From Grant-Funded Study to Enduring Practice: How Agencies in the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt Demonstration Continued Their Work After Research Ended
The Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) grant tested the application of procedural justice principles to child support enforcement, specifically to situations where a parent was about to be referred for a contempt action. This paper discusses the decisions grantees made about continuing to use the principles after the end of the grant period. All…
Read MoreElevating Family Input in TANF and Child Support Programs: Resources for Program Staff, Leaders, and Families (final pre-pilot version)
Getting customer feedback is often critical when making program improvements. Both the TANF and child support programs can benefit from seeking input from the families they serve. The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) funded the TANF and Child Support Moving Forward: Further Incorporating Family Input study to explore approaches to gathering input from…
Read MoreIn re Parentage of W.L. and G.L. (Kansas 2023)
A judgment entered by a court with proper jurisdiction is final and not subject to collateral attack. In this case, a stepparent filed to establish parentage of children several months after the district court adjudicated another person’s parentage. The stepparent claimed presumptions of parentage under K.S.A. 2021 Supp. 23-2208(a)(3)(A), (C), and (a)(4). The legal parents,…
Read MoreTucker v. Tucker (Wyoming 2023)
Wyoming statute requires a child support order be based on specific financial information. This case has a long procedural history. The mother and father divorced and child support was ordered in the final decree. The State filed to modify support in 2017. The district court entered a temporary order modifying support in 2018. In 2021,…
Read MoreManley v. Manley (Mississippi 2023)
A parent must provide clear and convincing evidence in order to receive credit for payments made outside of the terms of a child support order. The mother filed a contempt action against the father for failure to pay child support. The father testified he had paid for the children’s expenses including car payments, tags, car…
Read More2022 Employer Symposium Report
This report highlights the work done during the 2022 Employer Symposium, held as part of the 2022 National Council of Child Support Directors Conference. During the Symposium, child support professionals and employers worked together on improved communication and processes. Topics for discussion included lump sum reporting and withholding, income withholding orders and non-iv-d orders, the…
Read MoreEnsuring Families Receive Child Support Payments
This fact sheet is part of the Centering Child Well-Being in Child Support Policy series from the Ascend at the Aspen Institute and Good+Foundation. This fact sheet gives examples of state policies that direct support directly to families rather than the government. Research shows that families use this support to pay for essentials such as food and clothing and non-custodial parents actually pay support when they know it goes directly to their families. Ultimately, both the families and the child support program benefit from family pass-though and distribution policies.
Read MoreCentering Child Well-Being in Child Support Policy
The child support program has been fostering a culture change for the past few years from a program of strict enforcement to one that puts child well-being at its center. This paper frames a toolkit which explores recommended policies and practices to support the culture change. The toolkit includes information on family distribution, reducing arrears, right-sizing orders, income supports, family stabilization, and justice. The framing paper considers the importance of fathers, the history of the program, the effect of traditional policies, and the advantages of a realistic and evidence-based approach to program policy.
Read MoreCentering Child Well-Being in Child Support Policy
Child support policies should be designed to maximize child well-being. This brief, part of the Centering Child Well-Being in Child Support Policy series, examines policies to increase the child support that goes to families, remove barriers to payment, increase job retention, support father engagement, and encourage co-parenting.
