What's happening
This bill clarifies that incarceration generally does not count as voluntary unemployment for child support purposes and increases the annual child support service fee from $25 to $35.
Why it matters
The bill ensures that being incarcerated generally will not be treated as a deliberate choice to avoid paying child support, except in cases where incarceration is due to non-payment of child support or crimes against the custodial parent or child. This means incarcerated parents are less likely to be held to the same income assumptions as those who intentionally quit their jobs to avoid obligations, potentially reducing long-term child support debt for those unable to pay while in prison.
Courts are explicitly allowed to consider incarceration as a 'substantial change in circumstances' when parents request modifications to child support orders, unless the incarceration resulted from certain excluded offenses. This could lead to fairer, more realistic child support orders for incarcerated individuals, aligning legal obligations with actual ability to pay and potentially reducing cycles of unpayable debt.
The annual service fee for child support services (for those who never received public assistance) is increased from $25 to $35, and the threshold for when the fee applies is raised from $500 to $550 in support collected per year. This change will slightly increase the cost burden for some families using state child support services, potentially impacting low- and moderate-income custodial parents.
The amendments apply retroactively to any pending child support actions or proceedings, not just new cases. This could immediately affect ongoing cases where an incarcerated parent is seeking a support order modification or where the fee adjustments are relevant, leading to potentially swift changes in how courts address these issues.
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Who cares
Incarcerated parents owing child support
The bill would bar treating incarceration as voluntary unemployment when establishing or modifying support, except when incarceration results from child support nonpayment or an offense against the custodial parent or child covered by the order.
Child support recipients who have never received Title IV-A assistance
The bill would raise the annual fee deducted from support payments from $25 to $35 per case and raise the collection threshold triggering that fee from $500 to $550 per federal fiscal year.
Family Court and matrimonial court judges
The bill would change how they treat incarceration in child support calculations and modification requests, including in pending actions or proceedings.
Child support services administrators
The bill would require them to apply the higher annual service fee and collection threshold for affected cases.
Headline styles
Change Child Support Rules
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Signed chap.313
- Delivered to governor
- Returned to senate
- Passed assembly
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.633
- Substituted for A8344
- Referred to ways and means
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 62–0
- Ordered to third reading cal.1657
- Referred to rules
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Change Child Support Rules
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Tremaine Wright
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6560
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
June 16, 2019
Introduced by Sen. PERSAUD -- (at request of the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance) -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
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 Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Clause (v) of subparagraph 5 of paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 413 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 567 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
(v) an amount imputed as income based upon the parent's former resources or income, if the court determines that a parent has reduced resources or income in order to reduce or avoid the parent's obligation for child support; provided that incarceration shall not be considered voluntary unemployment, unless such incarceration is the result of nonpayment of a child support order, or an offense against the custodial parent or child who is the subject of the order or judgment;
§ 2. Clause (v) of subparagraph 5 of paragraph (b) of subdivision 1-b of section 240 of the domestic relations law, as added by chapter 567 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
(v) an amount imputed as income based upon the parent's former resources or income, if the court determines that a parent has reduced resources or income in order to reduce or avoid the parent's obligation for child support; provided that incarceration shall not be considered voluntary unemployment, unless such incarceration is the result of nonpayment of a child support order, or an offense against the custodial 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
S. 6560 2
§ 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 451 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 373 of the laws of 2014, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The court may modify an order of child support, including an order incorporating without merging an agreement or stipulation of the parties, upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances. Incarceration shall not be considered voluntary unemployment and shall not be a bar to finding a substantial change in circumstances provided such incarceration is not the result of non-payment of a child support order, or an offense against the custodial parent or child who is the subject of the order or judgment.
§ 4. Clause (i) of subparagraph 2 of paragraph (b) of subdivision 9 of part B of section 236 of the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter 182 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
(i) The court may modify an order of child support, including an order incorporating without merging an agreement or stipulation of the parties, upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances. Incarceration shall not be considered voluntary unemployment and shall not be a bar to finding a substantial change in circumstances provided such incarceration is not the result of non-payment of a child support order, or an offense against the custodial parent or child who is the subject of the order or judgment.
§ 5. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 111-g of the social services law, as added by section 1 of part Z of chapter 57 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A person who is receiving child support services pursuant to this section who has never received assistance pursuant to title IV-A of the federal social security act shall be subject to an annual service fee of [twenty-five] thirty-five dollars for each child support case if at least five hundred fifty dollars of support has been collected in the federal fiscal year. Where a custodial parent has children with different noncustodial parents, the order payable by each noncustodial parent shall be a separate child support case for the purpose of imposing an annual service fee. The fee shall be deducted from child support payments received on behalf of the individual receiving services.
§ 6. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to any pending action or proceeding.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
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
Purpose of the bill
This bill would amend the Domestic Relations Law (DRL) and the Family Court Act (FCA) to comply with the provisions of the federal 2016 Flexi- bility, Efficiency and Modernization in Child Support Enforcement Programs regarding the establishment or modification of child support orders for incarcerated noncustodial parents. It would clarify that the incarceration of the child support obligor is not to be treated as voluntary unemployment in either the establishment or modification of a support order unless such incarceration is the result of non-payment of a child support order, or an offense against the custodial parent or child who is the subject of the order or judgment. The bill provides that incarceration shall not be a bar to establish a substantial change in circumstances, barring these exceptions.
