Characteristics of Families Served by the Child Support (IV-D) Program: 2016 U.S. Census Survey Results
This report uses the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau to describe custodial families served by the IV-D program, a federally mandated program that promotes parental responsibility and family self-sufficiency by providing families with child support services.
Read MoreServatius v. Ryals (North Carolina 2018)
Evidence must support a contempt finding, and the order must then contain the specific findings. The mother filed a motion for order to show cause, alleging that the father had failed to pay support. The court issued the order and ordered the father to appear. After hearing, the trial court declined to hold father in…
Read MoreGyger v. Clement (North Carolina 2018)
When registering an order sent from a foreign reciprocating country, notice of a pending hearing is properly sent to the agency that initiated the action. Switzerland requested that North Carolina register a support order. The trial court didn’t register the order. It found that the notice provided to the father of the initial hearing didn’t…
Read MoreHubbard v. Ratliff (Mississippi 2018)
A child who enters the military is considered emancipated and child support stops. In this case, the mother filed a contempt action that alleged the father failed to pay support and to comply with other provisions of the divorce decree. The father counter-petitioned and asserted that the child had emancipated in the spring of 2016.…
Read MoreParticipation in Responsible Fatherhood Programs in the PACT Evaluation: Associations with Father and Program Characteristics
This brief presents new findings on the factors that are associated with fathers’ participation in responsible fatherhood (RF) programs. It is based on data collected for the implementation study of RF programs, which documents how the programs were designed and operated and identifies challenges and promising practices. It uses data from the Parents and Children…
Read MorePeterson v. Peterson (Nebraska 2018)
Alimony shouldn’t be counted as income for child support during initial establishment. The district court entered a final divorce decree, which established child support and alimony. The father requested a new trial. The district court considered his arguments, one of which was to include the alimony award as part of the mother’s monthly income for…
Read MoreState v. McColery (Nebraska 2018)
Appearance bond funds held by a clerk of court are not personal property registered with a county office for purposes of the child support lien statute. An automatic lien does not attach to these funds. A father, who owed child support arrears, was arrested for strangulation. He posted an appearance bond. He hired private counsel…
Read MoreIn re Marriage Heine (Colorado 2018)
When parents voluntarily agree to a change in custody, the statute allows support to be modified back to the date of the change. A court has discretion to terminate or modify support for the obligor and establish support for the new obligor. The parents in this case voluntarily changed custody of their children several times.…
Read MoreMartin v. Hart (Wyoming 2018)
A child support order must state the amount of presumptive support. If the court deviates from the presumptive amount, it must give specific reasons. The father filed to establish paternity, custody, and visitation of the child. In the final order, the court stated it was deviating from presumptive support without giving a presumptive amount. The…
Read MoreBruton v. Bruton (Mississippi 2018)
If a child support award is above the guideline amount, the Court must justify the award. In his case, the original divorce decree required the father to pay support plus day care and 60 percent of the children’s private school tuition and fees. Two years later, the father filed for a modification. The modified order…
Read MorePettersen v. Pettersen (Mississippi 2018)
The court has discretion to set support for the time period before a divorce is filed. If support is set, it can only go back to one year before the filing of the action. The parents in this case filed for divorce. They had three children, two of whom were emancipated, and one who was…
Read MoreOsborn v. Anderson (Kansas 2018)
An annulment order doesn’t revoke a paternity acknowledgment without language to that effect. In this case, the father signed a paternity affidavit knowing that he wasn’t the child’s biological father. The father and mother married, but ended their marriage with a judicial annulment. The annulment order stated no children were born of the marriage. The…
Read MoreKendle v. Kendle (Tennessee 2018)
When determining if it can honor a garnishment notice, an employer has no obligation to consider any garnishments already in place with another employer. The father in this case had two employers. His wages from his primary employer were being garnished when the mother served a garnishment on his secondary employer for fees incurred due…
Read MoreMillen v. Hatter (Tennessee 2018)
The Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) issued an administrative order to garnish the father’s bank account for unpaid child support. In response, the father filed a document titled “Opening Complaint Asking for Injunctive Relief and Restitution for Kevin ‘The King’ Millen.” He served the bank and the TDHS Commissioner. TDHS filed a motion to…
Read MoreCounty of Durham v. Burnette (North Carolina 2018)
