Provides that a court may order a person charged with the support of a spouse and/or a child who is not employed to submit proof of an employment search of at least ten different places he or she has sought employment; also provides that a court may require this showing every week and provides that a court may hold a person in contempt for failure to submit proof of such an employment search.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
848
2009-2010 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 7, 2009
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONOUGH, ERRIGO -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of
A. SAYWARD -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the family court act, in relation to requiring proof of
employment search in certain support proceedings
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 442 of the family court act, as amended by chapter
2 281 of the laws of 1980, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 442. Order of support by a spouse. 1. If the court finds after a
4 hearing that a husband or wife is chargeable under section four hundred
5 twelve of this article with the support of his or her spouse and is
6 possessed of sufficient means or able to earn such means, the court
7 shall make an order requiring the husband or wife to pay weekly or at
8 other fixed periods a fair and reasonable sum for or towards the support
9 of the other spouse. The court shall require the spouse chargeable with
10 support to make his or her residence known at all times should he or she
11 move from the address last known to the court by reporting such change
12 to the support collection unit designated by the appropriate social
13 services district. Failure to report such change shall subject him or
14 her to the provisions of section four hundred fifty-four of this [act]
15 article.
16 2. If the court finds that a husband or wife chargeable under section
17 four hundred twelve of this article with the support of his or her
18 spouse and finds that he or she does not contribute towards such support
19 because of a lack of employment, the court may order such person to
20 submit to the court, or any agency designated by the court, once a week,
21 on a different day and at a different time each week or at a frequency
22 deemed appropriate by the court, proof, including signatures of persons
23 in charge and telephone numbers, of at least ten different places such
24 person has applied for employment during such period. Failure by such
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01402-01-9
A. 848 2
1 person to submit such required proof of an employment search shall be
2 grounds for the court to hold such person in contempt and impose a pris-
3 on term therefor.
4 § 2. Section 443 of the family court act, as amended by chapter 214 of
5 the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows:
6 § 443. Order of support by parent. 1. If the court finds after a hear-
7 ing that a parent is chargeable under section four hundred thirteen of
8 this [act] article with the support of his or her child and is possessed
9 of sufficient means or able to earn such means, the court shall make an
10 order requiring the parent to pay weekly or at other fixed periods a
11 fair and reasonable sum for or towards the support of such child. Where
12 permitted under federal law and where the record of the proceedings
13 contains such information, the court shall also require the social secu-
14 rity number of such parent to be affixed to such order; provided, howev-
15 er, that no such order shall be invalid because of the omission of such
16 number. Where the record of the proceedings contains such information,
17 such order shall also include on its face the name and address of the
18 employer, if any, of the person chargeable with support provided, howev-
19 er, that failure to comply with this requirement shall not invalidate
20 such order. Where the order of child support or combined child and
21 [spouse] spousal support is made on behalf of persons in receipt of
22 public assistance or in receipt of services pursuant to section one
23 hundred eleven-g of the social services law, the court shall require
24 each party to provide, and update upon any change, the following infor-
25 mation to the court by reporting such change to the support collection
26 unit designated by the appropriate social services district: social
27 security number, residential and mailing addresses, telephone number,
28 driver's license number; and name, address and telephone number of the
29 parties' employers. Due process requirements for notice and service of
30 process for subsequent hearings are met, with respect to such party,
31 upon sending written notice by first class mail to the most recent resi-
32 dential address on record with the support collection unit; or by send-
33 ing by first class mail written notice to the most recent employer
34 address on record with the support collection unit, if a true copy ther-
35 eof also is sent by first class mail to the most recent residential
36 address on record with the support collection unit. Any such order
37 issued on or after the first day of October, nineteen hundred ninety-
38 nine shall also include, where available, the social security number of
39 each child on whose behalf support has been ordered. Failure to report
40 such changes shall subject the parent to the provisions of section four
41 hundred fifty-four of this [act] article.
42 2. If the court finds that a parent is chargeable under section four
43 hundred thirteen of this article with the support of his or her child
44 and finds that he or she does not contribute towards such support
45 because of a lack of employment, the court may order such person to
46 submit to the court, or any agency designated by the court, once a week,
47 on a different day and at a different time each week or at a frequency
48 deemed appropriate by the court, proof, including signatures of persons
49 in charge and telephone numbers of at least ten different places such
50 person has applied for employment during such period. Failure by such
51 person to submit such required proof of an employment search shall be
52 grounds for the court to hold such person in contempt and impose a pris-
53 on term therefor.
54 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
55 have become a law.
