BILL NUMBER: AB 610 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Brown and Cristina Garcia )
FEBRUARY 24, 2015
An act to repeal and add Section 4007.5 of the Family Code,
relating to child support, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 610, as amended, Jones-Sawyer. Child support: suspension of
support order.
Existing law, until July 1, 2015, provides that the obligation of
a person to pay child support pursuant to an order that is being
enforced by a local child support agency under Title IV-D of the
Social Security Act is suspended for the period of time exceeding 90
days in which the person required to pay support is incarcerated or
involuntarily institutionalized, with specified exceptions. Existing
law requires that, upon the release of the obligor, the obligation to
pay child support immediately resumes in the amount otherwise
specified in the child support order prior to the suspension of that
obligation. Existing law requires the court to provide notice to the
parties of the support obligation suspension at the time the order is
issued or modified. Existing law authorizes an obligor, upon release
from incarceration or involuntary institutionalization, to petition
the court for an adjustment of the arrears pursuant to the suspension
of the support obligation.
This bill would instead specify that the suspension of the child
support order occurs by operation of law, and
law. The bill, until January 1, 2020, would
authorize the local child support agency to administratively adjust
account balances for cases managed by the agency if the agency
verifies that arrears and interest were accrued in violation of these
provisions, that specified conditions relating to the obligor's
inability to pay while incarcerated and the underlying offense for
which he or she was incarcerated do not exist, and neither the
obligor nor the obligee object to the adjustment. The bill would
require the local child support agency to give written
notice notice, as prescribed, of the adjustment
to the obligor and obligee. If either the obligor or the obligee
objects to the adjustment, the bill would require the agency to file
a motion with the court to adjust the arrears and would allow the
adjustment only after approval by the court. The bill would require
the child support obligation to resume on the first day of the first
full month after the release of the person owing support.
Commencing January 1, 2020, an obligor, upon release from
incarceration or involuntary institutionalization, would be
authorized to petition the court for an adjustment of the arrears
pursuant to the suspension of the support obligation. The bill
would require the Department of Child Support Services, in
consultation with the Judicial Council, to develop forms to implement
these provisions, and would require them to report specified
information relating to these provisions to the Assembly Judiciary
Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee on or before January 1,
2019. The bill would make these provisions operative only
until January 1, 2020, at which time, the existing law described
above would again become operative.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4007.5 of the Family Code is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 4007.5 is added to the Family Code, to read:
4007.5. (a) Every money judgment or order for support of a child
shall be suspended, by operation of law, for any period exceeding 90
consecutive days in which the person ordered to pay support is
incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized, unless either of the
following conditions exist:
(1) The person owing support has the means to pay support while
incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized.
(2) The person owing support was incarcerated or involuntarily
institutionalized for any an offense
constituting domestic violence, as defined in Section 6211, against
the supported party or supported child, or for any
an offense that could be enjoined by a protective order
pursuant to Section 6320, or as a result of his or her failure to
comply with a court order to pay child support.
(b) The child support obligation shall resume on the first day of
the first full month after the release of the person owing support in
the amount previously ordered, and that amount is presumed to be
appropriate under federal and state law. This section does not
preclude a person owing support from seeking a modification of the
child support order pursuant to Section 3651, based on a change in
circumstances or other appropriate reason.
(c) (1) A local child support agency enforcing a child support
order under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 651
et seq.) may, upon written notice of the proposed adjustment to the
support obligor and obligee along with a blank form provided for the
support obligor or obligee to object to the administrative adjustment
to the local child support agency, administratively adjust account
balances for cases managed by the agency if all of the following
occurs:
(A) The agency verifies that arrears and interest were accrued in
violation of this section.
(B) The agency verifies that neither of the conditions set forth
in paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) exist.
(C) Neither the support obligor nor obligee objects, within 30
days of receipt of the notice of proposed adjustment, whether in
writing or by telephone, to the administrative adjustment by the
local child support agency.
(2) If either the support obligor or obligee objects to the
administrative adjustment set forth in this subdivision, the agency
shall not adjust the order, but shall file a motion with the court to
seek to adjust the arrears and shall serve copies of the motion on
the parties, who may file an objection to the agency's motion with
the court. The obligor's arrears shall not be adjusted unless the
court approves the adjustment.
(3) The agency may perform this adjustment without regard to
whether it was enforcing the child support order at the time the
parent owing support qualified for relief under this section.
(d) Nothing in this section prohibits This
section does not prohibit the local child support agency or a
party from petitioning a court for a determination of child support
or arrears amounts.
(e) For purposes of this section, "incarcerated or
involuntarily institutionalized" includes, but is not limited to,
involuntary confinement to a state prison, county jail, juvenile
facility operated by the Division of Juvenile Facilities in the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or a mental health
facility. the following definitions shall apply:
(1)"Incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized" includes, but
is not limited to, involuntary confinement to the state prison, a
county jail, a juvenile facility operated by the Division of Juvenile
Facilities in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or a
mental health facility.
(f) For purposes of this section, "suspend"
(2) "Suspend" means that the
payment due on the current child support order and any arrears
payment, or interest resulting from these amounts, is, by operation
of law, set to zero dollars ($0) for the period in which the person
owing support is incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized.
(g)
(f) This section applies to all child support
orders and modifications issued on or after July 1, 2011.
as follows:
(1) To every money judgment of child support order issued or
modified on or after the enactment of this section.
(2) If a local child support agency is enforcing a child support
order under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 651
et seq.), this section shall apply to an order or modification
issued on or after July 1, 2011.