Read MoreMarquis v. Marquis (Wyoming 2020)
Evidence must support a parent’s request to exclude business expenses from net income. The parent seeking to deduct the business expense has the burden of proof. The father filed to modify custody, visitation, and support, and the mother responded with a petition to modify support. The parents settled all matters except support. They agreed to…
Read MoreHenson v. Carosella (Nebraska 2020)
Child support should be based on parent’s current earnings. The father appealed the child support provision of the final divorce decree. He argued the court’s determination of his income ignored evidence of his actual earnings. The father, an apprentice steamfitter, was about to be qualified as a journeyman. He worked more than 40 hours per…
Read MoreState ex rel. Gray v. Daugherty (Tennessee 2020)
A motion to alter or amend a judgment must be supported with evidence at trial. The State filed a motion for relief from an arrears judgment alleging that the father had been given credit for a payment made to the mother by an NCP on a different case. At the hearing, the State argued in…
Read MoreSekik v. Abdelnabi (Tennessee 2020)
When evidence supports the determination of a parent’s income, it will not be overturned as an abuse of discretion. In this divorce case, the trial court initially set support in a temporary parenting plan entered in 2012. At the time, the parents had four minor children. In the final decree, entered in 2019, the trial…
Read MoreBenjamin M. v. Jeri S. (Nebraska 2020)
An unrescinded and unchallenged acknowledgement of paternity is a legal finding of parentage. The parents had two children, and the father has signed an acknowledgement of paternity immediately following the birth of both children. Years later, the father filed to establish paternity, custody, support, and parenting time. He subsequently amended the complaint to take out…
Read MoreIn re MF (Kansas 2020)
A same-sex partner, who didn’t give birth to a child, can be recognized as a parent using K.S.A. 2019 Supp. 23-2208(a)(4) when the child’s birth parent consented to shared parenting at the time of the child’s birth. This case came before the Supreme Court on appeal from lower court decisions denying a same-sex partner parentage…
Read MoreIn re W.L. and G.L. (Kansas 2020)
The unmarried partner of a same sex couple can be recognized as a legal parent under K.S.A. 2019 Supp. 23-2208(a)(4) presumption of maternity. The appellant filed to establish parentage of the twins born to her same-sex partner. The district court denied the petition, which the court of appeals upheld. The Supreme Court reversed. An unmarried…
Read MoreEmployment Effects of the Earned Income Tax Credit: Taking the Long View
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is tax credit meant to lift families out of poverty. It provides a tax credit to workers based on earnings and household size. Since its inception in 1975, it has been expanded five times. This paper examines each individual expansion in depth and studies the expansions as a group…
Read MoreWorking Toward a Resolution Facilitating Dialogue Between Parents Using Principles of Procedural Justice
The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) funded the Procedural Justice Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) grant to explore the application of procedural justice principles to enforcing child support orders. The grant targets noncustodial parents who are about to be referred for contempt. This brief explores the use of case conferences to develop a case…
Read MoreSommer v. Sommer (Nebraska 2020)
Child support payments should be set according to the guidelines. A deviation is appropriate if application of the guidelines is unjust or inappropriate. In this modification action, the mother appealed the court’s order requiring her to pay child support. She argued husband’s trial testimony showed he agreed to a downward deviation so that she wouldn’t…
Read MoreBilderback-Vess v. Vess (Nebraska 2020)
A finding of contempt in a child support case requires willful disobedience, which is a factual determination. It must be impossible for a parent to pay support. The district court found the father in contempt for failure to child support and alimony. The father’s business failed, and he stopped making support payments. A portion of…
Read MoreState v. Sands (Kansas 2020)
A motion to set aside a default judgment of paternity must be filed within a reasonable time. In 2014, a default paternity order established the father’s support obligation. He notified the district court of his intent to have the order set aside but never filed anything. He paid a small amount of support before he…
Read MoreIn re Lask (Kansas 2020)
The terms of the order will control what is considered an uninsured medical expense. These parents were operating under the terms of a modified divorce decree which divided uninsured medical expenses proportionately between them. The father, who earned significantly more, paid the bigger share. A child incurred significant bills due to stays in treatment. The…
Read MoreIn re Marriage of Gronlie (Kansas 2020)
Orders modifying child support are retroactive to the first day of the month following the filing of the motion to modify. The terms of the parents’ divorce decree set support for two children at a base amount and ordered the father to pay an additional percentage of his income if he earned more than $400,000.…
Read MoreBaumann v. Baumann (Mississippi 2020)
A parent must plead for child support. This puts the other parent on notice of the support claim. In this case, the final divorce decree ordered the father to pay back child support starting January 2015. The father filed a motion for new trial or, alternatively to amend the judgment with respect to the back…