This bill would also amend the Social Services Law (SSL) to comply with the mandatory provision of the federal Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 to increase from $25 to $35 the annual service fee for providing child support services in the case of an individual who has never received Title IV-A assistance. In addition, the bill would amend the SSL to comply with the federal requirement to increase from $500 to $550 the amount of support that the State must collect and disburse to the family prior to imposing the fee for each federal fiscal year.
Read the full memo (1,260 words)
Summary of provisions
Section 1 of the bill would amend FCA § 413 to provide that incarcera- tion shall not be considered voluntary unemployment in establishing child support obligations, except in certain situations.
Section 2 of the bill would amend DRL § 240 to provide that incarcera- tion shall not be considered voluntary unemployment in establishing child support obligations, except in certain situations.
Section 3 of the bill would amend FCA § 451 to provide that incarcera- tion shall not be considered voluntary unemployment in modifying child support obligations and shall not be a bar to establish a substantial change in circumstances, except in certain situations.
Section 4 of the bill would amend Part B of DRL § 236 to provide that incarceration shall not be considered voluntary unemployment in modify- ing child support obligations and shall not be a bar to establish a substantial change in circumstances, except in certain situations.
Section 5 of the bill would amend SSL § 111-g to increase the annual service fee imposed on persons who receive child support service s who have never received assistance pursuant to Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act (SSA), from $25 to $35, and to increase the minimum collection requirement from $500 to $550 per federal fiscal year.
Section 6 of the bill would provide that the bill would take effect immediately and would apply to any pending action or proceeding.
Justification
This would implement conforming changes to bring New York State law into compliance with the federal regulatory amendments published in the Flex- ibility, Efficiency and Modernization in Child Support Enforcement Programs ("Final Rule"). The Final Rule provides that states may not treat incarceration as voluntary unemployment in proceedings to estab- lish or modify a child support order. The bill implements this federal requirement and provides that incarceration shall not be a bar to estab- lish a substantial change in circumstance s, unless such incarceration is the result of non-payment of a child support order, or an offense against the custodial parent or child who is the subject of the order or judgment. Because incarceration cannot be treated as voluntary unemploy- ment (except in the enumerated circumstances), support awards for incar- cerated individuals will not be imputed from pre-incarceration earnings. Instead, modification would be based on the incarcerated individual's current financial circumstances. If there is a basis for a modification (see FCA 451 3), the child support guidelines would be applied to the incarcerated individual's current income and assets to determine his or her new support obligation. While incarceration itself would not be grounds for a modification, any significant reduction in the noncusto- dial parent's ability to pay support could be the basis of a downward modification (except in the enumerated circumstances).
Incarcerated parents usually have limited earning ability while in pris- on. Addressing these circumstances at the establishment stage, or through modification of the child support order early in the incarcera- tion, is important considering that the accrual of significant child support debt during that period can interfere with employment success and lead to engagement with the underground economy or nonpayment of support. These parents currently leave incarceration with an average of $20,000 or more in unpaid child support* and annual earnings reduced by 40 percent** This bill also seeks to ensure the right of all parents to seek a review of their child support order when circumstances change. Removing the barriers to obtaining a modification during the period of incarceration would help ensure that orders for incarcerated parents are set based upon the obliger's ability to pay while that person is in jail.
This bill would also amend SSL § 111-g which provides for child support services to individuals not otherwise eligible by virtue of receipt of public benefits. SSL § 111-g currently mandates the $25 annual service fee imposed on persons who receive child support services pursuant to this section of law, who have never received assistance pursuant to Title IV-A of the federal SSA, and to whom at least $500 of child support has been disbursed during the federal fiscal year. Section five of the bill amends SSL . 111-g to comply with a federal mandate requir- ing the increase in the annual fee from $25 to $35 and the increase in the minimum collection requirement for assessment of the fee from $500 to $550 per federal fiscal year. The imposition of the annual service fee is a condition of continued eligibility for funding of the Title IV-D Child Support Program and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Fami- lies (TANF) block grant.
Prior legislative history
This is a new bill. Fiscal implications: Failure to comply with the Title IV-D State Plan requirement to increase the annual support collection fee by January 1, 2020 could subject the State to loss of 66 percent federal financial participation for administrative expenditures by the Child Support Program and a penalty against the TANF block grant.
This federally-mandated change to the service fees is expected to increase the annual amount of program fee revenue from custodial parents by $1.5 million, from $3.8 million to $5.3 million. The social services districts would retain 34 percent, or $1.8 million, of this revenue for administrative relief, an increase of approximately $500,000 over current levels. The remaining 66 percent of the fee revenue would be retained by the Federal Government.
Effective date
The bill provides for an immediate effective date and would apply to any pending action or proceeding. * National Conference of State Legislatures, Child Support and Incarcer- ation, 2016 available at httpliwww.ncsi.orgiresearch/human- servicesichild-support-and- incarceration.aspx. ** U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement, Division of Policy and Training, "Jobs not Jail Infograph- ic", published October 2015 on the OCSE website at https://www.acf.hhs.govisitesidefault/ffies/Programsicssijobs not rail final 10 02.pdf and Collateral Costs: Incarceration's Effect on Economic Mobility. The Pew Charitable Trusts. (2010, September), available at: http://www.pewtrusts.oreimedia/legacv/uploadedfiles/pcs assets/2010/collateralcosts1pdf.pdf.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.