House Bill hb0969

    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                 HB 969

        By Representative Clarke






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to dissolution of marriage;

  3         amending s. 28.101, F.S.; providing an

  4         additional charge when a party petitions for a

  5         dissolution of marriage; providing for the

  6         disposition of the charge for the payment of a

  7         policy of insurance to provide child support

  8         payments when the payor's employment has been

  9         involuntary terminated; providing a definition;

10         directing the clerk to keep certain records;

11         providing an effective date.

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13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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15         Section 1.  Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (1) of

16  section 28.101, Florida Statutes, to read:

17         28.101  Petitions and records of dissolution of

18  marriage; additional charges.--

19         (1)  When a party petitions for a dissolution of

20  marriage, in addition to the filing charges in s. 28.241, the

21  clerk shall collect and receive:

22         (e)  A charge of $50. On a monthly basis, the clerk

23  shall transfer the moneys collected pursuant to this paragraph

24  to the authorized insurer, or eligible surplus lines insurer,

25  selected pursuant to chapter 287, for the issuance of a policy

26  of insurance to provide child support payments when the

27  payor's employment has been involuntarily terminated. The $50

28  charge may be reduced to the actual premium amount for such

29  policy as determined through the competitive bidding process

30  and chapter 287.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                 HB 969

    758-101A-01






  1         1.  The policy required by this paragraph shall provide

  2  for the payment of child support amounts due to the child or

  3  the child's legal guardian. Payments shall be made, after a

  4  reasonable waiting period, on behalf of the obligated person

  5  when the obligated person has become unemployed by reason of

  6  involuntary unemployment. "Involuntary unemployment" means

  7  unemployment due to strikes, lockouts, individual and mass

  8  layoffs, or loss of income due to business failure or

  9  bankruptcy. Payments shall be equal to the monthly child

10  support payments as set forth in the divorce decree or other

11  order of the court and shall be payable for the term of

12  involuntary unemployment, but in no event shall payments be

13  made for a period of more than 13 weeks. The 13 weeks do not

14  have to be consecutive; however, this is the maximum number of

15  weeks payable on behalf of the obligated person for the total

16  of all periods of involuntary unemployment. The obligated

17  person must not be delinquent in paying child support payments

18  at the time a claim is made to the insurer for child support

19  payments to be made on behalf of the obligated person under

20  this section. If the obligated person is delinquent in paying

21  child support at the time a claim is made, the insurer shall

22  pay all sums due on behalf of such obligated person to the

23  Child Support Depository Trust Fund.

24         2.  The clerk shall maintain a separate record of all

25  insurance costs. In addition to the costs collected for the

26  payment of the insurance premium, the clerk or the judge may

27  collect an additional fee of $4 to cover the administrative

28  cost of collecting and transmitting the insurance premium.

29         3.  For the purposes of this paragraph, the office of

30  the clerk of court shall be an agency as defined in s.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                 HB 969

    758-101A-01






  1  287.012. The selection of the insurer shall be made pursuant

  2  to the provisions of chapter 287.

  3         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.

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  6                          HOUSE SUMMARY

  7
      Provides an additional charge of $50 with respect to a
  8    petition of dissolution of marriage. Provides that the
      charge shall be used to purchase an insurance policy to
  9    provide child support payments when the payor's
      employment has been involuntarily terminated. See bill
10    for details.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.