Read MoreIn re Marriage of Poggi (Kansas 2020)
A district court’s decision has the discretion to apply the extended income formula for child support and findings are not required. In this high-income case, there were three child support orders: temporary, final judgement, and in a post-trial memorandum order. In the final judgment, the district court calculated support using the extended income formula and…
Read MoreIn the Matter of the Paternity of AAE, TE v. Wy. Dep’t of Family Services (Wyoming 2020)
A nonparty has no standing to participate in an action. A court can’t deny a petition to establish paternity once a genetic test is completed and the results meet the statutory threshold. The Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS) filed to terminate the parental rights of the mother, the child’s presumed father, and the child’s…
Read MoreKnipper v. Enfinger (Tennessee 2020)
When ordering retroactive support, a trial court can deviate from the presumptive support amount but must make the statutorily required findings to support the deviation. The mother appealed a trial court order that denied her request for support retroactive to the child’s birth. The appellate court reversed the trial court’s order and remanded for additional…
Read MoreState on behalf of Elijah K. v. Marceline K. (Nebraska 2020)
When a paternity action is brought by the state on behalf of a child, retroactive support can go back to the birth of the child. The right to retroactive support belongs to the child. The mother appealed an order of the district court setting current child support but denying her request for support retroactive to…
Read MoreWebb v. State of Wyoming (Wyoming 2020)
When a parent agrees to an amount of child support, the parent then has no grounds to later argue the order was unconstitutional. The father appealed an order of the district court denying his request to modify his $50 child support order. The initial divorce decree set the child support at the statutory minimum of…
Read MoreState v. Andreasen and Henley (Nebraska 2020)
A deviation in the amount of presumptive child support is allowed when applying the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate. Any deviation must be in the child’s best interests. The mother appealed an order denying her request to move out of state with the child, granting physical custody to the child to father, and ordering…
Read MoreMadrigal v. Madrigal (Kansas 2020)
The decision to apply the extended income formula is discretionary. A district court entered an order increasing the father’s child support obligation and ordering sanctions against him for failing to disclose a material increase in his income. The district court applied the extended income formula to determine support. The father appealed arguing the order lacked…
Read MoreGriffin v. Griffin (Tennessee 2020)
The trial court’s determination of child support will be reviewed for an abuse of discretion. The father appealed a decree of divorce awarding primary custody of the children to the mother, dividing the marital estate, and calculating support. Specific to support, the father argued the trial court didn’t calculate each parent’s income correctly. The appellate…
Read MoreState Strategies for Improving Child Support Outcomes for Incarcerated Parents
Right-sizing child support orders has been a big point of discussion for child support. This includes appropriate orders for parents who are incarcerated. The federal office of child support passed new rules in 2016 that require notice to parents who will be incarcerated for more than 180 days of their right to a request a…
Read MoreWerner v. Werner (Nebraska 2020)
To modify a support order, a parent must show a material change in circumstances that occurred after the entry of the latest order and that wasn’t contemplated upon entry of the order. The Nebraska order at issue in this case involved a split custody arrangement. The older child lived with the father, and the younger…
Read MoreHobbs v. Golden (Nebraska 2020)
Evidence must support the amount of income that a court attributes to a parent. The mother filed to modify custody and child support for one child. Specific to the child support issue, the father was a plumber. He testified that he earned an hourly wage or commissions, whichever was higher. A paystub entered into evidence…
Read MoreChalmers v. Burrough (Kansas 2020)
A parent must substantially comply with the requirements in the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) to register an out-of-state order for enforcement and modification. The father filed to register and modify a Florida child support order in Kansas. The father didn’t attach a copy of the Florida order, which was required in the statute.…
Read MoreCadigan v. Sullivan (Mississippi 2020)
Parents will be held to their extra-judicial agreements regarding child support. A Florida divorce decree awarded physical custody of the child to the father and set the mother’s child support. Several years later, the parents made an extra-judicial agreement that they would share custody of the child and not exchange support. The parties moved to…
Read MoreIn Interest of EQ and JQ (Colorado 2020)
Only one court can set child support. The parents had two separate legal proceedings going on at the same time – one in juvenile court and a domestic relations proceeding. The juvenile court entered an order accepting the parents parenting responsibility agreement. Part of the stipulation was an agreement that child support would be addressed…
Read MoreWho Is at Risk for Contempt of Court for Child Support Noncompliance?