Evidence of a parent’s willful refusal to pay a child support order and ability to pay purge conditions must support a contempt order. The father had two child support orders, and the County of Durham initiated contempt proceedings on both orders. The court found him in contempt for failure to pay on both orders and…
Read MoreGordon v. Gordon (Tennessee 2018)
Deviations from presumptive child support must be supported by specific reasons. In this case, the parents agreed to an upward deviation in child support in the initial support order. The deviation was for “the needs of the family, equity of the parties, and best interest of the minor children.” Later, the mother filed a petition…
Read MoreHill v. Hill (North Carolina 2018)
A trial court must be clear about its process in imputing income. The father appealed the court order that denied his request for a modification of child support and found him in contempt. The father was terminated from his high-income job and requested a modification in support. The father was unemployed for almost four years…
Read MoreCrews v. Paysour (North Carolina 2018)
On remand, a trial court may consider new evidence in a child support hearing. If it doesn’t, the findings of fact and conclusions of law in the order must be based on the existing record. The appellate court remanded the initial order in this case for further findings. During the hearing on remand, the trial…
Read MoreBurgess v. Williamson (Mississippi 2018)
A parent cannot challenge the court’s jurisdiction over an initial order in subsequent proceedings. The father, the custodial parent, filed a motion to hold mother in contempt for failure to pay support. The mother filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. The Chancery Court denied the motion and entered an order finding mother…
Read MoreHotz v. Hotz (Nebraska 2018)
The Nebraska child support guidelines exclude alimony from the definition of income for child support purposes. The father appealed a district court order that modified the mother’s support obligation to him and granted her other requested relief. The father argued that his alimony obligation should have counted as income to the mother and that depreciation…
Read MoreDeFacto Parent and Non Parent Child Support Orders
Recently, state laws have recognized this parental right of “care, custody, and control” to opposite sex unmarried couples who bore the child of sex. Even more recently, state laws have recognized this parental right for those who did not engage in sexual intercourse leading to a pregnancy and birth. State laws have also increasingly limited…
Read MoreSimplify, Notify, Modify: Using Behavioral Insights to Increase Incarcerated Parents’ Requests for Child Support Modifications
This report, part of the Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project, presents findings from a behavioral intervention, developed in collaboration with the Washington State Division of Child Support (DCS), to increase the number of incarcerated noncustodial parents in Washington who apply for modifications to reduce the amount of their child support orders. Incarcerated noncustodial…
Read MoreActual Earnings and Payment Outcomes Among Obligors with Imputed Income
Income imputation results in a financial support order, which is necessary to ensure that children receive support from both parents. But what are the payment outcomes in these situations? This report uses the sample of orders from Maryland’s 2011 to 2014 case-level guidelines review to assess outcomes of imputation on payment compliance. It compares obligors…
Read MoreClark v. Clark (Nebraska 2018)
The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) gives a court with proper subject matter and personal jurisdiction the ability to determine a controlling child support order. The father in this case was subject to two child support orders, one from Wisconsin and one from Nebraska. He filed a petition requesting a Nebraska district court vacate…
Read MoreStates Leading the Way: Practical Solutions That Lift Up Children and Families
This is a link to Ascend at The Aspen Institute website where this report can be downloaded. The report “profiles effective solutions from Ascend partners throughout the United States and the work driven by leaders in Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Utah. It contains recommendations on processes that lead to better outcomes…
Read MoreLongitudinal Associations among Child Support Debt, Employment, and Recidivism After Prison
This is a link to an an article that appeared in The Sociological Quarterly posted on the website, Researchgate.net. The abstract is as follows: Recently released prisoners in the U.S. are increasingly facing the burden of financial debt associated with correctional supervision, yet little research has pursued how—theoretically or empirically—the burden of debt might affect…
Read MoreBehavioral Strategies to Increase Engagement in Child Support
A person who comes into the child support office to accept service voluntarily is actively engaging in the child support process. In doing so, the person benefits from reduced fees, a greater voice in the legal process, and a better understanding of the way an order is established. The child support program benefits from increased…
Read More2015 OCSE Annual Report to Congress
This report, published by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, highlights financial and statistical program achievements based on data reported by state and tribal child support agencies. The report includes information on collections, expenditures, paternities and orders established, and other program statistics.
