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A09505 Summary:

A09505 Actions:

A09505 Committee Votes:

Committee:JUDICIARY   Chair:Lavine      
DATE:03/19/2024AYE/NAY:14/6  Action: Favorable         
Lavine
Aye
Tannousis
Nay
Zebrowski
Aye
Norris
Nay
Weprin
Aye
Walsh
Nay
Braunstein
Aye
Byrnes
Nay
Steck
Aye
Brown
Nay
Seawright
Aye
Flood
Nay
Wallace
Aye
Walker
Absent
Cruz
Aye
McMahon
Aye
Mitaynes
Aye
Rajkumar
Aye
Simon
Aye
Sayegh
Aye
Lunsford
Aye

A09505 Floor Votes:

A09505 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A9505
 
SPONSOR: McMahon

 
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
 
 
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
 
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
 
This bill would update the New York State child support guidelines to
conform to the Federal Regulations allowing for discretion to consider
specific circumstances.
 
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
 
Sections one through four of this bill would amend various sections of
the family court act and domestic relations law relating to factors
which judges may evaluate when determining the amount of income that may
be attributed or imputed for the purposes of determining child support
payments.
 
Sections five through eight would amend the family court and domestic
relations law to remove the exceptions allowing for consideration of
incarceration to be voluntary in determining child support orders.
 
Section 9 would set forth the effective date.
 
 
JUSTIFICATION:
 
These changes are necessary to bring New York State into conformity with
the Federal Regulations regarding child support calculation procedures
and factors which a court may consider when determining child support
orders.
 
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
 
New bill.
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
 
None.
 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

A09505 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          9505
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     March 15, 2024
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by M. of A. McMAHON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Judiciary
 
        AN ACT to amend the family court act and the domestic relations law,  in
          relation to establishment and modification of child support orders
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Clause (iv) of subparagraph 5 of paragraph (b) of  subdivi-
     2  sion 1 of section 413 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 567
     3  of the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
     4    (iv) at the discretion of the court, the court may attribute or impute
     5  income  from[,]  such other resources as may be available to the parent,
     6  including, but not limited to:
     7    (A) non-income producing assets,
     8    (B) meals, lodging, memberships, automobiles or other perquisites that
     9  are provided as part of compensation for employment to the  extent  that
    10  such  perquisites  constitute  expenditures  for  personal use, or which
    11  expenditures directly or [indirecly] indirectly confer personal economic
    12  benefits,
    13    (C) fringe benefits provided as part of compensation  for  employment,
    14  and
    15    (D) money, goods, or services provided by relatives and friends;
    16    In determining the amount of income that may be attributed or imputed,
    17  the  court  shall  consider the specific circumstances of the parent, to
    18  the extent known, including such factors as the parent's  assets,  resi-
    19  dence,  employment  and earning history, job skills, educational attain-
    20  ment, literacy, age, health, criminal record and other employment barri-
    21  ers, record of seeking work, the local job market, the  availability  of
    22  employers  willing  to hire the parent, prevailing earnings level in the
    23  local community, and other relevant background factors such as the  age,
    24  number,  needs,  and  care  of the children covered by the child support
    25  order. Attribution or imputation  of  income  shall  be  accompanied  by
    26  specific written findings identifying the basis or bases for such deter-
    27  mination utilizing factors required or permitted to be considered pursu-
    28  ant to this clause;
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14925-01-4
        A. 9505                             2
 