(h)
(g) The Department of Child Support Services shall, by
January 1, 2016, and in consultation with the Judicial Council,
develop forms to implement this section.
(i)
(h) On or before January 1, 2019, the Department of
Child Support Services and the Judicial Council shall conduct an
evaluation of the effectiveness of the administrative adjustment
process authorized by this section and shall report the results of
the review, as well as any recommended changes, to the Assembly
Judiciary Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. The
evaluation shall include a review of the ease of the process to both
the obligor and obligee, as well as an analysis of the number of
cases administratively adjusted, the number of cases adjusted in
court, and the number of cases not adjusted.
(j)
(i) This section shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or
extends that date.
SEC. 3. Section 4007.5 is added to the Family
Code, to read:
4007.5. (a) Every money judgment or order for support of a child
that is being enforced by a local child support agency under Title
IV-D of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 651 et seq.) shall
provide the following:
(1) The obligation of the person ordered to pay support shall be
suspended for any period exceeding 90 consecutive days in which the
person ordered to pay support is incarcerated or involuntarily
institutionalized, unless the obligor has the means to pay support
while incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized.
(2) The suspension of the support obligation shall only apply for
the period of time during which the obligor is incarcerated or
involuntarily institutionalized, after which the obligation shall
immediately resume in the amount otherwise specified in the child
support order.
(b) The court shall provide notice to the parties of the support
obligation suspension provided in subdivision (a) at the time the
order is issued or modified.
(c) Upon release from incarceration or involuntary
institutionalization, an obligor may petition the court for an
adjustment of the arrears pursuant to the suspension of the support
obligation authorized in subdivision (b). The obligor must show proof
of the dates of incarceration or involuntary institutionalization,
as well as proof that during that time, the obligor did not have the
means to pay the support. The obligor shall serve copies of the
petition to the support obligee and the local child support agency,
who may file an objection to the obligor's petition with the court.
An obligor's arrears shall not be adjusted until the court has
approved the petition.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the court may deny the
obligor's petition if it finds that the obligor was incarcerated or
involuntarily institutionalized for any offense constituting domestic
violence, as defined in Section 6211, against the support obligee or
supported child, or for any offense that could be enjoined by a
protective order pursuant to Section 6320, or as a result of his or
her failure to comply with a court order to pay child support.
(e) For purposes of this section, "incarcerated or involuntarily
institutionalized" includes, but is not limited to, involuntary
confinement to a state prison, county jail, juvenile facility
operated by the Division of Juvenile Facilities in the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, or a mental health facility.
(f) For purposes of this section, "suspend" means that the child
support order is modified and set to zero dollars ($0) for the period
in which the obligor is incarcerated or involuntarily
institutionalized.
(g) This section applies to all child support orders and
modifications issued on or after July 1, 2011.
(h) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.
SEC. 3. Section 4007.5 is added to the
Family Code , to read:
4007.5. (a) Every money judgment or order for support of a child
shall be suspended, by operation of law, for any period exceeding 90
consecutive days in which the person ordered to pay support is
incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized, unless either of the
following conditions exist:
(1) The person owing support has the means to pay support while
incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized.
(2) The person owing support was incarcerated or involuntarily
institutionalized for an offense constituting domestic violence, as
defined in Section 6211, against the supported party or supported
child, or for an offense that could be enjoined by a protective order
pursuant to Section 6320, or as a result of his or her failure to
comply with a court order to pay child support.
(b) The child support obligation shall resume on the first day of
the first full month after the release of the person owing support in
the amount previously ordered, and that amount is presumed to be
appropriate under federal and state law. This section does not
preclude a person owing support from seeking a modification of the
child support order pursuant to Section 3651, based on a change in
circumstances or other appropriate reason.
(c) The court shall provide notice to the parties of the support
obligation suspension provided in subdivision (a) at the time the
order is issued or modified.
(d) Upon release from incarceration or involuntary
institutionalization, an obligor may petition the court for an
adjustment of the arrears pursuant to the suspension of the support
obligation authorized in subdivision (b). The obligor must show proof
of the dates of incarceration or involuntary institutionalization,
as well as proof that, during that time, the obligor did not have the
means to pay the support. The obligor shall serve copies of the
petition to the support obligee and the local child support agency,
who may file an objection to the obligor's petition with the court.
An obligor's arrears shall not be adjusted until the court has
approved the petition.
(e)This section does not prohibit the local child support agency
or child support obligee from petitioning a court for a determination
of child support or arrears amounts under this section.
(f) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) "Incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized" includes,
but is not limited to, involuntary confinement to the state prison, a
county jail, a juvenile facility operated by the Division of
Juvenile Facilities in the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, or a mental health facility.
(2) "Suspend" means that the payment due on the current child
support order, arrears payment on preexisting arrears balance, and
interest on arrears created during qualifying periods of
incarceration under this section is, by operation of law, set to zero
dollars ($0) for the period during which the person owing support is
incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized.
(g) This section applies as follows:
(1) To every money judgment or order for support of a child.
(2) If a local child support agency is enforcing the child support
orders under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Sec.
651 et seq.), this section applies to any of those orders and
modifications issued on or after July 1, 2011.
(h) The Department of Child Support Services shall, by January 1,
2020, and in consultation with the Judicial Council, develop forms to
implement this section.
(i) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to avoid an interruption in the protections provided by
Section 4007.5 of the Family Code, it is necessary that this bill
take effect immediately.