HB 575 – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
05/04
HOUSE BILL 575
AN ACT relative to the calculation of child support in cases of shared parenting.
SPONSORS: Rep. Gargasz, Hills 5; Rep. Gile, Merr 10
COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law
This bill revises the child support formula in cases where the parents have approximately equal residential responsibility for the child. The bill also grants the court discretion to adjust the child support guidelines under special circumstances based on the parenting schedule generally or based on an agreement between the parents regarding variable, child-related expenses.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0426
05/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT relative to the calculation of child support 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. 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. 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.
3 Adjustments to Child Support Guidelines; Parenting Schedule. Amend RSA 458-C:5, I(h) to read as follows:
(h) Parenting schedule.
[(1) Equal or approximately equal parenting residential responsibilities in and of itself shall not eliminate the need for child support and shall not by itself constitute ground for an adjustment.
(2) In considering requests for adjustments to the application of the child support guidelines based on the parenting schedule, the court may consider the following factors:
(A) Whether, in cases of equal or approximately equal residential responsibility, the parties have agreed to the specific apportionment of variable expenses for the children, including but not limited to education, school supplies, day care, after school, vacation and summer care, extracurricular activities, clothing, health insurance costs and uninsured health costs, and other child-related expenses.
(B) Whether the obligor parent has established that the equal or approximately equal residential responsibility will result in a reduction of any of the fixed costs of child rearing incurred by the obligee parent.
(C) Whether the income of the lower earning parent enables that parent to meet the costs of child rearing in a similar or approximately equal style to that of the other parent.]
4 New Subparagraph; Adjustments to Child Support Guidelines; Variable Expenses. Amend RSA 458-C:5, I by inserting after subparagraph (j) the following new subparagraph:
(k) Whether the parties have agreed to a specific apportionment of variable expenses for the children, including but not limited to education, school supplies, child care, after school, vacation, and summer care, extracurricular activities, clothing, health insurance costs and uninsured health costs, and other child-related expenses.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2012.