H-2376.1  _______________________________________________

                    SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1380

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1997 Regular Session

By House Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Representatives Lambert, Wolfe, Sheahan, Mitchell, Dunshee, Mason and Scott)

Read first time 03/03/97.

Changing the allocation of child support health care expenses between parents.

    AN ACT Relating to child support health care expenses; and amending RCW 26.19.080.

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

    Sec. 1.  RCW 26.19.080 and 1996 c 216 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) The basic child support obligation derived from the economic table shall be allocated between the parents based on each parent's share of the combined monthly net income.

    (2)(a) Ordinary health care expenses are included in the economic table and are calculated on an annual, calendar-year basis by multiplying five percent of the basic child support obligation by twelve.  The parent receiving the transfer payment is responsible for the payment of all ordinary health care expenses.  ((Monthly)) Annual health care expenses that exceed five percent of the annual basic support obligation shall be considered extraordinary health care expenses.  Extraordinary health care expenses shall be shared by the parents in the same proportion as the basic child support obligation.  Once the obligee has incurred the annual ordinary health care expenses, the obligee shall notify the obligor that all future health care expenses incurred in that calendar year are extraordinary health care expenses to be shared by the parents in the same proportion as the basic child support obligation.  The obligee shall provide the obligor with documentation, such as receipts or records, showing that the annual ordinary health care expenses have been incurred.  The obligor shall reimburse the obligee for extraordinary health care expenses as the expenses are incurred.

(b) For the purposes of this section, "health care expenses" means those expenses allowed as a federal income tax deduction for medical care, as provided in the federal internal revenue code, 26 U.S.C. Sec. 1 et seq., without regard to whether or not any party actually claims or receives a deduction for those expenses.

    (3) Day care and special child rearing expenses, such as tuition and long-distance transportation costs to and from the parents for visitation purposes, are not included in the economic table.  These expenses shall be shared by the parents in the same proportion as the basic child support obligation.  If an obligor pays court or administratively ordered day care or special child rearing expenses that are not actually incurred, the obligee must reimburse the obligor for the overpayment if the overpayment amounts to at least twenty percent of the obligor's annual day care or special child rearing expenses.  The obligor may institute an action in the superior court or file an application for an adjudicative hearing with the department of social and health services for reimbursement of day care and special child rearing expense overpayments that amount to twenty percent or more of the obligor's annual day care and special child rearing expenses.  Any ordered overpayment reimbursement shall be applied first as an offset to child support arrearages of the obligor.  If the obligor does not have child support arrearages, the reimbursement may be in the form of a direct reimbursement by the obligee or a credit against the obligor's future support payments.  If the reimbursement is in the form of a credit against the obligor's future child support payments, the credit shall be spread equally over a twelve-month period.  Absent agreement of the obligee, nothing in this section entitles an obligor to pay more than his or her proportionate share of day care or other special child rearing expenses in advance and then deduct the overpayment from future support transfer payments.

    (4) The court may exercise its discretion to determine the necessity for and the reasonableness of all amounts ordered in excess of the basic child support obligation.

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