Read MoreThe Safety Net that Works: Improving Federal Programs for Low Income Americans
This document is a compilation of essays, ideas, and policy recommendations authored by individuals with expertise in various federal anti-poverty programs. The author of one of the essays, entitled Empowering Child Support Enforcement to Reduce Poverty, is Robert Doar, Resident Fellow and Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studies, and former IV-D Director of the New York…
Read MoreBuilding Assets for Fathers and Families (BAFF) in Tennessee
Tennessee was one of seven states that received a grant from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement aimed at improving the economic stability of low‐income families in the child support system by engaging noncustodial parents (NCPs) in financial education, savings activity, and asset‐building activities.
Read MoreNudges for Child Support: Applying Behavioral Insights to Increase Collections
The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project, sponsored by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and led by MDRC, uses a behavioral economics lens to examine programs that serve poor and vulnerable families in the…
Read MoreIn re Marriage of Dean (Kansas 2018)
Courts must follow the definition of income found in the guidelines. The mother appealed the district court’s calculation of the father’s gross income. The district court subtracted the amounts the father was paying towards mortgages from his gross monthly income. The Appellate Court reversed the decision. The definition of income is purposefully broad, and the…
Read MoreReid v. Reid (Tennessee 2018)
In order to find a parent underemployed for child support purposes, the court must apply a list of factors. A parent who inflates expenses while downplaying income isn’t necessarily underemployed as defined by statute. The father filed a petition to modify his child support, and the mother responded with a counter-petition for modification of custody…
Read MoreHague Child Support Convention: Judicial Guide
Written specifically for judges, judicial officers, and other court officials, this Guide focuses on the 2008 Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) provisions judges need to apply in Hague Child Support Convention cases. It contains information and procedures about matters common to all applications under the Hague Child Support Convention; recognition and enforcement of an…
Read MoreIntegrating A Two-Generation Approach to Child Support Services: Colorado’s Service Level Approach
In 2013, the Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Child Support Services began a shift in culture toward a family-centered, two-generation (2Gen) approach. As part of this effort, the child support program implemented services across generations within families. This document, prepared for the Colorado Department of Human Services, provides guidance for establishing and implementing…
Read MoreContreras v. Contreras (Tennessee 2018)
A parent who fails to provide insurance as ordered may be liable to reimburse the other parent for the costs of premiums. The father appealed a district court order that ruled against the him on a variety of issues. The order entered judgments against him for arrears and for the cost of medical support premiums…
Read MoreAnderson v. Anderson (Nebraska 2018)
Courts have some flexibility in determining income for child support purposes. The father appealed the court’s determination of his monthly income for child support. The father owned a lawn care business. He testified that he cashed checks and received cash for services that he did not deposit in his bank account. He also testified that…
Read MorePeople in the Interest of D.C.C. (Colorado 2018)
Once a juvenile court declares a child dependent or neglected, the juvenile court has jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to that child, including paternity. The father appealed a juvenile court order dismissing him from a dependency and neglect action. The juvenile court dismissed the father based on a child support court order for non-paternity. The…
Read MoreBaucom v. Vlahos (North Carolina 2018)
A petition to modify a child support order must request specific relief. Otherwise, the terms of the underlying order do not change. The mother appealed a court order denying her request for reimbursement of uncovered medical expenses. The original divorce decree ordered the father to pay a specific percentage of the uncovered medical bills. A…
Read MoreWoodard v. Woodard (Tennessee 2018)
Courts have authority to establish support for a special needs child who is over the age of majority at the time of a divorce as long as the child became disabled before reaching the age of majority. However, if the initial order did not address support, it cannot be established later. The mother appealed a…
Read MoreThe Story Behind the Numbers: Exploring Trends in the Percent of Orders for Zero Dollars
OCSE collects data from state child support agencies on the number of support orders that do not have a dollar support amount, referred to as zero orders. These may reflect different types of orders – medical support only, shared custody, arrears only, or current support with no amount due. Zero orders have been increasing over time…
Read MoreChild Support Resource Guide for State IV-D Directors
This Guide was developed by OCSE as a reference to on-line resources useful to state child support directors, including links to federal laws governing the child support program and key federal regulations and policy documents. It also provides brief overviews of various components of the program. The federal OCSE organization chart is included along with…
