Resources
Child Support Resource Library
Welcome to the YoungWilliams Child Support Resource Library. Search by keywords or use the filters to select categories of interest to you. Currently, our Library consists of academic and government research articles and reports from around the country, federal opinions, and case law from states in which our full service child support projects are located.
Child Support Enforcement and the Hague Convention on Recovery of International Child Support
This report published by the Congressional Research Service provides an overview of the current Child Support Enforcement (CSE) system and a discussion of how international CSE cases are handled. It provides a summary of the 2007 Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (the Convention), which was adopted by the United States in 2017. It also provides a description of the provisions included in P.L. 113-183 that pertain to enforcement of child support in international cases. These provisions would implement The Hague Convention on International Recovery of Child Support and any other multilateral agreement to which the United States is a party.
Mississippi Dep’t of Human Services v. Porter (Mississippi 2017)
UIFSA does not require an initiating tribunal or registered child support order for a responding tribunal to have subject matter jurisdiction to establish a support order. Additionally, UIFSA calls for the responding state to apply its laws and procedures to the order, including its age of majority. The state of Illinois requested Mississippi’s assistance in establishing a support order against a father who had relocated to Mississippi. The father appealed the order arguing that the Chancery Court did not have subject matter jurisdiction and applied the incorrect age of emancipation. The appellate court upheld the Chancery Court’s jurisdiction. The court explained that UIFSA, as adopted by both Mississippi and Illinois, governs the establishment of support order when parents live in two different states and sets forth the procedure. Since this was an action to establish an order, no initiating tribunal or order was necessary and the Chancery Court had jurisdiction to enter the order. The appellate court also found that Mississippi statute clearly states the responding tribunal should apply the law of its state to determine the duty of support and the amount.
Kolar v. Tester (Nebraska 2017)
The court appropriately used its discretion to calculate income for a father who regularly works more than a 40-hour work week. The father testified that he works between 45 – 50 hours per week, even though he is only guaranteed 40. He is paid at a higher rate for the additional hours. The court calculated his income by multiplying 45 hours a week by the lower hourly rate. The Father appealed and argued the court should have used 40 hours. The appellate court found the income determination well within the court’s discretion. The calculation factored in a few extra hours but at the lower rate of pay.
Sardon v. Sardon (Tennessee 2017)
The Tennessee statutes allow courts to deviate from the presumptive child support amount for the cost of children’s extracurricular activities. The evidence in this case clearly supported the cost of the activities, and the father did not object to the activities other than he felt mother didn’t consult him. The appellate court upheld the trial court’s upward deviation from the presumptive child support amount.
Collins v. Mississippi Dep’t of Human Services (Mississippi 2017)
A parent’s obligation to support a child financially does not end even when their relationship has deteriorated due to extreme behavior from the child, especially when the parent also had a role in the decline of the relationship. The mother in this case appealed a child support order obligating her to pay support for her child with whom she no longer has a relationship. She argued the child’s extreme behaviors made a relationship with him impossible. The appellate court upheld the support order stating that evidence showed both the parent and the child had contributed to the decline of the relationship and noting that the mother wasn’t even aware of all the child’s behaviors when the original action was filed.
Ali v. Ali (Mississippi 2017)
When setting child support for a high-income parent, a strict application of the guidelines may not be reasonable. The court must make findings to support its decision. In this case, the chancery court found that applying the child support guidelines to an income greater than $100,000 was not reasonable and set child support based on father’s testimony about the child’s standard of living and the amount of expenses that were outlined in filed documents. The father appealed the order as excessive. The appellate court found the chancellor properly met the finding requirement and ordered support taking into consideration the child’s current standard of living and expenses.
Expenditures on Children by Families, 2015 Revised
Since 1960, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has provided estimates of annual expenditures on children from birth through age 17. This technical report, originally published in January 2017 and revised in March 2017, presents the 2015 estimates for married-couple and single-parent families. Results are shown in tables 1-7 at the end of this report. Expenditures are provided by age of children, household income level, major budgetary component (housing, food, etc.), and region (for married-couple families). Results of this study may be of use in developing state child support and foster care guidelines, as well as public health and family-centered educational programs. The revisions update child care and education values for ages 0-2 and 3-5 years for the regional estimates in tables 2-5.
In re CT: Taylor v. Timmons (Mississippi 2017)
When a substantial change of circumstances occurs, a court can modify a child support order. If the court deviates from the new presumptive amount, written findings must support the deviation. In this case, the father appealed his modified order, which increased his support amount from $300 to $1,500 per month. He argued inadequate findings. The appellate court disagreed and found language in the order that acknowledged father’s increase in income and availability of assets and the age of the child. The new presumptive amount of support was $2,700. The order justified a deviation to $1500 with findings that father paid for health and dental insurance, all uncovered medical expenses, extracurricular activities, and would be responsible for private school tuition.
2016 Preliminary Report
The FY 2016 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.
State of Tennesse ex rel. Spurlock v. Torres (Tennessee 2017)
A child support order is void if the court did not have personal jurisdiction over the respondent parent. In interstate actions, there are specific requirements for personal jurisdiction over a nonresident parent, one of which is the parent has entered an appearance or filed a responsive document. In this contempt proceeding, the father, a Texas resident, filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The trial court found it had personal jurisdiction under two grounds: he had requested an administrative review of the arrears that could be considered a responsive pleading and he had sufficient contact with the state of Tennessee to satisfy the catchall provision. The appellate court disagreed. A request for administrative review is not a document intended for filing with the court and did not satisfy the jurisdictional requirement. The court also found the catchall was not appropriate. The father had made one trip to Tennessee and paid minimal child support. These activities were not enough to pass the minimum contacts test.
