The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Appropriations
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1532
INTRODUCER: Judiciary Committee; Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Committee; and Senator
Book
SUBJECT: Child Support
DATE: April 16, 2021 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Moody Cox CF Fav/CS
2. Ravelo Cibula JU Fav/CS
3. Blizzard Sadberry AP Favorable
Please see Section IX. for Additional Information:
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE - Substantial Changes
I. Summary:
CS/CS/SB 1532 makes numerous changes to the Child Support Program, which is administered
by the Department of Revenue (DOR), Florida’s Title IV-D agency. As the state’s Title IV-D
agency, the DOR is responsible for collecting and enforcing child support. To receive services
from the Child Support Program, families either complete an application for services, or are
automatically referred because a parent is receiving cash or food assistance.
The bill makes the following changes to the Child Support Program:
 Specifies that affidavits of default or a default in payments are not required for Title IV-D
cases to have accounts established in the Clerk of Court Child Support Collection System,
and that Title IV-D payments are processed through the State Disbursement Unit;
 Amends the statements the DOR is required to certify when requesting a consumer report, to
conform to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act;
 Allows notices relating to consumer reports to be made by regular mail instead of by certified
or registered mail;
 Prohibits the state from treating incarceration as voluntary unemployment when a support
order is established or modified, unless limited exceptions apply;
 Codifies how social security dependent benefits affect the amount of child support ordered;
the extent to which the parent receives credit for the benefits; and how a parent obtains credit
for dependent benefits;
 Updates the process for rendering final orders;
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1532 Page 2
 Authorizes the use of electronic notices of garnishment to consenting financial institutions;
 Revises the data exchange process between the DOR and the Department of Financial
Services relating to the use of unclaimed property for past due child support;
 Permits the DOR to transmit confidential and exempt information with limited exception by
unencrypted electronic mail to a parent, caregiver, or other person authorized to receive
information about DOR services upon his or her consent; and
 Requires an entity to report to the State Directory of New Hires nonemployees who perform
services and are paid $600 or more in a calendar year.
Additionally, the bill expands the authorized topics under the parent education and family
stabilization course that is required for parents of minor children seeking a dissolution of
marriage. The bill requires the parents of children with special needs or emotional concerns to
select a course that is tailored towards those needs. Moreover, a court may authorize a parent to
take an additional course covering those needs, separate from the required parent education and
family stabilization course.
The bill has an indeterminate operational fiscal impact to the DOR. However, any impact is
likely insignificant and can be absorbed within existing resources.
The bill is effective October 1, 2021.
II. Present Situation:
Refer to Section III. Effect of Proposed Changes for discussion of the relevant portions of current
law.
III. Effect of Proposed Changes:
Support of Children (Section 1)
Present Situation
Title IV-D cases
Title IV-D (IV-D) refers to Title IV, Part D of the Social Security Act, which is the federally
funded, state administered child support enforcement program.1 The IV-D program is
administered by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), within the United
States Department of Health and Human Services. The OCSE oversees the national child support
program and partners with state and local child support agencies to encourage parental
responsibility so that children receive financial, emotional, and medical support from both
parents, even when they live in separate households.2 The OCSE does not provide services
directly to families, but helps state child support agencies develop, manage, and operate their
child support programs effectively and according to federal law.3
1
42 U.S.C. s. 651, et. seq.
2
Id.
3
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE), An Office of the
Administration for Children & Families, About the Office of Child Support Enforcement, (February 2, 2021) available at
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css/about (last visited Mar. 8, 2021).
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1532 Page 3
As Florida’s IV-D agency,4 the Department of Revenue (DOR) is responsible for collecting and
enforcing child support.5 The Child Support Program provides child support services to over one
million children and collects over a billion dollars in child support each year.6 The Child Support
Program works with parents, employers, financial institutions, the Internal Revenue Service,
state and local agencies, and courts throughout the state to receive timely child support payments
and also works with families and partners to:
 Locate parents, employers, and assets;
 Establish paternity;
 Establish and modify child support orders;
 Collect and disburse child support payments; and
 Monitor and enforce child support orders.7
Child support services are available even if a parent lives in another state or country. To receive
the no-cost services from the Child Support Program, families either complete an application for
services or are automatically referred because a parent is receiving cash or food assistance. 8
The DOR offers child support services in all but two Florida counties, partnering with the State
Attorney’s Office for services in Miami-Dade County and the Manatee County Clerk of Court
for services in Manatee County.9
Depository Role in IV-D Cases
Once a judge orders child support, the obligor may pay the obligee directly or payments can be
made through an Income Withholding Order. If an Income Withholding Order is issued, the
payments will be processed at the State Disbursement Unit (SDU)10 administered by the DOR.
