AN ACT relating to child support.

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AN ACT relating to child support. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 403.211 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) An action to establish or enforce child support may be initiated by the parent, 4
custodian, or agency substantially contributing to the support of the child. The 5
action may be brought in the county in which the child resides or where the 6
defendant resides. 7
(2) Notwithstanding the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure or any other provision of 8
law, a child shall not: 9
(a) Initiate, intervene in, or otherwise become a party to an action under this 10
section or in any related dissolution of marriage proceeding; or 11
(b) Receive child support payments directly, unless the child is emancipated due 12
to age and still eligible for support in accordance with subsection (3) of 13
Section 2 of this Act. 14
(3) At the time of initial establishment of a child support order, whether tempor ary or 15
permanent, or in any proceeding to modify a support order, the child support 16
guidelines in KRS 403.212 or 403.2122 shall serve as a rebuttable presumption for 17
the establishment or modification of the amount of child support. Courts may 18
deviate from the guidelines where their application would be unjust or 19
inappropriate. Any deviation shall be accompanied by a written finding or specific 20
finding on the record by the court[,] specifying the reason for the deviation. 21
(4)[(3)] A written finding or specif ic finding on the record that the application of the 22
guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case shall be sufficient to 23
rebut the presumption and allow for an appropriate adjustment of the guideline 24
award if based upon one (1) or more of the following criteria: 25
(a) A child's extraordinary medical or dental needs; 26
(b) A child's extraordinary educational, job training, or special needs; 27
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(c) Either parent's own extraordinary needs, such as medical expenses; 1
(d) The independent financial resources, if any, of the child or children; 2
(e) Combined monthly adjusted parental gross income in excess of the Kentucky 3
child support guidelines; 4
(f) The parents of the child, having demonstrated knowledge of the amount of 5
child support established by the Kentucky child support guidelines, have 6
agreed to child support different from the guideline amount. However, [ no 7
such] an agreement shall not be the basis of any deviation if public assistance 8
is being paid on behalf of a child under the provisions of Pa rt D of Title IV of 9
the Federal Social Security Act; 10
(g) Failure by one (1) party to consistently exercise the court -ordered timesharing 11
schedule or timesharing agreement between the parents; and 12
(h) Any similar factor of an extraordinary nature specifical ly identified by the 13
court which would make application of the guidelines inappropriate. 14
(5)[(4)] "Extraordinary" as used in this section shall be determined by the court in its 15
discretion. 16
(6)[(5)] When a party has defaulted or the court is otherwise pres ented with 17
insufficient evidence to determine gross income, the court shall order child support 18
based upon the needs of the child or the previous standard of living of the child, 19
whichever is greater. An order entered by default or due to insufficient evid ence to 20
determine gross income may be modified upward and arrearages awarded from the 21
date of the original order if evidence of gross income is presented within two (2) 22
years, which would have established a higher amount of child support pursuant to 23
the child support guidelines set forth in KRS 403.212 or 403.2122. 24
(7)[(6)] The court shall allocate between the parents, in proportion to their combined 25
monthly adjusted parental gross income, reasonable and necessary child care costs 26
incurred due to employment , job search, or education leading to employment, in 27
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addition to the amount ordered under the child support guidelines. 1
(8)[(7)] (a) Pursuant to 45 C.F.R. sec. 303.31(a)(2), [ for the purposes of] as used in 2
this section, "health care coverage" includes fee for service, health 3
maintenance organization, preferred provider organization, and other types of 4
private health insurance and public health care coverage under which medical 5
services could be provided to a dependent child. If health care coverage is 6
reasonable in cost and accessible to either parent at the time the request for 7
coverage is made, the court shall: 8
1. Order the parent to obtain or maintain coverage;[,] and[ the court shall] 9
2. Allocate between the parents, in proportion to their combined mont hly 10
adjusted parental gross income, the cost of health care coverage for the 11
child, in addition to the support ordered under the child support 12
guidelines. 13
(b) A parent [,] who has one hundred percent (100%) of the combined monthly 14
adjusted parental gross in come[,] shall be entitled to a reduction in gross 15
income of the entire amount of premiums incurred and paid. 16
(c) The court shall order the cost of health care coverage of the child to be paid 17
by either or both parents of the child regardless of who has phy sical custody. 18
