Bill Text: NY A08344 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Modifies the criteria for the establishment and modification of child support orders and increases the annual service fee for child support services.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-09-13 - SIGNED CHAP.313 [A08344 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A08344-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8344

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      June 14, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. WRIGHT, DINOWITZ -- (at request of the Office of
          Temporary and Disability Assistance) -- read once and referred to  the
          Committee on Judiciary

        AN  ACT to amend the family court act and the domestic relations law, in
          relation to establishment and modification of  child  support  orders;
          and  to  amend  the social services law, in relation to an increase in
          the annual service fee for child support services

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Clause (v) of subparagraph 5 of paragraph (b) of subdivi-
     2  sion 1 of section 413 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 567
     3  of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
     4    (v) an amount  imputed  as  income  based  upon  the  parent's  former
     5  resources  or  income, if the court determines that a parent has reduced
     6  resources or income in order to reduce or avoid the parent's  obligation
     7  for  child  support; provided that incarceration shall not be considered
     8  voluntary unemployment, unless such incarceration is the result of  non-
     9  payment  of  a  child support order, or an offense against the custodial
    10  parent or child who is the subject of the order or judgment;
    11    § 2. Clause (v) of subparagraph 5 of paragraph (b) of subdivision  1-b
    12  of section 240 of the domestic relations law, as added by chapter 567 of
    13  the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
    14    (v)  an  amount  imputed  as  income  based  upon  the parent's former
    15  resources or income, if the court determines that a parent  has  reduced
    16  resources  or income in order to reduce or avoid the parent's obligation
    17  for child support; provided that incarceration shall not  be  considered
    18  voluntary  unemployment, unless such incarceration is the result of non-
    19  payment of a child support order, or an offense  against  the  custodial
    20  parent or child who is the subject of the order or judgment;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09199-02-9
        A. 8344                             2

     1    § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 451 of the family court
     2  act,  as  amended by chapter 373 of the laws of 2014, is amended to read
     3  as follows:
     4    (a) The court may modify an order of child support, including an order
     5  incorporating  without  merging  an  agreement  or  stipulation  of  the
     6  parties, upon a  showing  of  a  substantial  change  in  circumstances.
     7  Incarceration  shall  not be considered voluntary unemployment and shall
     8  not be a bar to finding a substantial change in  circumstances  provided
     9  such  incarceration  is not the result of non-payment of a child support
    10  order, or an offense against the custodial parent or child  who  is  the
    11  subject of the order or judgment.
    12    § 4. Clause (i) of subparagraph 2 of paragraph (b) of subdivision 9 of
    13  part B of section 236 of the domestic relations law, as amended by chap-
    14  ter 182 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
    15    (i) The court may modify an order of child support, including an order
    16  incorporating  without  merging  an  agreement  or  stipulation  of  the
    17  parties, upon a  showing  of  a  substantial  change  in  circumstances.
    18  Incarceration  shall  not be considered voluntary unemployment and shall
    19  not be a bar to finding a substantial change in  circumstances  provided
    20  such  incarceration  is not the result of non-payment of a child support
    21  order, or an offense against the custodial parent or child  who  is  the
    22  subject of the order or judgment.
    23    §  5.  Paragraph  (a)  of subdivision 3 of section 111-g of the social
    24  services law, as added by section 1 of part Z of chapter 57 of the  laws
    25  of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
    26    (a)  A person who is receiving child support services pursuant to this
    27  section who has never received assistance pursuant to title IV-A of  the
    28  federal social security act shall be subject to an annual service fee of
    29  [twenty-five]  thirty-five  dollars  for  each  child support case if at
    30  least five hundred fifty dollars of support has been  collected  in  the
    31  federal  fiscal year. Where a custodial parent has children with differ-
    32  ent noncustodial parents, the order payable by each noncustodial  parent
    33  shall  be  a  separate child support case for the purpose of imposing an
    34  annual service fee.  The  fee  shall  be  deducted  from  child  support
    35  payments received on behalf of the individual receiving services.
    36    §  6.  This  act  shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any
    37  pending action or proceeding.