BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Carole Migden, Chair
1082 (Morrow)
Hearing Date: 5/16/05 Amended: 5/10/05
Consultant: Lisa Matocq Policy Vote: Judiciary 6-0
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BILL SUMMARY:
SB 1082, an urgency measure, facilitates a process whereby
deployed military personnel can seek a modification of their
child support orders, and makes related changes.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 Fund
DCSS Unknown, potentially
significant, General
costs. Costs may
be offset to some
extent by
collection cost savings.
Courts/Judicial Council Unknown costs
or savings General
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill may meet the criteria for referral to
the Suspense File, depending on the extent of the Department of
Child Support Services' (DCSS) outreach efforts.
The bill is intended to provide financial relief for activated
reservists and National Guard personnel who experience a
reduction in income due to activation, by establishing a process
whereby they may seek a modification of their child support
orders.
Under current law, a court is prohibited from modifying a child
support order retroactive to any period of time prior to the
filing of a motion or order to show cause for modification. A
court is authorized however, under certain circumstances, to
make an order retroactive to the date of filing of the motion.
This bill requires the court, except as otherwise specified,
when modifying or terminating a child support order based on a
change in income resulting from the activation to military
service or National Guard duty and deployment overseas, to make
the order retroactive to the date of service on the other party
or the date of activation, whichever is later. It also
establishes related procedures for an expedited modification. In
addition, the bill prohibits the accumulation of interest and
penalties, in certain circumstances, on the amount of support,
and requires Judicial Council to develop related forms.
Under current law, a final custody or visitation order may be
modified by the family court only if some significant change in
circumstances indicates that a different arrangement
SB 1082
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would be in the child's best interest. This bill provides that
a party's absence from the home or failure to comply with a
custody or visitation order may not, in and of itself, justify a
modification of the order if the reason for the absence or
failure is the party's activation to military service and
deployment out-of-state.
Current law requires the DCSS to establish and maintain a
program for the compromise of child support arrears and interest
owed. The compromised amount must take into consideration the
obligor's ability to pay and meet other criteria. Currently, a
total of $19 billion is in arrears; the collection costs on
child support arrears are significant.
This bill requires DCSS to work with the military and National
Guard to inform service members of their ability to have support
orders modified based on a change in income, and to develop a
related form. Increased costs to DCSS are unknown, but could be
significant, depending on the extent of outreach efforts. On the
other hand, to the extent that this bill results in orders that
more closely reflect the obligor's ability to pay, arrears may
not accumulate at the same rate, and there could be unknown,
though probably not substantial, collection cost savings.
Increased costs to Judicial Council to develop forms are minor,
absorbable. The additional workload to the courts would be
relatively small, therefore increased costs for the new process
are probably not substantial.