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Child Support Project

Child Support in the News

State Watch
Legal News
Family Law
Proposed Legislation
High Profile Child Support

Kentucky's Community Corrections Program has collected $31,607 in child support, restitution, and fines since its inception in 1992. The program was created to provide services through public and private agencies for offenders as part of their sentencing. Participants work to pay of debts, under the condition that if they fail to come to work they will go to jail.

The Louisiana legislature passed a law on February 1^st that gives the Department of Social Services the authority to administratively suspend occupational, hunting, fishing and drivers' licenses for the failure to pay support. Previously only judges had that authority.

New Mexico's Department of Human Services received a $1 million federal grant to investigate some of the state's worst child support debt cases. Because New Mexico requires payments retroactive to birth, the back support debt has reached $750 million.

The California Department of Child Support Services, formed in 1999, is now collecting a record $2 billion a year from noncustodial parents. The department has more than doubled the average amount of child support collected per case in 1996. The legislature required the agency to focus on collecting current support in order to help keep families off public assistance, and now about two-thirds of collected support goes directly to families. The department has also increased the number of cases where paternity is established, the number of children covered by health insurance, and customer service has improved.

The U.S. Department of Labor highlighted the Non-Custodial Project in Shawnee County Kansas at a national conference. The project matches delinquent parents with jobs and is the result of a collaboration between judges, job training and program administrators and attorneys. Parents in arrears consent to participate, and the county selects a job for them via a work-release program. Parents face jail time if they do not meet the conditions of the agreement. The program has collected over $50,000.

Nebraska's newly implemented state disbursement unit is getting caught up with the mail, but the phone system is not functioning as it should. The state switched to a state run system in late December to avoid a $5 million federal fine. Turnaround time for checks has been slower than under the county system, and the office of Health and Human Services reports problems with the phones, including long waits and disconnections, possibly caused by the high call volume. The agency is working to fix the problem.

A New York appellate court ruled a child support award determined by a Jewish arbitration panel inadequate. The child's agreed that the tribunal's decision would be binding, but the mother appealed the amount. The appellate court ruled that although child support awards can be arbitrated, they are subject to judicial review and may be vacated if they are contrary to public policy, and not in the child's best interests. This is the first case in a New York court where a binding arbitration result has been vacated.

A Virginia appeals court ruled that divorced couples do not have to go back to court for every change in child support, as long as changes are in the child's best interest. The unanimous decision stated that requiring parents to return to court for modifications "would undermine (Virginia's) policy in favor of promoting resolution disputes concerning the maintenance and care of children upon divorce".

A district court in Maine ruled that the presumed father of a three year-old child is no longer obligated to pay child support, after DNA testing proved he is not her biological father. The man was under court order to pay more than $10,000 in delinquent support, and had his license suspended. When the child was placed in foster care last fall, the man attempted to obtain custody, but the state ordered paternity test determined he was not the father and he was refused visitation. DHS stated that the court sometimes refuses to lift child support obligations when a paternity is disestablished, but those cases usually involve someone who continued to support or have a relationship with the child. The child's biological father has been located.

A Court of Appeals in Michigan overturned a county court decision that required a mother to allow visitation between her daughter and her ex-husband's mother. The appellate court ruled that state's grandparent visitation law is unconstitutional, stating that it does not provide legislative guidance beyond "the best interest of a child" and that it gives no deference to parental decision making. The court cited Troxel v. Granville, a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court case, as precedent. Troxel restricted the circumstances in which a third party could be granted visitation with a child. Michigan's grandparent visitation statute is restricted to custody matters that are before the court or when one parent is deceased, and then allows visitation if the judge finds it to be in the child's best interest.

The California Supreme Court agreed to review a case that could make an adoption by same-sex couples legal. Called "second-parent adoptions", these allow a biological parent's partner parental rights. This cases involved a lesbian couple with two children. When they split, the mother withdrew her consent to adoption of the children by her partner. A trial judge ruled that the mother had waited too long to withdraw consent, however an appeals court found there was no law allowing the adoption to take place. This ruling will affect thousands of California two parent adoptions.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) announced its support for adoption by same-sex couples, claiming "there's no existing data to support the widely held belief that there are negative outcomes " for children raised by gay parents. The statement went on to say there was "no basis on which to assume that a parental homosexual orientation will increase likelihood of or induce a homosexual orientation in a child". The AAP said its involvement in the issue has increased because gay households are becoming more common and doctors are often confronted with related issues, such as granting permission for medical procedures and health insurance. Critics suggest that the studies on this topic are flawed and motivated by political agendas.

Legislators in Colorado are considering a bill that would seal divorce records. SB 49 would keep confidential all but the most basic information in divorce records. Supporters of the legislation say it is needed to keep financial information private. Opponents are concerned about sealing public records. The bill has passed the Senate and is now being examined in a House committee.

The West Virginia Senate passed SB 448, which would require family law judges in child custody cases to consider the child's need for access to both parents and provide equal access for parents unless it would damage the child. The proposed legislation places the burden of proof on parents that are seeking sole custody and would require them to show why the other parent should not have access to the child. The House is considering the bill.

Michigan's House of Representatives examined a bill that would establish a Marriage and Fatherhood Commission, designed to collect and dispense information on programs that support marriages and paternal involvement.

A South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee task force expanded the guardian ad litem (GAL) standards set by the state supreme court last fall. SB 322 proposes to cap the amount GAL's can charge at, and the task force has considered recommended that GAL's be required to fulfill training requirements and file written reports.

The Kansas legislature considered SB 173 that would limit no-fault divorce for couples with children, no longer allowing a spouse to leave a marriage without one of nine specific fault grounds for divorce. The bill was not passed.

Victoria Gotti, daughter of John Gotti and best selling novelist, was granted a divorce from her imprisoned husband. Her attorney stated that she plans to ask for an increase in child support for their three sons. She currently receives approximately $18,600 a month.

Shawn Kemp, whose annual salary with the Portland Trailblazers is $12.66 million, has been ordered to pay $20,000 a month, up from $2,500, after the mother of his son petitioned a county court. The new amount is temporary, until a final amount is decided.

Keith Hamilton, of the New York Giants, is being sued for child support. Rosita Collaaza, mother of Hamilton's two children, is asking for child support payments, a car, and school tuition for their children.

Actor Wesley Snipes was served with a paternity lawsuit in New York, although court records containing details of the suit are sealed. Snipes already shares custody of a 13-year old son.

Lisa Bonder Kerkorkian, ex-wife of Kirk Kerkorkian, asked for the biggest child support award ever in the state of California. Ms. Kerkorkian requested $320,000 a month for the care of their 3 year old daughter, inlcuding $144,000 for travel, $1,000 for toys, videos, and books and $4,300 for food. Mr. Kerkorkian is ranked the 46^th-richest person in the world by Forbes magazine. He has claimed he is not the biological father of the girl, but says he wants to continue supporting her, asking that the court not increase the $50,000 a month he currently pays.