The clerks of courts act as record keepers for payments processed at the SDU. Obligors must
make all child support payments in IV-D cases to the SDU.11
Upon request of the parties, the court may order that child support payments be made through the
depository or directly to the obligee if it is in the child’s best interest.12 If such an order is made,
4
Section 409.2557(1), F.S.
5
See s. 61.13, F.S.
6
The Department of Revenue (DOR), Child Support Program: Overview 2019, p. 6, 19, available at
https://floridarevenue.com/childsupport/Documents/pdf/CS-
1003x_Child_Support_Overview_Presentation_External_2020_FFY_2018-19.pdf (last visited Mar. 8, 2021).
7
Id. at 7.
8
Id. at 5.
9
The DOR, About the Child Support Program, available at
https://floridarevenue.com/childsupport/about_us/Pages/about_us.aspx (last visited Mar. 8, 2021).
10
Section 61.046(20), F.S., provides that the “State Disbursement Unit” means the unit established and operated by the
Title IV-D agency to provide one central address for collection and disbursement of child support payments made in cases
enforced by the DOR pursuant to Title IV-D of the Social Security Act and in cases not being enforced by the DOR in which
the support order was initially issued in this state on or after January 1, 1994, and in which the obligor’s child support
obligation is being paid through income deduction order.
11
Sections 61.1824(1)(a), 61.1824(6), and 409.2559, F.S., and 42 U.S.C. s. 654b(a)(1)(A).
12
Section 61.13(1)(d), F.S.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1532 Page 4
any party or the DOR in an IV-D case may file an affidavit with the depository13 that alleges the
obligor has defaulted on his or her child support payment obligations and that requests the
payments be made through the depository.14 The party must submit a copy of the affidavit to the
court and to all parties.15 Fifteen days after receipt of the affidavit, the depository must notify all
parties that future payments will be paid through the depository, except income deduction
payments must be made through the State Disbursement Unit.16
When a private case with a support order payable directly to the parent who is owed support
becomes an IV-D case, the clerk’s depository must create payment accounts on the Clerk of
Court Child Support Collection System (CLERC System) for payments to be disbursed to the
parent owed support and for the payment data to be sent to the DOR.17 A private case may
become an IV-D case due to either payment of public assistance or because a parent applies for
IV-D services.18
Effect of Bill
The bill amends s. 61.13, F.S., to:
 Specify that payments in IV-D cases must be made to the SDU; and
 Require that, upon notice by the DOR that it is providing IV-D services in a case with an
existing support order, the depository establish a case on the CLERC System and set up the
appropriate payment accounts so that payments can be disbursed by the SDU, regardless of
whether there is a default in payment.
Child Support Guidelines; Retroactive Payments (Section 4)
Present Situation
As the state’s IV-D agency, federal law authorizes the head of the DOR, or its designee, to obtain
consumer reports to determine an individual’s income, establish that individual’s capacity to
make support payments, or determine the appropriate amount of child support the individual
pays. Additionally, s. 61.1354(3), F.S., specifies that, to obtain the information, the head of the
IV-D agency, or its designee, must certify that:19
 The consumer report is needed for the purpose of determining an individual’s income and
establishing an individual’s capacity to make support payments or determining the
appropriate amount of child support payment to be made by the individual;
 Paternity of the child of the individual whose report is sought, if that individual is the father
of the child, has been established or acknowledged pursuant to Florida law;
13
Section 61.046(4), F.S., provides “depository” means the central governmental depository established pursuant to
s. 61.181, F.S., created by special act of the Legislature or other entity established before June 1, 1985, to perform depository
functions and to receive, record, report, disburse, monitor, and otherwise handle alimony and child support payments not
otherwise required to be processed by the State Disbursement Unit.
