BP BHEAD INT H [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to stepparents' financial responsibility; and amending RCW 26.16.205 and 74.20A.020.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 26.16.205 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 2 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:

The expenses of the family and the education of the children, including stepchildren, are chargeable upon the property of both husband and wife, or either of them, and they may be sued jointly or separately. When a petition for dissolution of marriage or a petition for legal separation is filed, the court may, upon motion of the stepparent, terminate the obligation to support the stepchildren. The obligation to support stepchildren shall cease upon termination of the parent-child relationship by the stepparent or child, the entry of a decree of dissolution, decree of legal separation, or death.

Sec. 2. RCW 74.20A.020 and 1990 1st ex.s. c 2 s 15 are each amended to read as follows:

Unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context, the following words and phrases as hereinafter used in this chapter and chapter 74.20 RCW shall have the following meanings:

(1) "Department" means the state department of social and health services.

(2) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of social and health services, his designee or authorized representative.

(3) "Dependent child" means any person:

(a) Under the age of eighteen who is not self-supporting, married, or a member of the armed forces of the United States; or

(b) Over the age of eighteen for whom a court order for support exists.

(4) "Support obligation" means the obligation to provide for the necessary care, support, and maintenance, including medical expenses, of a dependent child or other person as required by statutes and the common law of this or another state.

(5) "Superior court order" means any judgment, decree, or order of the superior court of the state of Washington, or a court of comparable jurisdiction of another state, establishing the existence of a support obligation and ordering payment of a set or determinable amount of support moneys to satisfy the support obligation. For purposes of RCW 74.20A.055, orders for support which were entered under the uniform reciprocal enforcement of support act by a state where the responsible parent no longer resides shall not preclude the department from establishing an amount to be paid as current and future support.

(6) "Administrative order" means any determination, finding, decree, or order for support pursuant to RCW 74.20A.055, or by an agency of another state pursuant to a substantially similar administrative process, establishing the existence of a support obligation and ordering the payment of a set or determinable amount of support moneys to satisfy the support obligation.

(7) "Responsible parent" means a natural parent, adoptive parent, or stepparent of a dependent child or a person who has signed an affidavit acknowledging paternity which has been filed with the state office of vital statistics. If the parent-child relationship between a stepparent and a child has been terminated by the stepparent or the child, the stepparent is not a responsible parent.

(8) "Stepparent" means the present spouse of the person who is either the mother, father, or adoptive parent of a dependent child, and such status shall exist until terminated as provided for in RCW 26.16.205.

(9) "Support moneys" means any moneys or in-kind providings paid to satisfy a support obligation whether denominated as child support, spouse support, alimony, maintenance, or any other such moneys intended to satisfy an obligation for support of any person or satisfaction in whole or in part of arrears or delinquency on such an obligation.

(10) "Support debt" means any delinquent amount of support moneys which is due, owing, and unpaid under a superior court order or an administrative order, a debt for the payment of expenses for the reasonable or necessary care, support, and maintenance, including medical expenses, of a dependent child or other person for whom a support obligation is owed; or a debt under RCW 74.20A.100 or 74.20A.270. Support debt also includes any accrued interest, fees, or penalties charged on a support debt, and attorneys fees and other costs of litigation awarded in an action to establish and enforce a support obligation or debt.

(11) "State" means any state or political subdivision, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.