The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement funded the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) demonstration grant to study the effect of applying procedural justice principles to child support cases. Specifically, the grant studied NCPs with the ability to pay but were about to be referred for contempt due to nonpayment. This report analyzes the…
Read MoreToussaint v. King (North Carolina 2020)
In a civil contempt hearing, the trial court must find that the parent willfully failed to comply with the support order and has the present ability to pay any purge condition. The parents in this case had a long history of litigation over child support. In this appeal, the father appealed an order finding him…
Read MoreTyler F. v. Sara P. (Nebraska 2020)
A properly executed paternity acknowledgement conclusively established paternity and cannot be set aside without a showing of fraud, duress, or material mistake of fact. The Nebraska paternity statutes do not currently account for multiple legal parents for a child. This case is the latest appeal in an ongoing paternity action. On remand from Tyler F.…
Read MoreFoy v. Kite (North Carolina 2020)
In a child support case, if the record clearly supports the income calculation, an appellate court will not disturb the trial court’s determination. An order for retroactive child support must include findings as to the reasonableness of the expenses for which reimbursement is sought. The mother and father, who were not married, had one child.…
Read MoreIsrael v. Israel (North Carolina 2020)
Food stamps, or electronic food and nutrition benefits, are not income for child support purposes. The parents in this case divorced, and the father was ordered to pay support for their six children. The parents filed competing motions for contempt and to modify child support. The court modified support. The father appealed. He argued the…
Read MorePrice v. Biggs (North Carolina 2020)
In a civil contempt proceeding, the burden is on the moving party to prove contempt. The trial court must address each contempt element in the order. The mother filed a motion to modify child support. At the first hearing, the mother presented her evidence. At the close of her case, the trial court didn’t hear…
Read MorePiling on Debt: The Intersections Between Child Support Arrears and Legal Financial Obligations
This article examines the whys and hows of child support arrears as an unmanageable debt. It takes a special look at the child support arrears that accumulate during a parent’s incarceration. The article identifies several factors that contribute to the build-up of arrears including support orders that the parent can’t reasonably pay and enforcement measures…
Read MoreIn re Easton (Tennessee 2020)
This appeal turns on the procedural differences between an action for dependency/neglect as opposed to an action for a paternity/visitation. The biological father of this child started this action by filing, pro se, a dependency/neglect petition in juvenile court, in which he clearly pled for custody of the child or alternatively, visitation without an obligation…
Read MoreOlander v. McPhillips (Nebraska 2020)
A hearing transcript is required when there is an evidentiary hearing. The mother and father, who were not married, had a child. A court order established paternity and addressed child support and visitation. The father filed to modify the paternity order. After several hearings, the trial court modified several provisions of the order, including reducing…
Read MoreState v. Ian K. (Nebraska 2020)
The state is not authorized to bring a paternity action for a child who is not born out-of-wedlock. The mother and husband were married and had a child. Genetic testing later proved the husband wasn’t the child’s biological father. The State filed a petition to establish paternity for the biological father and effectively disestablish the…
Read MoreVan Fleet v. Guyette (Wyoming 2020)
A parent can’t disregard a statutory requirement then complain about its outcome. This matter came before the court on a modification of custody. With respect to child support, the court ordered both parents to file a financial affidavit. The mother filed hers along with supporting information. The father didn’t, and the court found him in…
Read MorePeople in Interest of S.C.
