income Devoted to Child Support

$44,000 or less 22 percent 34 percent 42 percent 45 percent

$55,000 21 33 40 43

$66,000 20 30 36 39

$77,000 18 28 33 36

$88,000 17 25 30 33

$110,000 16 25 30 32

$121,000 16 24 28 30

$132,000 15 22 27 29

$176,000 13 20 24 26

$176,001 or more 13 20 24 26

3 Child Support Guidelines; Child Support Formula. RSA 458-C:3, II is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

II.(a) The obligee's allowable child care expenses or medical support obligation expenses shall be deducted from the adjusted gross income of the obligee.

(b) All child support obligations calculated pursuant to this chapter shall be rounded to the nearest whole dollar.

4 Child Support Guidelines; Child Support Formula. RSA 458-C:3, IV(c) is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

(c) If subparagraphs (a) or (b) are not applicable, then the court shall order the child support obligation of the obligor to be the parental support obligation calculated by this chapter.

5 New Paragraph; Adjustments to the Application of the Guidelines Under Special Circumstances; Modification of Child Support as Justice and The Best Interest of the Child May Require. Amend RSA 458-C:5 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:

III. Nothing in this section shall preclude a court from modification of the presumptive child support order as justice and the best interest of the child may require.

6 Repeal. The following are repealed:

I. RSA 458-C:5, I(h)(1), relative to adjustments to the child support guidelines due to equal or approximately equal parenting residential responsibility.

II. RSA 458-C:5, I(h)(2)(B), relative to adjustments to the child support guidelines due to lower fixed costs resulting from equal or approximately equal residential responsibility.

7 Applicability. RSA 458-C as amended by this act shall apply to any child support order issued on or after January 1, 2023. RSA 458-C as amended by this act shall not apply to a valid child support order in effect on the effective date of this act until the next scheduled review hearing under RSA 458-C:7, or as otherwise agreed by the parties. This act shall not constitute a substantial change in circumstances for purposes of RSA 458-C:7. By January 1, 2026, all existing child support orders shall be subject to the provisions of this act.

8 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2023.

LBA

22-2221

Amended 3/15/22

HB 1647-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE (AMENDMENT #2022-0566h)

AN ACT relative to the calculation of child support.

FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ ] Local [ ] None


	Estimated Increase / (Decrease)
STATE:	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024	FY 2025
Appropriation	$0	$0	$0	$0
Revenue	$0	$0	$0	$0
Expenditures	$0	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase	Indeterminable Increase
Funding Source:	[ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other

METHODOLOGY:

This bill makes certain changes to the state's child support guidelines, including the following:

Changes the definition of "net income" to mean the total of the combined parents' adjusted gross income.
Amends RSA 458-C:2, X by increasing the "self-support reserve" from 115 to 150 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) for a single person living alone. Based on the 2022 FPL of $13,590, the state's self-support reserve would increase from $15,628 to $20,384. Because the self-support reserve is the threshold for minimum support orders of $50 per month pursuant to statute (RSA 458-C:2, V), the Department anticipates an indeterminable increase in such orders, as well as a corresponding increase in families requiring new or additional public assistance.
Adds language to RSA 458-C:5 allowing, but not requiring, courts to modify presumptive child support orders "such as justice and the best interest of the child may require."
Revises the current child support adjustment process by repealing RSA 458-C:5, I(h)(1), relative to adjustments due to equal or approximately equal residential responsibility, and RSA 458-C:5, I(h)(2)(B), relative to adjustments due to lower fixed costs resulting from equal or approximately equal residential responsibility.
Amends the child support guideline percentages used to calculate child support as set forth in RSA 458-C:3, I(a). Currently, child support guidelines are based on the following percentage of combined net income devoted to child support:

No. of Children: 1 2 3 4 or more

$15,000 or less 25.6 percent 35.5 percent 42.5 percent 45 percent

$25,000 25 35 42 44.5

$35,000 24 33.5 40.5 43

$50,000 23 31.5 38 40.5

$60,000 22 30.5 36.5 39

$70,000 21.5 30 36 38.5

$80,000 21 29 35 37.5

$90,000 21 28.5 34.5 37

$100,000 20 27.5 33 35.5

$125,000 or more 19 26 31 33.5

The bill would amend the child support guidelines to the following:

No. of Children: 1 2 3 4 or more

$44,000 or less 22 percent 34 percent 42 percent 45 percent

$55,000 21 33 40 43

$66,000 20 30 36 39

$77,000 18 28 33 36

$88,000 17 25 30 33

$110,000 16 25 30 32

$121,000 16 24 28 30

$132,000 15 22 27 29

$176,000 13 20 24 26

$176,001 or more 13 20 24 26

The Department states that the impact of the above changes is indeterminable. The Department notes, however, that the revised percentages in (5) above reduce the percentage of income that is to be devoted to child support. The Department anticipates that the resulting decreased child support payments may have the effect of more families seeking aid through various other state and local assistance programs. In addition, the Department states that its ability to recover public assistance expenditures in cases where child support is assigned to the Department will be negatively impacted.

The Judicial Branch states that the bill will likely result in additional litigation in certain instances in which child support would be reduced by the new guidelines. This will result in additional judicial and staff resources directed to marital cases, as well as an increase in the work for judges, case managers, and mediators who assist parties in determining child support. The precise fiscal impact is indeterminable.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of Health and Human Services and Judicial Branch