Read MoreTribal Child Support Directors’ Resource Guide
The Tribal Child Support Directors Resource Guide was developed by OCSE in collaboration with numerous tribal child support directors. The purpose of this handbook is to help orient new tribal child support directors during their first weeks on the job and to serve as a desk reference for both new and seasoned directors. It provides…
Read MoreShawn E. on behalf of Grace E. v. Diane S. (Nebraska 2018)
A garnishment order is not final unless it requires delivery of the debtor’s property to the creditor. The state of Nebraska initiated a garnishment action against the father’s prison account for arrears and past due medical support. After a hearing, the district court entered an order denying the father’s request for continuance, overruling his objection…
Read MoreIn re Marriage of White (Kansas 2018)
The requirement in the child support guidelines that medical support be addressed includes bills incurred, not only bills paid. The father appealed a district court order dividing medical expenses. He argued the court improperly considered bills presented by the mother for expenses incurred, but not paid. The court of appeals upheld the district court order.…
Read MoreState ex rel. Townsend v. Williamson (Tennessee 2018)
A parent may receive credit against any owed arrears for necessary expenditures, but the suit must be brought within six years of the expense and meet the definition. A parent has an obligation to support a child even in the absence of a valid court order. The father appealed a court order that did not…
Read MoreCampbell v. Campbell (Mississippi 2018)
Modification of a child support order is only appropriate when there is a substantial change of circumstances that was not reasonably anticipated at the time of an agreement. The father appealed an upward modification of his child support. The terms of the original decree included a per child support amount and specified the conditions under…
Read MoreState on behalf of Marcelo K. & Rycki K. v. Ricky K. (Nebraska 2018)
Only final orders are appealable. By final, the order must dispose of all of the issues. Ricky K. was the acknowledged father of two children. The State filed an action to establish support. Ricky filed an answer and cross-claim, alleging he was not the father of one of the children, and requesting joint custody and…
Read MoreKaplan v. Kaplan (North Carolina 2018)
The burden of proof in a child support contempt hearing shifts to the non-paying parent once a court enters an order to appear and show cause. The father appealed a contempt order. He argued he didn’t have the ability to pay the support or the purge condition. The appellate court affirmed the order and found…
Read MoreRobeson County Enforcement Unit v. Harrison (North Carolina 2018)
A substantial change of circumstances must occur for a child support order to be modified. The father appealed an order modifying his support arguing that there was no substantial change of circumstances. His income had increased, but it increased some time ago. In fact, the parties agreed to the previous order, and his income had…
Read MoreSilver v. Silver (Nebraska 2018)
If payment of a child support obligation leaves a parent with a net income below the poverty line, Nebraska courts can consider specific costs related to supporting the child to get the parent back above the line. Supervised visitation is not one of those costs. An award of retroactive support must take into account the…
Read More2017 Preliminary Report
The FY 2017 Preliminary Report provides data for the past five fiscal years reported by state, District of Columbia, and U.S. territory child support programs and includes information on collections, expenditures, paternities, orders established, and other program statistics. The data is used to develop the Annual Report to Congress.
Read MoreState ex rel. Lytle v. Webb (Tennessee 2018)
Adequate findings must support the determination of an arrearage amount. The father appealed an order setting arrears. The arrears were determined in a modification order, but the state filed to alter/amend the arrears amount. The court amended the amount, and father filed to set aside this order. He argued that there was no evidence to…
Read MoreHewitt v. Hewitt (North Carolina 2018)
Competent evidence must support the finding of income for child support purposes. A parent should receive credit for maintaining health insurance for the children. The father appealed the decree of divorce, arguing that the court didn’t properly determine his income and that he should receive credit for paying for the children’s insurance. The court of…
Read MoreState ex rel. Nichols v. Songstad (Tennessee 2018)
Child support cannot be modified without court permission even when the number of children for whom the parent is responsible changes. The parent must file for a modification, provide notice to the other parents, and prove a significant variance. The mother and father were divorced, and the father was ordered to pay support for their…
Read MoreKaiser v. Kaiser (North Carolina 2018)
Findings must support a court’s determination of an asset as income for child support purposes. The mother and the father were divorced, and the trial court set child support. Mother appealed the child support order, arguing that the court incorrectly included capital gains, dividends, and payments from her boyfriend for rent as income. She also…
Read MoreIn re Marriage of Hou and Chu (Kansas 2018)