The court order shall include: 19
1. A judicial directive designating which parent shall have financial 20
responsibility for providing health care coverage for the dependent 21
child, which shall include but not be limited to health care coverage[,] or 22
payments of necessary health care deductibles or copayments; 23
2. If appropriate, cash medical support. "Cash medical support" means an 24
amount to be paid toward the cost of health care coverage, fixed 25
payments for ongoing medical costs, extraordinary med ical expenses, or 26
any combination thereof; and 27
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3. A statement providing that if the designated parent's health care 1
coverage provides for covered services for dependent children beyond 2
the age of majority, then any unmarried children up to twenty -five (25) 3
years of age who are full -time students enrolled in and attending an 4
accredited educational institution and who are primarily dependent on 5
the insured parent for maintenance and support shall be covered. 6
(d) If health care coverage is not reasonable in co st and accessible at the time the 7
request for the coverage is made, the court order shall provide for cash 8
medical support until health care coverage becomes reasonable in cost and 9
accessible. 10
(9)[(8)] (a) As used in[For purposes of] this section, "reasonable in cost" means that 11
the cost of coverage to the responsible parent does not exceed five percent 12
(5%) of his or her gross income. The five percent (5%) standard shall apply to 13
the cost of adding the child to an existing policy, the difference in the cos t 14
between a single and a family policy, or the cost of acquiring a separate policy 15
to cover the child. If the parties agree or the court finds good cause exists, the 16
court may order health care coverage in excess of five percent (5%) of the 17
parent's gross income. 18
(b) As used in [For purposes of] this section, "accessible" means that there are 19
providers who meet the health care needs of the child and who are located no 20
more than sixty (60) minutes or sixty (60) miles from the child's primary 21
residence, except that this section[nothing] shall not prohibit use of a provider 22
located more than sixty (60) minutes or sixty (60) miles from the child's 23
primary residence. 24
(10)[(9)] The initial two hundred fifty dollars ($250) of medical expenses shall be 25
covered by the parent who maintains health insurance for the child or children 26
subject to the order per calendar year, unless the parties have agreed otherwise. 27
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(11)[(10)] (a) The cost of extraordinary medical expenses shall be allocated between 1
the parties in proportion to their combined monthly adjusted parental gross 2
incomes. 3
(b) 1. "Extraordinary medical expenses" means uninsured expenses in excess 4
of two hundred fifty doll ars ($250) for the child or children subject to 5
the order per calendar year. 6
2. "Extraordinary medical expenses" includes but is not limited to the costs 7
that are reasonably necessary for: 8
a. Medical, surgical, dental, orthodontal, optometric, nursing, an d 9
hospital services;[ for] 10
b. Professional counseling or psychiatric therapy for diagnosed 11
medical disorders; and[ for] 12
c. Drugs and medical supplies, appliances, laboratory, diagnostic, 13
and therapeutic services. 14
(12)[(11)] The court order shall include th e Social Security numbers, provided in 15
accordance with KRS 403.135, of all parties subject to a support order. 16
(13)[(12)] In any case administered by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, if the 17
parent ordered to provide health care coverage is enrol led through an insurer but 18
fails to enroll the child under family coverage, the other parent or the Cabinet for 19
Health and Family Services may, upon application, enroll the child. 20
(14)[(13)] In any case administered by the cabinet, information received or transmitted 21
shall not be published or be open for public inspection, including reasonable 22
evidence of domestic violence or child abuse if the disclosure of the information 23
could be harmful to the custodial parent or the child of the parent. Necessary 24
information and records may be furnished as specified by KRS 205.175. 25
(15)[(14)] In the case in which a parent is obligated to provide health care coverage, and 26
changes employment, and the new employer provides health care coverage, the 27
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Cabinet for Health and F amily Services shall transfer notice of the provision for 1
coverage for the child to the employer, which shall operate to enroll this child in the 2
obligated parent's health plan, unless the obligated parent contests the notice as 3
specified by KRS Chapter 13B. 4
(16)[(15)] Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any wage or income shall 5
not be exempt from attachment or assignment for the payment of current ,[ child 6
support or] owed, or to-be-owed child support. 7
(17)[(16)] A payment of money received by a child as a result of a parental disability 8
shall be credited against the child support obligation of the parent. A payment shall 9
not be counted as income to either parent when calculating a child support 10
obligation. An amount received in excess of th e child support obligation shall be 11
