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.
Thomas v. Crews (Mississippi 2016)
Substantial and credible evidence must support a child support award. The chancellor found credible evidence that father was the sole member of a limited liability company, he earned a salary from the company, the business had turned a profit, and the business had ongoing operating expenses. The chancellor used this evidence to set father’s income at his salary plus a portion of the business profit. He determined mother’s income using her worksheet.
In re Lucius H. (Tennessee 2016)
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which governs commerical contracts and transactions, does not apply to paternity actions. In this case, the parent admitted paternity, but cited the UCC in support of his argument that he did not agree to the birth of the child and should not be liable for support. Once paternity is established, the parent is obligated to support the child. The support in the case was figured using the worksheets submitted by the parties, and the amount was appropriate.
Kephart v. Kephart (Tennessee 2016)
If a parent is receiving social security disability, no support is due if the amount of the benefit exceeds the presumed amount of support. The statute does not contemplate that the parent will retain the difference between the presumed amount of support and the social security benefit.
State ex. rel. Rogers v. Lewis (Tennessee 2016)
A child support order is void if it relieves a parent from the obligation to support a child. The original child support order in this case approved an agreement of the parties that the father maintain health insurance or pay for future medical expenses. While no current support was ordered, no provision prohibited a future modification either; therefore, the order was valid. The modified order that that set support retroactive to the child’s date of birth impermissibly modified the original order.
Vance v. Miss. Dep’t. of Human Services (Mississippi 2016)
A child support obligation continues when a child is placed in foster care. The obligation vests in the child and will be enforced on behalf of the designated payee. MDHS is that designated payee when the parent was receiving AFDC benefits at the time of the child’s removal and had assigned their right to support to MDHS. The child support should be distributed according to statute, and it may be appropriate to reimburse the state for the cost of placement.
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Burcham v. Burcham (Nebraska 2016)
An adoption subsidy should not be counted as income to a parent when calculating child support. In this case, the parents received a monthly subsidy for three adopted special needs children. The subsidy was meant to supplement the parents’ incomes and assist with the extra costs that come with raising special needs children. Since it was not meant as an income substitute, it could not be counted as income for child support purposes. The subsidy cannot be used to offset the obligation, either. An offset would also defeat the purpose of the subsidy as a supplement.
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In re Marriage of Johnson (Colorado 2016)
The doctrine of laches is available as a defense to a claim for interest on child support arrears if the custodial parent has not timely pursued collection of the arrears. Allowing a laches defense protects the right of children to parental support and encourages timely enforcement of unpaid obligations. In this case, the father stopped paying support in July 1994. The mother did not file an action for enforcement until September 2012.
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The Child Support Enforcement Program: A Review of Data
This report, prepared by the Congressional Research Service, examines the IV-D child support caseload, collection, and expenditure data from Fiscal Year (FY) 1978 through FY 2015. It also presents more detailed data, gathered from state-submitted reports to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, on collections, expenditures, paternity establishment, child support order establishment, cost-effectiveness, and program financing impacts on the federal government and the states for various years during the period.
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Lueallen v. Lueallen (North Carolina 2016)
When establishing a child support obligation, income can be imputed to a parent who is found to be voluntarily unemployed and motivated by a desired to avoid their reasonable support obligation. Evidence must support the intent to avoid the support obligation. The appellate court in this case found that income had properly been imputed to the mother. The evidence that supported this finding included mother’s failure to apply for jobs in the local community in the past three years, her leaving a job without having another job lined up, and her refusal to seek or accept gainful employment.
2014 OCSE Annual Report to Congress (Part 3 of 3)
The 2014 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 relates to the overall operations and success of the national child support program. Because of its size, this report is divided into three parts. Part 3 of 3 includes tribal performance, Appendix Table, and Glossary
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