A court can deviate from the amount of presumptive support as long as findings support the reason for deviation. The divorce decree in this case ordered the father to pay child support, plus half of the children’s extracurricular activities. The father appealed, arguing that an amount for extracurricular activities was included in the guideline calculation.…
Read MoreThe Story Behind the Numbers: Exploring Trends in the Percent of Orders for Zero Dollars
The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement collects data from state child support agencies on the number of support orders that do not have a dollar support amount, referred to as zero orders. These may reflect different types of orders – medical support only, shared custody, arrears only, or current support with no amount due.…
Read MoreIn re Biehl (Kansas 2018)
A paternity order may not be final for appellate purposes if it doesn’t address child support and other matters incident to the paternity establishment. The mother in this case appealed the denial of her motion to set aside a journal entry to paternity. The appellate court found it had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal…
Read MoreHance v. Hance (Tennessee 2018)
The juvenile court has exclusive original jurisdiction over dependency and neglect proceedings including child support. If there is also an open action in chancery court, the jurisdiction of the chancery court is suspended. The mother and father in this case divorced in chancery court. A few months later, the father filed to modify the parenting…
Read MoreMadigan v. Madigan (North Carolina 2018)
Income for child support purposes is normally based on a parent’s actual income but it can be imputed to a parent if the evidence shows the parent isn’t earning up to his or her earning potential. The mother appealed the trial court’s determination of her income arguing that the trial court improperly imputed income to…
Read MoreGoodrich v. Goodrich (Tennessee 2018)
For child support purposes, a court can impute income to a parent that is higher than the parent’s actual income. The father appealed the district court order finding him underemployed and imputing income to him. He argued that he had involuntarily left his previous job and could not find an equivalent job. The Court of…
Read MoreMcCullough v. McCullough (Nebraska 2018)
A parent must make child support payments even if a modification is pending. The father appealed a district court order finding him in contempt for failure to pay child support. He argued that he had filed to modify the support order and that the new order might affect the amount of support owed. The Supreme…
Read MoreCalleja v. Calleja (Nebraska 2018)
A court may use actual income, not earning capacity, for child support purposes even when a parent makes a job change and the new job results in less income. The father, a tile installer, left a job to start his own business. As a result, his income decreased. The district court calculated support using his…
Read MoreBehavioral Intervention Materials Compendium
The Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency (BIAS) project team, led by MDRC and sponsored by the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) of the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, partnered with eight state and local agencies to design and implement 15 behavioral interventions, involving close…
Read MoreSummerville v. Summerville (North Carolina 2018)
A child support order cannot be modified sua sponte. The father appealed a district court order modifying his child support obligation, arguing that neither party had requested a modification of support. The appellate court agreed and found that there was no request to modify child support before the court. There is a line of North…
Read MoreMetzler v. Metzler (Nebraska 2018)
Due process requires that a court have personal jurisdiction over a nonresident parent before it can determine child support. For a court to have personal jurisdiction over a parent, the parent must have minimum contacts with the state of Nebraska such that the parent could expect to be called into court. The father, a Nebraska…
Read MoreKline v. Holmes (Kansas 2018)
The presumption of paternity is not conclusive and can be rebutted with clear and convincing evidence. The rebuttal can also be overcome. In this case, the district court established parentage for a child who was born to a same-sex couple by applying the presumption that the “notorious” presumption. The biological mother of the child appealed,…
Read MoreCarlson v. Carlson (Nebraska 2018)
In a divorce, parents may enter into a property settlement agreement (PSA) on all terms, including child support. Once approved, the PSA becomes a judgment, and when construction issues arise, the court must use the four corners of document. During the divorce proceeding, the parents agreed to a term of the PSA that the father…
Read MoreStrickland v. Strickland Day (Mississippi 2018)
An anonymous sperm donor is not the legal father of a child and has no parental rights. A same-sex couple married and had a child using artificial insemination. One partner carried the child. The parents divorced, and the Chancery Court found that the child was born during the marriage, but not of the marriage. While…
Read MoreHeisinger v. Riley (Mississippi 2018)
A Mississippi court can modify the support provisions of a properly registered child support order. The mother registered an Iowa child support order in Mississippi. She then requested a modification, which the chancellor denied. The chancellor found that the mother had not showed the order met the requirements for a modification under Iowa law. The…
Read MoreHarden v. Scarborough (Mississippi 2018)