credited against a child support arrearage owed by the parent that accrued 12
subsequent to the date of the parental disability, but shall not be applied to an 13
arrearage that accrued prior to the date of disability. The dat e of disability shall be 14
as determined by the paying agency. 15
(18) Child support payments shall be directed to the parent, custodian, or agency 16
substantially contributing to the support of the child. 17
Section 2. KRS 403.213 is amended to read as follows: 18
(1) The Kentucky child support guidelines may be used by the parent, custodian, or 19
agency substantially contributing to the support of the child as the basis for periodic 20
updates of child support obligations and for modification of child support orders for 21
health care. The provisions of any decree respecting child support may be modified 22
only as to installments accruing subsequent to the filing of the motion for 23
modification and only upon a showing of a material change in ci rcumstances that is 24
substantial and continuing. 25
(2) Application of the Kentucky child support guidelines to the circumstances of the 26
parties at the time of the filing of a motion or petition for modification of the child 27
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support order which results in equa l to or greater than a fifteen percent (15%) 1
change in the amount of support due per month shall be rebuttably presumed to be a 2
material change in circumstances. Application which results in less than a fifteen 3
percent (15%) change in the amount of support due per month shall be rebuttably 4
presumed not to be a material change in circumstances. For the one (1) year period 5
immediately following enactment of this statute, the presumption of material 6
change shall be a twenty -five percent (25%) change in the amo unt of child support 7
due rather than[ the] fifteen percent (15%)[ stated above]. 8
(3) (a) Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the decree, 9
provisions for the support of a child shall be terminated by emancipation of 10
the child unless t he child is a high school student when he or she reaches the 11
age of eighteen (18). In cases where the child becomes emancipated because 12
of age, but not due to marriage, while still a high school student, the court -13
ordered support shall continue while the child is a high school student, but not 14
beyond completion of the school year during which the child reaches the age 15
of nineteen (19) years. 16
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or court interpretation, a child 17
support order shall not be entered, c ontinued, or made retroactive for any 18
period after the child has reached the age of eighteen (18), unless the child 19
was under the age of eighteen (18) at the time the action to establish or 20
enforce child support was initiated. 21
(c) Provisions for the suppor t of the child shall not be terminated by the death of 22
a parent obligated to support the child. If a parent obligated to pay support 23
dies, the amount of support may be modified, revoked, or commuted to a 24
lump-sum payment, to the extent just and appropriate in the circumstances. 25
Emancipation of the child shall not terminate the obligation of child support 26
arrearages that accrued while the child was an unemancipated minor. 27
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(4) The child support guidelines table shall be reviewed at least once every four (4) 1
years by a commission consisting of the following persons: 2
(a) The secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services or a supervisory 3
staff person designated by him or her; 4
(b) Two (2) members of the Kentucky Bar Association who have at least six (6) 5
consecutive years' experience and are presently practicing domestic relations 6
cases, one (1) member from a metropolitan or large urban area and one (1) 7
member from a less populated area; 8
(c) Two (2) Circuit Judges appointed by the Chief Justice of the Kent ucky 9
Supreme Court, one (1) from a metropolitan or large urban area, and one (1) 10
from a less populated area; 11
(d) One (1) District Judge appointed by the Chief Justice of the Kentucky 12
Supreme Court; 13
(e) Two (2) county attorneys appointed by the president of the County Attorneys 14
Association, one (1) from a metropolitan or large urban area and one (1) from 15
a less populated area; 16
(f) The Attorney General or his or her designee, who shall be an attorney from 17
his or her office; 18
(g) One (1) person who is a custodial parent; 19
(h) One (1) person who is a noncustodial parent; 20
(i) One (1) person who is a parent with split custody; and 21
(j) One (1) child advocate. 22
The members designated in paragraphs (g) to (j) of thi s subsection shall be 23
appointed by the Governor from a list of three (3) names for each category 24
submitted by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. If the status of one (1) of 25
these members changes, the member shall be replaced through appointment by the 26
Governor from a list of three (3) names submitted by the cabinet. 27
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(5) The commission shall make a recommendation to the Kentucky General Assembly 1
to ensure that the child support guidelines table results in a determination of 2
appropriate child support amounts. 3