No. 27006 (Amendment): R527-231. Review and Adjustment of Child Support Order

DAR File No.: 27006
Filed: 03/17/2004, 10:05
Received by: NL

 

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

This rule is being changed to allow for an exception to doing reviews and modifications on orders when a party is incarcerated.

 

Summary of the rule or change:

This change is to formalize an existing exception to conducting reviews and modifying orders when a parent is incarcerated. The courts traditionally decline to modify downward based on the current income of the incarcerated parent and instead deviate from the statutory guidelines and retain previously set support levels under these circumstances. Office of Recovery Services/Child Support Services (ORS/CSS) pursues new and modified orders based on the statutory guidelines in Sections 78-45-7.2 through 78-45-7.21, which require the use of current or prospective income of the parties. When an attempt is made to petition the court for a modification based on current or prospective income for an incarcerated parent, judges do not accept the new amount because it is typically a lowered amount. The outcome is no modification and the order becomes a deviation from the mandatory guidelines instead of a modification based on actual circumstances. As a result, pursuit of these modifications has proven counter productive for ORS/CSS and the Attorney General's Office. The rule will not require review/adjustment on orders where either parent is incarcerated.

 

State statutory or constitutional authorization for this rule:

Sections 78-45-7.2 through 78-45-21, and 62A-11-320.5 and 62A-11-320.6

 

Anticipated cost or savings to:

the state budget:

No change--To date the Office of the Attorney General has screened these cases on the basis of prior case law and declined to petition courts for downward modifications.

 

local governments:

Administrative rules of the Office of Recovery Services do not apply to local government.

 

other persons:

No change--It will continue to be necessary for incarcerated individuals to pursue actions on their own if they wish to petition courts for downward modifications.

 

Compliance costs for affected persons:

There will be no change. It will continue to be necessary for incarcerated individuals to pursue actions on their own if they wish to petition courts for downward modifications.

 

Comments by the department head on the fiscal impact the rule may have on businesses:

There will be no fiscal impact on businesses due to this rule change.

 

The full text of this rule may be inspected, during regular business hours, at the Division of Administrative Rules, or at:

Human Services
Recovery Services
515 E 100 S
SALT LAKE CITY UT 84102-4211

 

Direct questions regarding this rule to:

Kristen Lowe at the above address, by phone at 801-536-0347, by FAX at 801-536-8833, or by Internet E-mail at [e-mail]

 

Interested persons may present their views on this rule by submitting written comments to the address above no later than 5:00 p.m. on:

05/17/2004

 

This rule may become effective on:

05/18/2004

 

Authorized by:

Emma Chacon, Director

 

 

RULE TEXT

R527. Human Services, Recovery Services.

R527-231. Review and Adjustment of Child Support Order.

R527-231-1. Review and Adjustment of Child Support Order.

1. If the child is within one year of emancipation, the Office of Recovery Services/Child Support Services (ORS/CSS) shall not be required to review the award for potential adjustment.

2. If the location of either parent is unknown, ORS/CSS shall not be required to review the support award for possible adjustment until both parents are located.

3. ORS/CSS shall pursue the setting of statutory child support guideline amounts in review and adjustment proceedings, based on the current and prospective incomes of the parties. If either parent is incarcerated, ORS/CSS shall not be required to review and pursue adjustment of a support award.

[3]4. ORS/CSS shall pursue adjustment of a court order only for child support or medical support provisions. ORS/CSS shall not pursue modification of a court order for custody, visitation, property division or other non-child support related provisions.

[4]5. If the parent requesting the review does not provide the necessary information for ORS/CSS to conduct the review, ORS/CSS shall send notice to the address on record for the requesting and non-requesting parents that the review process will be terminated unless the non-requesting parent requests that the review process continue.

[5]6. If the review process is terminated, ORS/CSS shall not be required to review the order for a period of one year.

 

KEY: child support

[October 18, 1999]2004

Notice of Continuation December 3, 2001

78-45-7.2

62A-11-320.5

62A-11-320.6