Revision: March 8, 2016, midnight
\t \t\tHB 1117 - AS INTRODUCED
2016 SESSION
\t16-2125
\t05/03
HOUSE BILL\t1117
AN ACT\testablishing a child support maximum under the guidelines based on the parents' combined income.
SPONSORS:\tRep. Edelblut, Hills. 38
COMMITTEE:\tChildren and Family Law
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ANALYSIS
\tThis bill caps the child support guidelines in cases where the parents' combined net income exceeds $150,000. The bill also revises the child support calculation based on the allocation of parenting time and financial responsibility for the children.
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Explanation:\tMatter added to current law appears in bold italics.
\t\tMatter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
\t16-2125
\t05/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\testablishing a child support maximum under the guidelines based on the parents' combined income.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t1 Child Support Formula; Cap. Amend RSA 458-C:3, I to read as follows:
\t\tI.(a) The child support guidelines shall be based on the following:
Percent of Combined Net Income Devoted to Child Support
Net income \t1 Child \t2 Children\t3 Children\t4 or more Children
$15,000 or less \t25.6 percent\t35.5 percent\t42.5 percent \t45 percent
$25,000 \t25 \t35\t42 \t44.5
$35,000 \t24 \t33.5 \t40.5 \t43
$50,000 \t23 \t31.5 \t38 \t40.5
$60,000 \t22 \t30.5 \t36.5 \t39
$70,000 \t21.5 \t30 \t36 \t38.5
$80,000 \t21 \t29 \t35 \t37.5
$90,000 \t21 \t28.5 \t34.5 \t37
$100,000 \t20 \t27.5\t33 \t35.5
[$125,000 or more \t19 \t26 \t31 \t33.5 ]
$110,000\t19.5\t27\t32.5\t35
$120,000\t19\t26.5\t32\t34.5
$130,000\t18.5\t26\t31.5\t34
$140,000\t18\t25.5\t31\t33.5
$150,000\t19\t26\t31\t33.5
\t\t\t(b) For net income amounts over $150,000, the child support amount shall be:
\t\t\t\t(1) One child: $28,500.
\t\t\t\t(2) Two children: $39,000.
\t\t\t\t(3) Three children: $46,500.
\t\t\t\t(4) Four or more children: $50,250.
\t\t\t(c) The department of health and human services shall the adjust child support amounts in subparagraph (b) not less than once every 5 years for inflation based on the federal Consumer Price Index (CPI).
\t\t\t(d) Theses guidelines are calculated up to a maximum combined available annual gross income of the parties of $150,000. In cases where combined available income is over $150,000, the guidelines should be applied on the first $150,000 in the same proportion as the obligee’s and obligor’s actual net income as defined in RSA 458-C:2, VI. In cases where income exceeds this limit, the court shall consider the award of support at the $150,000 level as the presumptive order. The child support obligation for the portion of combined available income that exceeds $150,00 shall be in the discretion of the court subject to a rebuttable presumption that the child support amount in subparagraph (b) is appropriate.
\t\t\t[[(b)] (e) The department of health and human services shall calculate and publish a schedule of child support amounts using the table in subparagraph (a). The schedule shall provide child support amounts in $1,000 increments of combined net income, with a directly proportional change in the percentage of combined net income devoted to child support based on income level and number of children. The department shall determine the fractional percentage between each income level by interpolating between the percentages within each column of the table under subparagraph (a). Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the department from publishing child support guidelines in increments of less than $1,000, based on the schedule and formula provided in this section.
\t2 Child Support Formula; Parenting Time and Financial Responsibility. RSA 458-C:3, II(b) is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
\t\t\t(b)(1) These guidelines recognize that children should enjoy parenting time with both parents to the greatest extent possible consistent with the children’s best interests.
\t\t\t\t(2) Where 2 parents share equal, or approximately equal, financial responsibility and parenting time for the children, any order for child support shall be equalized by calculating the child support guidelines with one parent as the obligor, and the other as obligee. The calculation shall then be repeated, but calculated as the first with one parent as the obligor, and second with the other parent as the obligee, and the difference in the calculations shall be paid to the parent with the lower calculated amount to be paid.
\t\t\t\t(3) Where parenting time and financial responsibility are shared in a proportion greater than 1/3, but less than 50 percent, the child support guidelines shall be calculated first with one parent as the obligor, and second as if the parties shared custody equally. The average of the base child support and the shared custody cross calculation shall be the child support amount paid to the obligee.
\t\t\t\t(4) These guidelines are based upon the children having a primary residence with one parent and spending approximately 1/3 of the time with the other parent. If parenting time is less than 1/3 for the parent who is not the residential parent, the court may consider an upward adjustment to the amount provided under the child support guidelines.
\t\t\t\t(5) Where there is more than one child covered by this order and each parent provides a primary residence for one or more of these children, child support shall be determined by calculating the child support guidelines twice, first with one parent as the obligee using the number of children in his or her care, and second with the other parent as the obligee using the number of children in his or her care. The difference in the calculations shall be paid to the parent with the lower weekly support amount.
\t3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2017.