Senate Bill 0268c1
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 268
By the Committee on Children and Families; and Senator Klein
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to child support; amending s.
3 61.30, F.S.; requiring a court under certain
4 circumstances to base a determination of child
5 support amounts under certain shared parental
6 arrangements upon specified criteria; providing
7 an effective date.
8
9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and
12 subsection (11) of section 61.30, Florida Statutes, 1998
13 Supplement, are amended to read:
14 61.30 Child support guidelines; retroactive child
15 support.--
16 (1)(a) The child support guideline amount as
17 determined by this section presumptively establishes the
18 amount the trier of fact shall order as child support in an
19 initial proceeding for such support or in a proceeding for
20 modification of an existing order for such support, whether
21 the proceeding arises under this or another chapter. The
22 trier of fact may order payment of child support which varies,
23 plus or minus 5 percent, from the guideline amount, after
24 considering all relevant factors, including the needs of the
25 child or children, age, station in life, standard of living,
26 and the financial status and ability of each parent. The
27 trier of fact may order payment of child support in an amount
28 which varies more than 5 percent from such guideline amount
29 only upon a written finding explaining why ordering payment of
30 such guideline amount would be unjust or inappropriate.
31 Notwithstanding the variance limitations of this section, the
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 268
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1 trier of fact shall order payment of child support which
2 varies from the guideline amount as provided in paragraph
3 (11)(b) whenever any of the children are required by court
4 order or mediation agreement to divide their time between the
5 primary and secondary residential parents. This requirement
6 applies to any living arrangement, whether temporary or
7 permanent.
8 (11)(a) The court may adjust the minimum child support
9 award, or either or both parent's share of the minimum child
10 support award, based upon the following considerations:
11 1.(a) Extraordinary medical, psychological,
12 educational, or dental expenses.
13 2.(b) Independent income of the child, not to include
14 moneys received by a child from supplemental security income.
15 3.(c) The payment of support for a parent which
16 regularly has been paid and for which there is a demonstrated
17 need.
18 4.(d) Seasonal variations in one or both parents'
19 incomes or expenses.
20 5.(e) The age of the child, taking into account the
21 greater needs of older children.
22 6.(f) Special needs, such as costs that may be
23 associated with the disability of a child, that have
24 traditionally been met within the family budget even though
25 the fulfilling of those needs will cause the support to exceed
26 the proposed guidelines.
27 (g) The particular shared parental arrangement, such
28 as where the children spend a substantial amount of their time
29 with the secondary residential parent thereby reducing the
30 financial expenditures incurred by the primary residential
31 parent, or the refusal of the secondary residential parent to
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 268
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1 become involved in the activities of the child, or giving due
2 consideration to the primary residential parent's homemaking
3 services. If a child has visitation with a noncustodial
4 parent for more than 28 consecutive days the court may reduce
5 the amount of support paid to the custodial parent during the
6 time of visitation not to exceed 50 percent of the amount
7 awarded.
8 7.(h) Total available assets of the obligee, obligor,
9 and the child.
10 8.(i) The impact of the Internal Revenue Service
11 dependency exemption and waiver of that exemption. The court
12 may order the primary residential parent to execute a waiver
13 of the Internal Revenue Service dependency exemption if the
14 noncustodial parent is current in support payments.
15 9.(j) When application of the child support guidelines
16 requires a person to pay another person more than 55 percent
17 of his or her gross income for a child support obligation for
18 current support resulting from a single support order.
19 10.(k) Any other adjustment which is needed to achieve
20 an equitable result which may include, but not be limited to,
21 a reasonable and necessary existing expense or debt. Such
22 expense or debt may include, but is not limited to, a
23 reasonable and necessary expense or debt which the parties
24 jointly incurred during the marriage.
25 (b) Whenever a shared parental arrangement provides
26 that each child spend a substantial amount of time with each
27 parent, the court shall adjust any award of child support
28 based upon:
29 1. The amount of time each child will spend with each
30 parent under the shared parental arrangement.
31 2. The needs of each child.
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Florida Senate - 1999 CS for SB 268
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1 3. The direct and indirect financial expenses for each
2 child. For purposes of this subparagraph, the term "direct
3 financial expenses" means any expenses that are incurred
4 directly on behalf of a child or in which a child directly
5 participates, including, but not limited to, expenses relating
6 to the child's food, clothing, schooling, and extracurricular
7 activities, and the term "indirect financial expenses" means
8 any household expenses from which a child indirectly benefits,
9 including, but not limited to, expenses relating to a
10 mortgage, rent, utilities, motor vehicle, and motor vehicle
11 insurance.
12 4. The comparative income of each parent, considering
13 all relevant factors, as provided in s. 61.30 (2)(a).
14 5. The station in life of each parent and each child.
15 6. The standard of living experienced by the entire
16 family during the marriage.
17 7. The financial status and ability of each parent.
18 Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 1999.
19
20 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
21 Senate Bill 268
22
23 The adjustment in child support award language, based upon the
proportionate time in days that each child spends with each
24 parent each year, is deleted. Criteria upon which the court
shall base an adjustment of a child support award is more
25 clearly delineated in the proposed committee substitute to
include not only the amount of time each child will spend with
26 each parent but also the needs of the child, financial
expenses for each child, the comparative income of each
27 parent, the station of life of each parent and child, the
standard of living experienced during the marriage, and the
28 financial status and ability of each parent.
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