Revision: Sept. 25, 2023, 2:37 p.m.
2024 SESSION
24-2039.0
05/10
HOUSE BILL [bill number]
AN ACT relative to the child support guidelines.
SPONSORS: [sponsors]
COMMITTEE: [committee]
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ANALYSIS
This bill revises criteria for the child support guidelines based on the parenting schedule, increases the child support self-support reserve, and revises the method for calculation of child care expenses and the medical support obligation.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2039.0
05/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to the child support guidelines.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Child Support Guidelines; Definition of Eligible Child Care Costs Added. Amend RSA 458-C:2 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:
III-a. “Eligible child care costs” are the costs for child care incurred by either parent, necessitated by the parent’s employment, paid to a mutually acceptable child care provider.
2 New Paragraphs; Child Support Guidelines; Definitions of Parenting Time and Parenting Schedule Added. Amend RSA 458-C:2 by inserting after paragraph VIII-a the following new paragraphs:
VIII-b. “Parenting time” is a period of time when a parent has physical responsibility for their children. “Non-residential parenting time” is parenting time that does not include an overnight.
VIII-c. “Parenting schedule” is a schedule agreed-to by the parents, or ordered by the court, which specifies the days of the week and hours of the day when each parent has parenting time with their children.
(a) An “approximately equal parenting schedule” is a parenting schedule where each parent has residential responsibility for greater than 40 percent of the total annual parenting schedule.
(b) A “substantially shared parenting schedule” is a parenting schedule where each parent has residential responsibility for greater than 35 percent of the total annual parenting schedule.
(c) A “shared parenting schedule” is a parenting schedule where each parent has residential responsibility for at least 15 percent of the total annual parenting schedule.
3 New Paragraph; Child Support Guidelines; Definition of Residential Responsibility Added. Amend RSA 458-C:2 by inserting after paragraph IX the following new paragraph:
IX-a. “Residential responsibility” is a day that includes at least 14 hours of parenting time and an overnight.
4 New Paragraph; Child Support Guidelines; Definition of Substantially Similar Incomes" Added. Amend RSA 458-C:2 by inserting after paragraph X the following new paragraph:
X-a. “Substantially similar incomes” are cases where the difference between the gross monthly incomes of the parents is not greater than 10 percent.
5 Child Support; Self-Support Reserve. Amend RSA 458-C:2, X to read as follows:
X. "Self-support reserve" means [115] 130 percent of the federal poverty guideline for a single person living alone, as determined annually by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
6 Child Support; Child Care Expenses and Medical Support Obligation. Amend RSA 458-C:3, II(b) 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 for the actual amount paid as the medical support obligation, for the minor children to whom the child support order applies, these expenses shall then be prorated between the parties and the obligor-parent’s share of that expense shall be added to the obligor-parent’s support obligation.
7 Child Care Guidelines; Adjustment for Special Circumstances. RSA 458-C:5, I(h) is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
(h) Parenting schedule.
(1) In cases where the parties have agreed to be financially responsible for 50 percent of all eligible child care costs, 50 percent of all uninsured medical expenses for the children, and 50 percent of any agreed-upon extracurricular activities in which the children may participate; and the parties have:
(A) Substantially similar incomes and an approximately equal parenting schedule, there is a presumption that a $0 child support obligation is appropriate.
(B) Substantially similar incomes and a substantially shared parenting schedule, there is a presumption that a deviation from the child support guidelines is appropriate.
(C) Substantially similar incomes and do not have a substantially shared parenting schedule, there is a presumption that the child support guidelines calculation provides the appropriate child support obligation.
(D) Substantially similar incomes but do have an approximately equal or substantially shared parenting schedule, there is a presumption that a deviation from the child support guidelines calculation may or may not provide the appropriate child support obligation. This determination shall be made in the best interest of the children, with the paramount consideration being whether, with any proposed adjustment to the guidelines, 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.
(E) A substantially shared or approximately equal parenting schedule and no extraordinary circumstances, a child support order should not result in the obligee parent having higher adjusted monthly income than the obligor parent, after adjusting for Federal Income Taxes and Social Security and Medicare expenses for each parent, as provided under the current child support guidelines table.
(2) Subparagraph (1) shall not apply in cases where extraordinary circumstances are present, such as the care of a child with significant health issues, long distances between the parents’ residences, or the parent's unusual or unpredictable work schedules, or in cases where there has been a finding of domestic violence, or when the application of the presumption is deemed not to be in the best interest of the children.
8 Repeal. RSA 458-C:3, II(c), relative to calculation of allowable child care expenses and the medical support obligation, is repealed.
9 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.