The section of Colorado statute which adopted the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) gives parties the right to testify by phone. The state of Missouri asked the state of Colorado to establish paternity with respect to the minor child. The father lived in Colorado. The mother had an outstanding warrant for her arrest in…
Read MoreIvory v. Albert (Mississippi 2020)
A child support obligation may be terminated due to a child’s clear and extreme actions. The father filed to end his support obligation to the child. He alleged the child would not see him and didn’t want a relationship with him. The trial court ended the support. The mother appealed. The appellate court reversed the…
Read MoreLasu v. Lasu (Nebraska 2020)
A documented travel expense may qualify as a deviation from presumptive child support if it is in the child’s best interests. In this divorce case, the court awarded the mother primary physical custody of the child. The mother lived Nebraska, and the father in California. The district court calculated support and deviated from presumptive support…
Read MoreIn re Guha (Kansas 2020)
The determination of a parent’s income from a subchapter S corporation is fact specific. The court will consider the company’s earnings history, ownership share, and the parent’s control over distribution and retention of the net profits. In this high-income case, the father’s business was organized as a S Corporation. In this modification action, the trial…
Read MoreIn re Goodpasture (Kansas 2020)
The trial court doesn’t necessarily lose jurisdiction to enforce a child support order when one parent moves from the state. The parents divorced, and the divorce decree ordered the father to pay support for their three children. The mother assigned her right to child support to the Kansas Department of Children and Families in 2018.…
Read MoreAbraham v. Abraham (Tennessee 2020)
A request for an upward deviation for extracurricular activities is discretionary. A parent must support the request with evidence of the expenses. This post-divorce action came before the court on several grounds. Specific to child support, the mother requested an upward deviation in child support for the children’s extracurricular activities. The trial court denied the…
Read MoreDixon v. Olmstead (Mississippi 2020)
Proof of a substantial change of circumstances isn’t required when a IV-D agency petitions for a modification under the three-year review statute. However, the record must contain evidence of the parent’s income. The father filed to terminate support and his parental rights to a minor child. The Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) filed a…
Read MoreThompson v. Thompson (Nebraska 2020)
To receive credit for health insurance premiums, a parent must provide specific information as to the cost attributable to the child. The father filed to modify custody and support. After hearing, the district court modified child support based on the birth of the father’s first child but didn’t give credit for an unborn child. The…
Read MoreChild Support Enforcement-Led Employment Services for Noncustodial Parents
This report examines the issues relative to providing employment services for noncustodial parents (NCP) through the child support program (CSE). The report acknowledges the link between employed NCPs and the ability of the CSE program to income withhold, the most effective tool for collecting child support payments.
Read MoreStory Behind the Numbers: Millennials in the Child Support Program
Millennials are on the verge of passing the Baby Boomers as the country’s largest adult generation. This report uses data from the Federal Case Registry and Debtor File and survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics to analyze the role of the millennials in the child support program.