A child support calculation should reflect the amount of income a parent is actually earning. It shouldn’t be based on a speculated decrease in income. A temporary order set child support for the father based on his income as a teacher and a coach. By the time of trial, the father had resigned his coaching…
Read MoreKeruzis-Thorson v. Thorson (Nebraska 2018)
A parent must provide the cost of a health insurance premium attributable to child to receive a deduction from gross income for purposes of calculating income for child support. The district court gave the father credit for the cost of his health insurance premium. The mother appealed arguing that the father didn’t prove the cost…
Read More2016 OCSE Annual Report to Congress
The 2016 Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) Annual Report to Congress highlights financial and statistical child support achievements based on data reported by state and tribal child support agencies. The content of the Annual Report is mandated by Section 452(a) under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act to give congressional members information that…
Read MoreState v. Rogelio L. (Nebraska 2018)
In a modification action, the court may deviate from presumptive support for children born subsequent to the order. The father filed to modify his support order based on a reduction in his income. The father testified he didn’t pay taxes, but deducted taxes to reach his proposed net income. The district court dismissed the modification…
Read MoreCovil v. Covil (Nebraska 2018)
A Nebraska district court can’t modify certain terms of another state’s order. The father and mother were divorced in Florida. The mother moved to Nebraska and received court permission to move with the children. Nebraska registered the Florida order. The Father filed to modify the order in Nebraska. He requested credit for past payments, support…
Read MoreParents and Children Together: The Complex Needs of Low Income Men and How Responsible Fatherhood Programs Address Them
Broad changes in family demographics have left many children without the support or involvement of their fathers. As a result of high rates of nonmarital births and divorce, millions of American children do not live with both of their parents. OPRE Report 2018-18, prepared for the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), Administration for…
Read MoreIn re Marriage of Boettcher (Colorado 2018)
The highest amount of child support on the income schedule is not a maximum presumptive amount. If the parents’ combined income is more than accounted for on the schedule, support may be more based on an application of the statutory factors. The father in this case appealed a modified support order arguing that the highest…
Read MoreLong v. Long (Wyoming 2018)
A district court must include the presumptive child support amount in a final decree of divorce. That is the basis for any deviation. Prior to the divorce, the mother filed for a protective order in Circuit Court, and the court set support in this action. The District Court incorporated the amount of support in the…
Read MoreBecher v. Becher (Nebraska 2018)
Chapter 25 of the Nebraska statutes allows for the appointment of a general referee to hear court proceedings, which could include a divorce. The child support statutes also provide for the appointment of a referee for specific child support proceedings, including establishment of an order. The deference the district court judge gives to the findings…
Read MoreFetherkile v. Fetherkile (Nebraska 2018)
A paternity determination made pursuant to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 43-512.04 is res judicata as to that issue. In this case, the mother and father stipulated to a paternity and support order prior to filing for divorce. The parents then filed for divorce, and the mother testified the father was not the child’s biological father.…
Read MoreSantee v. Santee (Tennessee 2018)
If a court imputes income to a parent for child support, it must make supportive, consistent findings. In this divorce action, the mother didn’t work during the marriage and stayed at home with the children. The trial court imputed the mother to the income of a medical assistant even though mother would have to attend…
Read MoreGipson v. Jackson (Mississippi 2018)
If a court deviates from the presumptive amount of child support, it must make findings as to why the application of the guidelines is unjust or inappropriate. The father appealed the Chancery Court order that increased child support by $200. The order did not contain any specific findings as to father’s adjusted gross income or…
Read MoreCustodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2015
This report provides an overview of children who have one parent living outside of the household and their custodial parents. The data used for this report are from the Child Support Supplement (CSS) to the April 2016 Current Population Survey (CSS) which provides demographic information about custodial parents as of 2016, as well as child…
Read MoreMcKinney v. Hamp (Mississippi 2018)
A supersedeas bond, authorized by Mississippi Rule of Appellate Procedure 8(a), will not stay enforcement of an order for prospective, monthly child support pending appeal. A signing bonus for a parent-athlete is part of the parent’s gross income for child support purposes. A court has the discretion to modify an order back to the date…
Read MoreThomson v. Holling (North Carolina 2018)
Specific evidence must support the income determination for a self-employed parent. The mother appealed the lower court’s income calculation for the father, who was self-employed. The lower court based its determination on father’s child support worksheet and testimony. The Appellate Court found that the evidence didn’t support the monthly income attributed to the father. He…
