BILL NUMBER: AB 610 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 16, 2015
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,
Prior law required, 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 to be 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 Prior law
required that, upon the release of the obligor, the obligation
to pay child support immediately resumes
resume in the amount otherwise specified in the child support
order prior to the suspension of that obligation. Existing
law requires Prior law required the court to
provide notice to the parties of the support obligation suspension at
the time the order is was issued or
modified. Existing law authorizes Prior law
authorized 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 enact
similar provisions to require the suspension of the
a child support order occurs
to occur by operation of law. law
when an obligor is incarcerated or voluntarily institutionalized,
unless the obligor has the means to pay support, or the obligor was
incarcerated or involuntarily institutionalized for either an offense
constituting domestic violence or the failure to pay child support.
The bill, until January 1, 2020, would
also 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 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.
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 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) (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) 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, 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 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.
(f) This section applies 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.
(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.
(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.
(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
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. SEC. 3. 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 limit the duration of
the interruption in the protections provided by Section 4007.5
of the Family Code, it is necessary that this bill take effect
immediately.