Read MoreIn re Ray (Kansas 2020)
The right to appeal is statutory, and without a basis for the appeal, it will be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. The mother and father filed for divorce. A temporary order set child support. Various proceedings ensued around custody for the child. The mother filed to modify the temporary support order, which was denied, and…
Read MoreWilliamson v. Williamson (Mississippi 2020)
Chancellors have discretion on the determination of adjusted gross income (AGI) for child support. As long as there is no abuse of that discretion, the child support determination will not be overturned on appeal. The father appealed the final divorce order arguing the chancery court improperly calculated his AGI. The court of appeals upheld the…
Read MoreYoung v. Air Masters Mechanical Inc, (Mississippi 2020)
If a parent’s rights to a child have been terminated, that child is not considered a dependent under the Workers’ Compensation Act. The decedent died in the course of his work. He left no survivors. The mother petitioned the Commission to pay child support arrears from the decedent’s workers’ compensation death benefits. The decedent was…
Read MoreAccess and Visitation Program Update FY 2018
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 provided funding for the Access and Visitation program in 54 states and territories. Any program under this grant is intended to promote safe visitation between children and their parents. This report summarizes the key takeaways provided by the grant recipients for FY 2018 in the…
Read MoreJones v. Jones (Nebraska 2020)
A child support worksheet is required regardless of the amount of support. In this appeal of a custody modification, the Nebraska Supreme Court addressed an issue that wasn’t squarely before it. The trial court granted a father’s request to change physical custody of a child and ordered a new support obligation for the mother. A…
Read MoreKrohn v. Krohn (Mississippi 2020)
A court must approve any custody change. Without a court order, there may be no right to support. In this divorce, the mother was awarded primary custody of the child. The father was ordered to pay support and alimony. Post-divorce litigation regarding custody and child support began almost immediately. The father lost his high paying…
Read MoreKleoudis v. Kleoudis (North Carolina 2020)
For parents with incomes above the guidelines, child support will be determined on a case-by-case basis. The child support amount should be based on the amount of support necessary to meet the child’s reasonable needs in light of the parents’ estates, earnings, and standard of living. In this divorce case, the parents had incomes above…
Read MoreFrost v. Monahan (Nebraska 2020)
Nebraska statute provides for an abatement of child support during extended visitation but the trial court has discretion over its application. The mother and father had a child and shared parenting time under a Stipulated Agreement. The father filed to modify custody, and the mother counterclaimed, requesting permission to move out of state. The trial…
Read MoreYbarra v. Ybarra (Nebraska 2020)
State and federal law control the amount of money that can be withheld for child support. The father, who owed child support arrears and interest, requested a modification of the amount of money being withheld from his social security. He also requested that the interest be removed. He argued that the amount withheld placed him…
Read MoreKimzey v. Kimzey (Wyoming 2020)
To modify a stipulated child support order, there must be a substantial change of circumstances in addition to the required change in the support amount. The parents divorced and in the decree stipulated to a child support amount lower than the guideline amount. Following the mother’s move to Arizona, the father filed to modify custody…
Read MoreGuthard v. Guthard (Nebraska 2020)
Determining income for child support for a parent who is a shareholder in a corporation is a fact specific determination. The mother filed to modify child support alleging that the father’s income had increased substantially. The father was a 50 percent shareholder in an S corporation. The mother argued the Father’s child support income should…
Read MoreBornhorst v. Bornhorst (Nebraska 2020)
Distributions to corporate shareholders intended to cover tax liability are not necessarily income for child support purposes. The parents filed for divorce. The mother worked for her family’s construction company. To determine her income for child support, the court used the wages reported on her W-2 form but didn’t include other distributions she received as…
Read MoreIn re Shockman (Kansas 2020)
The trial court has the authority to manage legal proceedings, which can include delegation of child support matter to a court trustee. The father filed to modify the custody and support provisions of a divorce decree. The scheduling order indicated that the child support would be referred to the court trustee. The trial court heard…
Read MoreUsing Principles of Procedural Justice to Engage Disconnected Parents
Engaging parents with the child support program is hard. The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement funded the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) grant to explore ways to integrate procedural justice principles into child support enforcement. This brief explores ways that the principles were used to improve parent engagement with the program. There are…