Read MoreDixon v. Dixon (Mississippi 2018)
A Mississippi statute gives courts discretion to emancipate a child and terminate child support under certain circumstances. A judgment on arrears clears a parent of contempt so as to allow for a modification of support but the parent still has to show a substantial change in circumstances. The father appealed the chancery court order that…
Read MoreIn re Michael J. (Tennessee 2018)
A copy of a genetic testing report is not eligible for judicial notice. This case involves a paternity action that was first heard in front of a magistrate, who ordered genetic testing. The results showed a 99.9% probability of paternity, and the magistrate entered an order. The father requested a rehearing before the juvenile court.…
Read MoreIn re Joel B. (Tennessee 2018)
It is appropriate to impute a parent to a higher income for child support when the parent voluntarily takes a lower paying job. The mother, an attorney, appealed the lower court’s order imputing a higher income to her. Mother practiced immigration law Tennessee, but then moved to California where she worked as a paralegal, earning…
Read MoreState on behalf of Mariah B. and Renee B. v. Kyle B. (Nebraska 2018)
A contempt finding requires that the parent willfully violate the court order. The parent must have the present ability to comply with the purge conditions. The father appealed a contempt order for failure to pay support. He argued that the nonpayment was not willful and that he couldn’t comply with the purge conditions. The Supreme…
Read MoreKanka v. Kanka (Tennessee 2018)
Child support can be based on a parent’s earning capacity if the court finds a parent willfully unemployed. The father appealed the order that found him willfully unemployed and imputed income to him in the amount of his salary from his previous job. The appellate court upheld the decision. When determining if a parent is…
Read MoreSmith v. Doe (Mississippi 2018)
A party must move to set aside a final judgment within six months if the party is alleging misconduct by the other party as the grounds for the set aside. In the case at hand, the father and mother settled their divorce. The terms included a higher than guideline amount of child support and father…
Read MoreSchurman v. Wilkins (Nebraska 2018)
Under the Nebraska Child Support Guidelines, child support abatements are discretionary. The father appealed the district court’s order that did not allow for an abatement in support during his summer parenting time. The appellate court found that the decision whether to abate is clearly left to the court. The district court considered evidence of the…
Read MoreAn Evaluation of the Oregon Parenting Time Opportunities for Children Grant: 1) Mediation; 2) Interactive Parenting Plans Center for Policy Research
In 2012, the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement made “Parenting Time Opportunities for Children” (PTOC) grant awards to five states. The grants were intended to: …improve the financial and emotional support of children in the child support system by increasing safe opportunities for them to build relationships with both parents. The parenting time grants focus…
Read MoreKabasan v. Kabasan (North Carolina 2018)
The value of an annuity counts as income for child support purposes without regard to any penalties for surrender or early withdrawal. The father in this case appealed the trial court’s calculation of his income, which included the value of an annuity. The father appealed arguing that the court should have reduced the value to…
Read MoreCounty of Durham v. Hodges (North Carolina 2017)
Evidence of a parent’s ability to pay must support a contempt order. The father in this case appealed a contempt order arguing that the evidence showed he had no ability to pay support. The contempt order was a pre-printed form that didn’t contain any findings of fact. The appellate court found the order lacked the…
Read MoreIn re Ava B. (Tennessee 2017)
When calculating income for child support, capital losses apply only in the year in which they occurred and cannot be carried over into subsequent years. The father appealed the juvenile court’s calculation of his income. The father’s income varied, so the juvenile court averaged his income for several years. The juvenile court did not give…
Read MoreSpires v. Simpson (Tennessee 2017)
In a wrongful death action, a parent, who seeks recovery for the death of a child yet owes child support for that child, cannot recover any proceeds until satisfaction of the child support arrears. The mother and father in this case married and had a child. The father left when the child was young, but…
Read MoreMulti-Site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering‒Research Brief
This brief presents findings on pre-and post-incarceration wages and child support participation in the five impact sites of the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting and Partnering (MFS-IP). Funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the study includes implementation and impact evaluations and qualitative and quantitative analyses of participants in programs providing…
Read MoreChild Support: An Overview of Census Bureau Data on Recipients
The national Census Bureau data show that in 2013, 13.4 million parents had custody of children under the age of 21 while the other parent lived elsewhere, and the aggregate amount of child support received was $22.5 billion. In 2013, almost 83% of custodial parents were mothers. Of all custodial parents, 48% were white (non-Hispanic),…
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