Revision: March 3, 2010, midnight
HB 1491 – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
05/10
HOUSE BILL 1491
AN ACT relative to child support and responsibility for extraordinary child-rearing expenses in cases of shared parenting.
SPONSORS: Rep. Gargasz, Hills 5; Rep. B. Richardson, Ches 5
COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law
This bill revises the child support formula in cases where the parents have equal residential responsibility, and requires consideration of extra ordinary child-rearing expenses as part of the child support formula.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2496
05/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to child support and responsibility for extraordinary child-rearing expenses in cases of shared parenting.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Child Support Guidelines; Minimum Support Order. Amend RSA 458-C:2, V to read as follows:
V. “Minimum support order” means an order of support equal to $50 per month, unless the court determines that a lesser amount is appropriate under the particular circumstances of the case. There shall be no minimum support if both parents have an equal child support obligation, as provided in RSA 458-C:3, II-a.
2 New Paragraph; Application of Guidelines; Calculation of Child Support in Cased of Shared Parenting. Amend RSA 458-C:3 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:
II-a.(a) In the case of equal or nearly equal residential responsibility as determined by the parenting plan adopted pursuant to RSA 461-A:4, the child support obligation shall be determined in a separate calculation for each parent and shall take into account any extraordinary child-rearing expenses incurred by either parent during his or her period of residential responsibility. The parent with the greater annual child support obligation shall be designated as the obligor, and the child support owed to the other parent shall be based on the obligor’s annual child support obligation less the annual child support obligation of the other parent. If both parents have an equal annual child support obligation, no child support payment shall be ordered by the court. For purposes of this paragraph, equal or nearly equal residential responsibility means each parent has residential responsibility for between 165 and 183 nights per year.
(b) If the parent with the lesser residential responsibility has such responsibility for more than 126 but less than 165 nights, the child support obligation shall be determined in a separate calculation for each parent by multiplying each parent’s annual net income, as defined in RSA 458-C:2, VI, by the appropriate percentage derived from this section, divided by 365.25, then multiplied by the number of days within the year that the other parent has residential responsibility for the dependent child or children, as specified in the court-approved parenting plan, if any. The parent with the greater annual child support obligation shall be designated as the obligor, and the child support owed to the other parent shall be based on the obligor’s annual child support obligation less the annual child support obligation of the other parent. If both parents have an equal annual child support obligation, no child support payment shall be ordered by the court. The support obligation shall take into account any extraordinary child-rearing expenses incurred by either parent during his or her period of residential responsibility.
3 Child Support Obligation. Amend RSA 458-C:3, II(b)-(c) to read as follows:
(b) The total child support obligation shall be divided between the parents in proportion to their respective incomes as adjusted by this section, except when there are incurred by the obligee child care expenses, or other extraordinary child-rearing expenses, or for the actual amount paid for medical insurance coverage for the minor children to whom the child support order applies.
(c) For those cases involving allowable child care expenses, other extraordinary child-rearing expenses, or medical insurance expenses incurred by the obligee, the same methodology described in subparagraphs (a) and (b) shall be used, except that as part of the determination of each parent's share of the child support obligation, the obligee's allowable child care expenses, other extraordinary child-rearing expenses, or medical insurance expenses shall be deducted from the adjusted gross income of the obligee.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2011.