Read MorePumroy v. Sisco (Mississippi 2020)
A child’s emancipation is grounds for modification of a child support order. The mother and father, who had three children, divorced. The father was ordered to pay support for the three children. The father was ordered to pay support for their three children. This order was subsequently modified, and the child support provision stated that…
Read MoreEdwards v. Edwards (Wyoming)
A trial court has wide discretion to determine a parent’s status as voluntarily underemployed. Absent an abuse of discretion, the decision won’t be overturned on appeal. The parents filed for divorce. They had four children. During their marriage, they owned a lawn care business. After their separation, the father closed the business and took a…
Read MoreWilder v. Wilder (Tennessee 2020)
An order that doesn’t adjudicate all of the issues before the court is not final and not ready for appeal. The parents in this case filed competing petitions to modify child support for their three children. The father, the payor, requested a downward modification, arguing his income had decreased. The mother requested an upward modification…
Read MoreWright v. Wright (Tennessee 2020)
When imputing income to parents, the court can consider factors including education and the reason for any change in employment. The parents filed for divorce. They had one child. The father had a history of high paying jobs, but was working as a part-time consultant at the time of the trial. The court imputed an…
Read MoreCain-Swope v. Swope (Tennessee 2020)
A parent can request a discretion from the child support obligation for extraordinary educational expenses. The parents divorced, and the mother was ordered to pay support. The parents engaged on ongoing litigation. Specific to this appeal, the mother filed to modify support, requesting a deviation from support since she paid for the child’s private school…
Read MoreBest v. Oliver (Mississippi 2020)
To modify a child support order, there must be a material change in circumstances that wasn’t foreseeable when the original order was established. While an increase in a child’s expenses is foreseeable, the amount of the increase is not. The mother and father divorced, and the father was ordered to pay support for their only…
Read MoreJohnson v. Johnson (Wyoming 2020)
Overtime income can’t be considered as part of gross income unless it was earned in the statutory timeframe and is reasonably expected to continue. The mother and father divorced. They had four children. During the 2018 trial, the mother argued the father was voluntarily underemployed. While the parents were married the father regularly worked overtime,…
Read More2019 Employer Symposium Report
At the annual 2019 conference, the National Association of Child Support Directors (NCCSD) brought together a group of child support professionals and employers to discuss ways to improve communication, cooperation, and processes between the program and employers. This report summarizes the discussion and sets out the action items. The goals of the Symposium included, but…
Read MoreMorris v. Powell (North Carolina 2020)
Child support does not end until a child is legally emancipated. A seventeen-year-old child moved out of his mother’s home, and the father stopped paying support. The mother filed a petition for contempt and for a judgment on the arrears. The father filed to terminate support as of the date the child moved out, arguing…
Read MoreKibbe. v. Kibbe (Tennessee 2020)
The court has discretion to craft a child support award that will best support a child with extraordinary medical needs as long as the court considers all available resources. The parents’ initial divorce decree addressed the needs of their special needs child. The mother primarily cared for the child, and the father was granted visitation.…
Read MoreMarriage of Weekes (Colorado 2020)
Statutes operate prospectively unless the language indicates otherwise. A law is unconstitutionally retrospective if it infringes on a vested right. The father filed to modify his child support based on a physical change of custody that happened without a court order. Current Colorado law limits retroactive modification of child support to the five years prior…
Read MoreTools for Better Practices and Better Outcomes: The Behavioral Interventions for Child Support Services (BICS) Project
he federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) funded the Behavioral Interventions for Child Support Services (BICS)demonstration grant to explore the application of behavioral science principles to operational challenges in child support services. This report summarizes the outcomes and lessons learned from each intervention. The eight grantees implemented interventions designed to address barriers to the…
Read MoreWrubluski v. Wrubluski (North Carolina 2020)
A parent can’t modify child support without a court order. The husband and wife divorced, and the wife was granted custody of their children. Two of the children began to live with the father. He began paying half of the support amount. He eventually filed to modify custody and support. Post-divorce litigation ensued. After several…
Read MoreBerens v. Berens (North Carolina 2020)