     1    § 2. Clause (iv) of subparagraph 5 of paragraph (b) of subdivision 1-b
     2  of section 240 of the domestic relations law, as added by chapter 567 of
     3  the laws of 1989, is amended to read as follows:
     4    (iv) at the discretion of the court, the court may attribute or impute
     5  income  from[,]  such other resources as may be available to the parent,
     6  including, but not limited to:
     7    (A) non-income producing assets,
     8    (B) meals, lodging, memberships, automobiles or other perquisites that
     9  are provided as part of compensation for employment to the  extent  that
    10  such  perquisites  constitute  expenditures  for  personal use, or which
    11  expenditures directly or [indirecly] indirectly confer personal economic
    12  benefits,
    13    (C) fringe benefits provided as part of compensation  for  employment,
    14  and
    15    (D) money, goods, or services provided by relatives and friends;
    16    In determining the amount of income that may be attributed or imputed,
    17  the  court  shall  consider the specific circumstances of the parent, to
    18  the extent known, including such factors as the parent's  assets,  resi-
    19  dence,  employment  and earning history, job skills, educational attain-
    20  ment, literacy, age, health, criminal record and other employment barri-
    21  ers, record of seeking work, the local job market, the  availability  of
    22  employers  willing  to hire the parent, prevailing earnings level in the
    23  local community, and other relevant background factors such as the  age,
    24  number,  needs,  and  care  of the children covered by the child support
    25  order. Attribution or imputation  of  income  shall  be  accompanied  by
    26  specific written findings identifying the basis or bases for such deter-
    27  mination utilizing factors required or permitted to be considered pursu-
    28  ant to this clause;
    29    § 3. Paragraph (k) of subdivision 1 of section 413 of the family court
    30  act,  as  amended by chapter 567 of the laws of 1989, is amended to read
    31  as follows:
    32    (k) When a party has defaulted and/or the court is otherwise presented
    33  with insufficient evidence to determine gross income, [the  court  shall
    34  order  child  support  based upon the needs or standard of living of the
    35  child, whichever is greater] the support obligation shall  be  based  on
    36  available information about the specific circumstances of the parent, in
    37  accordance  with  clause  (iv)  of subparagraph five of paragraph (b) of
    38  this subdivision. Such order may be retroactively modified upward, with-
    39  out a showing of change in circumstances.
    40    § 4. Paragraph (k) of subdivision 1-b of section 240 of  the  domestic
    41  relations  law,  as added by chapter 567 of the laws of 1989, is amended
    42  to read as follows:
    43    (k) When a party has defaulted and/or the court is otherwise presented
    44  with insufficient evidence to determine gross income, [the  court  shall
    45  order  child  support  based upon the needs or standard of living of the
    46  child, whichever is greater] the support obligation shall  be  based  on
    47  available information about the specific circumstances of the parent, in
    48  accordance  with  clause  (iv)  of subparagraph five of paragraph (b) of
    49  this subdivision. Such order may be retroactively modified upward, with-
    50  out a showing of change in circumstances.
    51    § 5. Clause (v) of subparagraph 5 of paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of
    52  section 413 of the family court act, as amended by chapter  313  of  the
    53  laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
    54    (v)  an  amount  imputed  as  income  based  upon  the parent's former
    55  resources or income, if the court determines that a parent  has  reduced
    56  resources  or income in order to reduce or avoid the parent's obligation
        A. 9505                             3
 
     1  for child support; provided that incarceration shall not  be  considered
     2  voluntary  unemployment[,  unless  such  incarceration  is the result of
     3  non-payment of a child support order, or an offense against  the  custo-
     4  dial parent or child who is the subject of the order or judgment];
     5    §  6. Clause (v) of subparagraph 5 of paragraph (b) of subdivision 1-b
     6  of section 240 of the domestic relations law, as amended by chapter  313
     7  of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
     8    (v)  an  amount  imputed  as  income  based  upon  the parent's former
     9  resources or income, if the court determines that a parent  has  reduced
    10  resources  or income in order to reduce or avoid the parent's obligation
    11  for child support; provided that incarceration shall not  be  considered
    12  voluntary  unemployment[,  unless  such  incarceration  is the result of
    13  non-payment of a child support order, or an offense against  the  custo-
    14  dial parent or child who is the subject of the order or judgment];
    15    § 7. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 451 of the family court
    16  act,  as  amended by chapter 313 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read
    17  as follows:
    18    (a) The court may modify an order of child support, including an order
    19  incorporating  without  merging  an  agreement  or  stipulation  of  the
    20  parties,  upon  a  showing  of  a  substantial  change in circumstances.
    21  Incarceration shall not be considered voluntary unemployment  and  shall
    22  not  be a bar to finding a substantial change in circumstances [provided
    23  such incarceration is not the result of non-payment of a  child  support
    24  order,  or  an  offense against the custodial parent or child who is the
    25  subject of the order or judgment].
    26    § 8. Clause (i) of subparagraph 2 of paragraph b of subdivision  9  of
    27  part B of section 236 of the domestic relations law, as amended by chap-
    28  ter 313 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
    29    (i) The court may modify an order of child support, including an order
    30  incorporating  without  merging  an  agreement  or  stipulation  of  the
    31  parties, upon a  showing  of  a  substantial  change  in  circumstances.
    32  Incarceration  shall  not be considered voluntary unemployment and shall
    33  not be a bar to finding a substantial change in circumstances  [provided
    34  such  incarceration  is not the result of non-payment of a child support
    35  order, or an offense against the custodial parent or child  who  is  the
    36  subject of the order or judgment].
    37    §  9.  This  act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply to any
    38  action or proceeding pending upon or commenced on or after  such  effec-
    39  tive date.

A09505 LFIN:

 
NO LFIN

A09505 Chamber Video/Transcript: