H-3722.1

HOUSE BILL 2302

ByRepresentative Kilduff

AN ACT Relating to child support, but only with respect to standards for determination of income, abatement of child support for incarcerated obligors, modification of administrative orders, and notices of support owed; amending RCW 26.19.011, 26.19.071, 26.23.050, 74.20A.055, 74.20A.056, 74.20A.059, 26.09.170, and 26.23.110; reenacting and amending RCW 74.20A.056; adding new sections to chapter 26.09 RCW; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 26.19.011 and 2005 c 282 s 35 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Basic child support obligation" means the monthly child support obligation determined from the economic table based on the parties' combined monthly net income and the number of children for whom support is owed.

(2) "Child support schedule" means the standards, economic table, worksheets, and instructions, as defined in this chapter.

(3) "Court" means a superior court judge, court commissioner, and presiding and reviewing officers who administratively determine or enforce child support orders.

(4) "Deviation" means a child support amount that differs from the standard calculation.

(5) "Economic table" means the child support table for the basic support obligation provided in RCW 26.19.020.

(6) "Full-time" means the customary number of maximum, nonovertime hours worked in an individual's historical occupation, industry, and labor market. "Full-time" does not necessarily mean forty hours per week.

(7) "Instructions" means the instructions developed by the administrative office of the courts pursuant to RCW 26.19.050 for use in completing the worksheets.

(((7)))(8) "Standards" means the standards for determination of child support as provided in this chapter.

(((8)))(9) "Standard calculation" means the presumptive amount of child support owed as determined from the child support schedule before the court considers any reasons for deviation.

(((9)))(10) "Support transfer payment" means the amount of money the court orders one parent to pay to another parent or custodian for child support after determination of the standard calculation and deviations. If certain expenses or credits are expected to fluctuate and the order states a formula or percentage to determine the additional amount or credit on an ongoing basis, the term "support transfer payment" does not mean the additional amount or credit.

(((10)))(11) "Worksheets" means the forms developed by the administrative office of the courts pursuant to RCW 26.19.050 for use in determining the amount of child support.

Sec. 2. RCW 26.19.071 and 2011 1st sp.s. c 36 s 14 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Consideration of all income. All income and resources of each parent's household shall be disclosed and considered by the court when the court determines the child support obligation of each parent. Only the income of the parents of the children whose support is at issue shall be calculated for purposes of calculating the basic support obligation. Income and resources of any other person shall not be included in calculating the basic support obligation.

(2) Verification of income. Tax returns for the preceding two years and current paystubs shall be provided to verify income and deductions. Other sufficient verification shall be required for income and deductions which do not appear on tax returns or paystubs.

(3) Income sources included in gross monthly income. Except as specifically excluded in subsection (4) of this section, monthly gross income shall include income from any source, including:

(a) Salaries;

(b) Wages;

(c) Commissions;

(d) Deferred compensation;

(e) Overtime, except as excluded for income in subsection (4)(i) of this section;

(f) Contract-related benefits;

(g) Income from second jobs, except as excluded for income in subsection (4)(i) of this section;

(h) Dividends;

(i) Interest;

(j) Trust income;

(k) Severance pay;

(l) Annuities;

(m) Capital gains;

(n) Pension retirement benefits;

(o) Workers' compensation;

(p) Unemployment benefits;

(q) Maintenance actually received;

(r) Bonuses;

(s) Social security benefits;

(t) Disability insurance benefits; and

(u) Income from self-employment, rent, royalties, contracts, proprietorship of a business, or joint ownership of a partnership or closely held corporation.

(4) Income sources excluded from gross monthly income. The following income and resources shall be disclosed but shall not be included in gross income:

(a) Income of a new spouse or new domestic partner or income of other adults in the household;

(b) Child support received from other relationships;

(c) Gifts and prizes;

(d) Temporary assistance for needy families;

(e) Supplemental security income;

(f) Aged, blind, or disabled assistance benefits;

(g) Pregnant women assistance benefits;

(h) Food stamps; and

(i) Overtime or income from second jobs beyond forty hours per week averaged over a twelve-month period worked to provide for a current family's needs, to retire past relationship debts, or to retire child support debt, when the court finds the income will cease when the party has paid off his or her debts.

Receipt of income and resources from temporary assistance for needy families, supplemental security income, aged, blind, or disabled assistance benefits, and food stamps shall not be a reason to deviate from the standard calculation.

(5) Determination of net income. The following expenses shall be disclosed and deducted from gross monthly income to calculate net monthly income:

(a) Federal and state income taxes;

(b) Federal insurance contributions act deductions;

(c) Mandatory pension plan payments;

(d) Mandatory union or professional dues;

(e) State industrial insurance premiums;

(f) Court-ordered maintenance to the extent actually paid;

(g) Up to five thousand dollars per year in voluntary retirement contributions actually made if the contributions show a pattern of contributions during the one-year period preceding the action establishing the child support order unless there is a determination that the contributions were made for the purpose of reducing child support; and

(h) Normal business expenses and self-employment taxes for self-employed persons. Justification shall be required for any business expense deduction about which there is disagreement.

Items deducted from gross income under this subsection shall not be a reason to deviate from the standard calculation.

(6) Imputation of income. The court shall impute income to a parent when the parent is voluntarily unemployed or voluntarily underemployed. The court shall determine whether the parent is voluntarily underemployed or voluntarily unemployed based upon that parent's ((work history, education,))assets, residence, employment and earnings history, job skills, educational attainment, literacy, health, ((and)) age, criminal record, dependency court obligations, and other employment barriers, record of seeking work, the local job market, the availability of employers willing to hire the parent, the prevailing earnings level in the local community, or any other relevant factors. A court shall not impute income to a parent who is gainfully employed on a full-time basis, unless the court finds that the parent is voluntarily underemployed and finds that the parent is purposely underemployed to reduce the parent's child support obligation. Income shall not be imputed for an unemployable parent. Income shall not be imputed to a parent to the extent the parent is unemployed or significantly underemployed due to the parent's efforts to comply with court-ordered reunification efforts under chapter 13.34 RCW or under a voluntary placement agreement with an agency supervising the child. ((In))

(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, in the absence of records of a parent's actual earnings, the court shall impute a parent's income in the following order of priority:

(((a)))(i) Full-time earnings at the current rate of pay;

(((b)))(ii) Full-time earnings at the historical rate of pay based on reliable information, such as employment security department data;

(((c)))(iii) Full-time earnings at a past rate of pay where information is incomplete or sporadic;

(((d)))(iv) Earnings of thirty-two hours per week at minimum wage in the jurisdiction where the parent resides if the parent is on or recently coming off temporary assistance for needy families or recently coming off aged, blind, or disabled assistance benefits, pregnant women assistance benefits, essential needs and housing support, supplemental security income, or disability, has recently been released from incarceration, or is a recent high school graduate. Imputation of earnings at thirty-two hours per week under this subsection is a rebuttable presumption;

(v) Full-time earnings at minimum wage in the jurisdiction where the parent resides if the parent has a recent history of minimum wage earnings, ((is recently coming off public assistance, aged, blind, or disabled assistance benefits, pregnant women assistance benefits, essential needs and housing support, supplemental security income, or disability, has recently been released from incarceration, or is a high school student))has never been employed and has no earnings history, or has no significant earnings history;

(((e)))(vi) Median net monthly income of year-round full-time workers as derived from the United States bureau of census, current population reports, or such replacement report as published by the bureau of census.

(2) The legislature finds that these child support debts are often uncollectible and unduly burdensome on a recently released justice-involved individual, and that such debts severely impact the ability of the person required to pay support to have a successful reentry and reintegration into society.

(3) The legislature finds that there is case law in Washington, In re Marriage of Blickenstaff, 71 Wn. App. 489, 859 P.2d 646 (1993), providing that incarceration does not equate to voluntary unemployment or voluntary underemployment.

(4) The legislature finds that there is a statewide movement to assist justice-involved individuals reenter and reintegrate into society, and to reduce state-caused pressures which tend to lead to recidivism and a return to jail or prison.

(5) The legislature finds that, although there is currently a statutory process for modification of child support orders, it is in the best interests of the children of the state of Washington to create an automatic process of abatement instead of making it the sole responsibility of the justice-involved person to take action to deal with his or her child support obligation while incarcerated.

(6) The legislature intends, therefore, to create a remedy whereby court or administrative orders for child support entered in Washington state may be automatically abated when the person required to pay support is incarcerated for at least six months and has no income or assets available to pay support.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 26.09 RCW to read as follows:

(1) When a child support order contains language providing for automatic abatement based on incarceration of the person required to pay child support, there is a rebuttable presumption that an incarcerated person is unable to pay the child support obligation. Unless the presumption is rebutted, the provisions of subsection (3) of this