A court doesn’t abuse its discretion in imputing income to a parent as long as evidence supports the determination. The mother and the father filed for divorce. After several years, the trial court entered an order a final decree, which set support for three children. Both parents appealed the child support provisions. The mother argued…
Read MoreMeetings and Reminders Testing Approaches to Increase Child Support Payments in Colorado
A long-standing issue in the child support program is the lag time between order entry and the first child support payment. It can be attributed to the wait in getting income withholding in place. Many parents don’t realize that not paying during this window can build up arrears. The Colorado Division of Child Support Services…
Read MoreCarter v. Thompson (Nebraska 2020)
The trial court has discretion to determine if a modified child support order will be retroactive. The mother filed to modify child support in February 2016, and the father cross-appealed to modify custody and support. The trial court entered an order on September 28, 2018, increasing the father’s child support retroactive to February 2016. The…
Read MoreDonahoe v. Donahoe (Nebraska 2020)
For self-employed parents, certain expenses may be treated as income for child support. The parents filed for divorce. The father is the sole owner of a business, which is organized as an S-Corporation. For 2016, he reported compensation on his personal tax return, not as a salary on his business return. This meant he wouldn’t…
Read MoreDescher v. Descher (Mississippi 2020)
For parents with high incomes, the child support guidelines allow for a deviation when applying the guidelines isn’t reasonable. The parents filed for divorce. The father owned and/or co-owned businesses that earned millions of dollars in revenue each year. The chancery court determined his monthly adjusted gross income to be $71,377.00. The mother worked for…
Read MoreBryant v. Bryant (Nebraska 2020)
A district court has discretion to when figuring income for a parent who is employed less than full time as long as the evidence supports the calculation. If a parent offers evidence of an obligation to support additional children, it should be at least considered. The mother filed for divorce. The mother and father had…
Read MoreClark v. Clark (Nebraska 2020)
The trial court has discretion over when to make a child support obligation retroactive. The mother and father filed for divorce and entered into an agreement that resolved all issues. For child support, the parents agreed that the mother would receive the tax dependency exception for three years straight instead of retroactive support. The mother…
Read MoreIn re Creagh (Kansas 2019)
If parents agree to a child support arrangement in a marital settlement agreement, it will be enforced as long as the terms are clear and unambiguous. The parents divorced, and a basic child support obligation was set. In the property settlement agreement, the parents agreed that the child support would be offset to pay two…
Read MoreKillinger v. Killinger (Nebraska 2019)
When a parent has a variable income, it is appropriate to use a three-year average to set child support. The father and mother, who had three children, filed for divorce. The father owned his own business, and his income fluctuated from yearly. At trial, he presented evidence of his income from the previous seven years.…
Read MorePope v. Fountain (Mississippi 2019)
In a paternity proceeding, all necessary parties must be joined. The child who was the subject of this case had a presumed and biological father. The biological father filed to establish paternity, and the mother responded. The presumptive father was not joined as a party to the action even though he was ordered to pay…
Read MoreParsons v. Parsons (Tennessee 2019)
A parent must properly plead for a modification otherwise it shouldn’t be considered during a court proceeding. In this post-divorce action, the mother filed for contempt and breach of contract against the father. In their marital dissolution agreement (MDA), the mother was to receive a portion of the father’s supplemental federal retirement benefit. When a…
Read MoreTransforming Colorado’s Child Support Services to a Two-Generation Approach
The Colorado Department of Human Services implemented in a pilot project to change its approach to delivery of child support services from enforcement to multi-generational. This report combines the implementation findings, which have already been released, with the findings of the impact study. The main goal of the project was to direct parents to employment…
Read MoreHodgen v. Hodgen (Nebraska 2019)
A child support abatement will be granted when the parent meets the criteria in the decree. The parents divorced, and the decree contained a provision that allowed the father to abate his child support during June, July, and August as long as he had the children for visitation 28 days or more during the summer.…
Read MorePoole v. Kinslow (Tennessee 2019)
If a court finds a parent voluntarily underemployed, it may use the parent’s earning capacity to calculate child support. In this divorce action, the trial court calculated support using the father’s earning capacity. He was self-employed at the time of trial, but he had earned no income. The father appealed. The court of appeals affirmed.
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