Amendments for 2016 Indiana Child Support Guidelines open for public comment until 11 August 2015

The public comment period for providing input on the proposed amendments to the Indiana Child Support Guidelines [ICSG] in Tuesday 11 August 2015. I have provided a link to the website as well as some guidance for making comments in the recent posting Providing Public Comment on Proposed 2016 Indiana Child Support Guidelines.

I recently briefly discussed this issue on WIBC 93.1 FM. A link to that interview is available here.

The Domestic Relations Committee [DRC], the judicial body responsible for writing the ICSG, met in regular session on 17 July 2015. At that meeting a folder containing 465 pages of public comment was distributed to the members. Members had been reading comments prior to the meeting. During the meeting revisions were made to the proposed amendments based upon comments received. Members also discussed whether to make some substantive changes based upon the input received from the public.

The majority of the comments related to matters such as the change in the emancipation age or health insurance coverage. Those matters, however, reflect bringing the guidelines into compliance with legislative mandates and are not discretionary on the part of the judiciary which promulgates the ICSG.

While decisions regarding the proposed changes are not based upon popularity it does help the DRC members to know whether an issue raised by members of the public are unique to an individual case or are broadly applicable. For this reason not all comments need provide novel ideas.

The revised ICSG are expected to be adopted by the Indiana Supreme Court by 01 March 2016. Parents should use the Child Support Calculator at that time to determine if a modification is necessary. Indiana Code 31-16-8-1 requires that the amount of support calculated deviate by at least 20% and that no less than one year has elapsed since the last child support payment order was issued or that the circumstances have changed to such a degree that the current order is unreasonable.

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Domestic Relations Committee meets to amend 2015 Indiana Child Support Guidelines

The Domestic Relations Committee [DRC] of the Indiana Judicial Center met in regular session Thursday 19 March 2015 on the first of two consecutive days. The DRC has been working on amending the Indiana Child Support Guidelines [ICSG] following their last project which was the review of the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines [IPTG] which became effective as amended on 01 March 2013. The amended ICSG should be promulgated later this year. By federal law the state is required to review its child support guidelines every four years and take public input.[en1] Public input was received by the DRC on 16 May 2014. Dr Betson who is a professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame has also been providing input throughout the review process.

Thursday Dr Betson’s presentation was on calculating support for prior born children and additional children. Indiana uses an income shares model for calculating child support payments for one child. In the case of prior born children and additional children a percentage of income model is used as shown in the Commentary to Guideline 3C. Dr Betson has demonstrated that the current support calculations for additional children exceeds what is necessary for support of the children when income is over $1000/wk. The model is based upon the percentage of parental income averaging 13%. The current ICSG create a substantial deficiency when incomes <$500/wk and is highly excessive for incomes >$2000/wk. The calculation of support at very low incomes is a policy decision which takes into account the necessity for the nonresidential parent to maintain sustenance and that the residential parent is likely receiving means tested assistance which is not counted in the parents adjusted weekly gross income.

Indiana originally followed the first in line, first in right approach to child support when additional children were considered. The effect of this was that the support dedicated to the children of the marriage remained constant and that a parent who had children subsequently took on that obligation knowing that the amount of support for the prior children would not be adjusted downward. Dr Betson sees no reason to give a credit for subsequent born children. Colorado recently recognized subsequent born children based upon one extreme case which involved a change of custody. Indiana is one of the 18 states that give a subsequent born child credit. I see no reason to give a subsequent born child credit because it is a voluntary action that is or should include another person who is likely contributing to the support of the subsequent born children.

The Committee has proposed adding commentary to Guideline 3A(d) Imputing Income for consideration of a new spouse’s income. I suggest modifying the language to include “or other adult household member living as if married to the parent.” It has long been a complaint, primarily of non custodial fathers, that the custodial parent remarried a high income partner and subsequently quit working which resulted in the NCP paying higher support. In one extreme case the father who was earning <$30K/yr was had his support raised to approximately $200/wk following mother quitting her job after marrying a man who earned >$600K/yr. Considering the income of a subsequent partner for child support payment calculations is something that needs to be included in most cases. This commentary should contribute to that happening.

notes
[1] 42USC§667(a)

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Parents who would like to achieve the best outcome for their children in a contested child custody case should visit my website and contact my scheduler to make an appointment to meet with me. Attorneys may request a free consultation to learn how I can maximize their advocacy for their clients.

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©2008, 2015 Stuart Showalter, LLC. Permission is granted to all non-commercial entities to reproduce this article in it's entirety with credit given.

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Indiana Child Support Guidelines to be Amended in 2014

18 October 2013

2015 Indiana Child Support Guidelines
review scheduled for public comment

The Domestic Relations Committee [DRC] of the Indiana Judicial Center met in regular session on Friday 18 October 2013 and began discussion about the mandatory review of the Indiana Child Support Guidelines [ICSG]. By federal statute [42USCA§667 and 45CFR§302.56] the DRC is to review the ICSG every four years. The statutory purpose is to “ensure that their application results in the determination of appropriate child support award amounts.” The regulations state that the “State must consider economic data on the cost of raising children and analyze case data, gathered through sampling or other methods, on the application of, and deviations from, the guidelines.” That is, the committee shall look at current cases in which both the guidelines have been applied and deviated from to see what are the actual costs of raising children.

The review of the ICSG will begin in 2014. Members of the public will be invited to provide both oral and written testimony and suggestions.

New members were welcomed to the committee. These were-
Magistrate Andre Gammage, St. Joseph Circuit Court,
Commissioner Jennifer Newton, Huntington Superior Court,
Commissioner Rita Parsons-Rice, Title IV-D, Elkhart Superior Court,
Mag Brian McClane, Grant Superior Court, and
Judge Mark Loyd, Johnson Circuit Court. Former Chair of the ADR Committee.
Members of the committee are appointed to terms of three years which end in September of the calendar year.

The issues that the committee determined are to be undertaken include redefining the parenting time credit from overnight to an actual expense basis, health care and the Obama Tax, uniformity of child care expense, recalculating prior born child credit, tax effects, and limits on extra-curricular expenses.

The committee has set a deadline of presenting the revised ICSG to the Indiana Supreme Court by July 1, 2014 with a target date of implementation being Wednesday 31 December 2014.

If your client is considering a child support or custody modification request then please visit my website and contact my scheduler to make an appointment to meet with me. There is no charge for initial attorney consultations.

If you would like to follow my activities more closely then send a friend request to my Political FaceBook page.

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More information about child custody rights and procedures may be found on the Indiana Custodial Rights Advocates website.

©2008, 2013 Stuart Showalter, LLC. Permission is granted to all non-commercial entities to reproduce this article in it's entirety with credit given.