14
Section 61.13(1)(d)3., F.S.
15
Id.
16
Id.
17
The DOR, Senate Bill 1532 Agency Analysis, p. 2, (March 1, 2021) (on file with the Senate Committee on Children,
Families, and Elder Affairs) (hereinafter cited as “The DOR Analysis”).
18
Id.
19
Section 61.1354(3), F.S.
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 The individual whose report is sought was provided with at least 15 days’ prior notice by
certified or registered mail to the individual’s last known address that the report was
requested; and
 The consumer report will be used solely for the purpose specified.
In DOR v. Jackson,20 the Florida Supreme Court held that a parent may not automatically have
his or her child support payment obligations modified based solely on a reduction in income
resulting from incarceration. The trial court has some discretion, but the child’s interest in
receiving support must generally supersede the obligor parent’s substantial change in
circumstances resulting from incarceration.
The District Courts of Appeal are not in agreement on whether income can be imputed when
determining an initial child support order when the parent is in prison or going to prison.
In McCall v. Martin,21 the Fourth District Court of Appeal (DCA) reversed the trial court’s order
refusing to impute income to the father during his incarceration for committing battery on his
wife, citing his absence of income. Relying on Jackson and Mascola v. Lusskin,22 which was
approved by the Supreme Court in Jackson, the Fourth District held that the father’s child
support order may not be modified based on his incarceration due to a conviction for attempting
to kill the mother to avoid child support.
However, in DOR v. Llamas,23 the First District Court of Appeal affirmed an order declining to
impose a child support obligation upon the father who was going to prison. The First DCA
certified conflict with the Fourth DCA’s opinion in McCall, finding that the administrative law
judge reasonably applied the law and did not abuse his discretion in declining to impute income
to the father. Subsequently, in Wilkerson v. Wilkerson,24 the Fifth DCA aligned itself with
McCall and certified conflict with Llamas, holding that a court does not abuse its discretion in
setting an initial child support obligation by imputing income to an incarcerated parent. The
court in Wilkerson believed that an individual’s actions that lead to incarceration are voluntary
for purposes of s. 61.30(2)(b), F.S., and that s. 61.30, F.S., was not intended to operate as a shield
to avoid having an initial support obligation established while the parent is incarcerated.
In 2016, federal law was amended to prohibit state laws from treating incarceration as voluntary
unemployment for purposes of establishing or modifying child support orders.25 On
September 17, 2020, the U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement proposed two optional
exceptions to allow incarceration to be treated as voluntary unemployment under child support
guidelines, including incarceration which results from:
 Intentional nonpayment of child support resulting from a criminal case or civil contempt
action; or
20
846 So. 2d 486 (Fla. 2003).
21
34 So. 3d 121 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010).
22
727 So. 2d 328 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999).
23
196 So.3d 1267 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016).
24
220 So. 3d 480 (Fla. 5th DCA 2017).
25
45 CFR 302.56(c)(3).
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 Any offense of which the individual’s dependent child or the child support recipient was the
victim.26
Effect of Bill
The bill prohibits treating incarceration as voluntary unemployment when a support order is
established or modified, unless incarceration is for intentional nonpayment of child support or an
offense against a child or person who is owed child support, or the court or administrative
tribunal deviates from the guideline amount as provided under current law. This change will
bring the state guidelines into closer compliance with federal regulations, though state guidelines
would include exemptions not authorized in current regulations. Should the proposed rule
creating limited exceptions for treating incarceration as voluntary unemployment be finalized,
the exception in the bill relating to “willful nonpayment of child support” will be in conflict with
the new federal rule, which may necessitate a future amendment.
The bill also amends s. 61.30(2) and (10), F.S., to be consistent with Florida case law,
specifying:
 Social security benefits received by a minor child due to the retirement or disability of the
child’s parent are considered part of the parent’s gross income for determining child support
obligations.
 A parent is entitled to credit for social security benefits paid directly to the child or the
child’s caregiver when the benefits are paid due to the parent’s retirement or disability.
 The parent’s share of the monthly support obligation is considered paid in full each month
for which such benefits are paid that are equal to or greater than the